where to spend 10 days in Germany, off the beaten track?
Dec 13th, 2010, 09:38 AM
#21
Sorry, ann, we aren't much for nightlife. Also, to me, off the beaten path usually means smaller towns not large cities.>>
lol, betty, i wasn't thinking of nightclubs! but as we live in the country when we are on holiday we do enjoy being able to wander round in the evening, [window] shopping, stopping for a drink in a bar, finding a new restaurant, attending a concert. Actually I have no idea about the relative sizes of, say, Dresden and Goettingen, though I'm assuming that Dresden is the larger.
but we also enjoy being able to get out into the countryside during the day, and staying in smaller places for some of the time, perhaps for the odd evening. and its these smaller places where perhaps we should be heading en route, that I am looking for - like Quedlingberg!
time to spend some time with a map, i think!
lol, betty, i wasn't thinking of nightclubs! but as we live in the country when we are on holiday we do enjoy being able to wander round in the evening, [window] shopping, stopping for a drink in a bar, finding a new restaurant, attending a concert. Actually I have no idea about the relative sizes of, say, Dresden and Goettingen, though I'm assuming that Dresden is the larger.
but we also enjoy being able to get out into the countryside during the day, and staying in smaller places for some of the time, perhaps for the odd evening. and its these smaller places where perhaps we should be heading en route, that I am looking for - like Quedlingberg!
time to spend some time with a map, i think!
Dec 13th, 2010, 11:06 AM
#22
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Annhig, you were afraid to ask? Never be! I almost didn't respond because I didn't want to sort of 'advertise' Dresden and Saxony. Have done that too often here, I am afraid.
Yes, Dresden is larger than Göttingen. But it doesn't look like it. It is really spread out, stretches along the river, you can easily choose whether to stay right in the centre or in the beautiful 19th century residential areas with quick tram/bus connection to the city centre.
Btw, if you're researching Quedlinburg and the Harz mountains then I highly recommend to look into Wernigerode. This April I stayed in a wonderful hotel:
http://www.travelcharme.com/en/hotel...ches-haus.html
They have very good deals on their website, like this offer:
http://www.travelcharme.com/en/hotel...rangement.html which I booked.
Yes, Dresden is larger than Göttingen. But it doesn't look like it. It is really spread out, stretches along the river, you can easily choose whether to stay right in the centre or in the beautiful 19th century residential areas with quick tram/bus connection to the city centre.
Btw, if you're researching Quedlinburg and the Harz mountains then I highly recommend to look into Wernigerode. This April I stayed in a wonderful hotel:
http://www.travelcharme.com/en/hotel...ches-haus.html
They have very good deals on their website, like this offer:
http://www.travelcharme.com/en/hotel...rangement.html which I booked.
Dec 13th, 2010, 01:42 PM
#23
Hi again, Ingo,
well, I'm glad you overcame your qualms. at the moment I'm not sure which way round we are likely to want to go - clockwise or anti. it depends on our friends and also what tickets we can get for concerts in Dresden and Leipzig.
i like the look of the hotel you are suggesting; if we stayed there, i can see what there would be to do in the evenings - what about during the day?
well, I'm glad you overcame your qualms. at the moment I'm not sure which way round we are likely to want to go - clockwise or anti. it depends on our friends and also what tickets we can get for concerts in Dresden and Leipzig.
i like the look of the hotel you are suggesting; if we stayed there, i can see what there would be to do in the evenings - what about during the day?
Dec 14th, 2010, 12:32 AM
#24
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Very useful thread and advice here, thanks. As one who has only transited the east back in GDR days (Prague to Berlin) and is planning to go back and have a good look around, Ingo's contributions are always much appreciated.
Dec 14th, 2010, 12:40 PM
#26
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Ann, to get an idea of what to do and see in Wernigerode please have a look at my page at Virtualtourist.com: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4166c/1f9e/
Basically I'd say stroll along the cobbled alleys in the old town and see the beautiful, colorful timber-framed houses, tour the town hall, go up to the castle and tour it or just enjoy the views. You can also do an excursion by steam train, all the way up to Mt. Brocken or shorter. Or do a day trip to Quedlinburg, Halberstadt or Goslar. Plenty of options.
farrermog, glad to hear you are planning to come back to East Germany. Welcome!
Basically I'd say stroll along the cobbled alleys in the old town and see the beautiful, colorful timber-framed houses, tour the town hall, go up to the castle and tour it or just enjoy the views. You can also do an excursion by steam train, all the way up to Mt. Brocken or shorter. Or do a day trip to Quedlinburg, Halberstadt or Goslar. Plenty of options.
farrermog, glad to hear you are planning to come back to East Germany. Welcome!
Dec 15th, 2010, 08:44 AM
#29
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Like Ingo mentions Saxon Switzerland is one place many tourists neglect - if in Dresden schedule a day or two to drive up and down the Elbe River - with dramatic high red sandstone cliffs topped by things like old fortresses, ruined castles, etc and cute riverside resorts like Bad Schandau - right on the Czech border in case you want a taste of Bohemia.
You can also do boat rides from Dresden there. and also if in Dresden do not miss Meissen and its procelain factories and great castle area.
I also have enjoyed the Leipzig area a whole lot - a great place to base in smaller gems like Naumberg or Weimar or larger Erfurt - Eisenach and Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther one hid out and famously thru an ink pot against his room's walls when he say the Devil (stains still there) is also in this compact area as are other gems. I especially like Weimar - and its park-like setting and lots of history.
You can also do boat rides from Dresden there. and also if in Dresden do not miss Meissen and its procelain factories and great castle area.
I also have enjoyed the Leipzig area a whole lot - a great place to base in smaller gems like Naumberg or Weimar or larger Erfurt - Eisenach and Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther one hid out and famously thru an ink pot against his room's walls when he say the Devil (stains still there) is also in this compact area as are other gems. I especially like Weimar - and its park-like setting and lots of history.
Dec 16th, 2010, 11:06 AM
#30
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annhig - If you have not driven along the Castle Road, between Rothenburg and Heidelberg, along the castle-studded and cute town-studded Neckar River Valley I would consider doing that en route back to Duesseldorf - Wurzburg, on the Romantic Road from Rothenburg is IMO one of Germany's sweetest larger cities. The Romantic Road IMO is hardly romantic however - two-lane crowded road skirting towns when I took it - seems to be a postwar conjuring up by the German Tourist Office.
Feb 16th, 2011, 01:25 PM
#32
Ok, just reviving this thread as our plans have changed somewhat - we've brought the trip forward, so we can't use our local airport to fly to Duesseldorf, but that turns out to be an advantage, sa from LHR we can fly into Berlin and out of Frankfurt, using airmiles.
OTOH, the trip will have a to be a bit shorter - though that pleases DH who gets homesick if we're away for more than 10 days!
once we take off the last 3 nights we'll be spending with our friends near Landau, so we will have 8 nights in which to get from Berlin [where we have stayd before so we aren't bothered about staying there this time] to the Pfalz. ideally I would like to spend time in Dresden, the Saechsische Schweiz, the Harz, and the Rhine/.Mosel, but clearly all that isn't possible.
so do we stay in Dresden and do a day trip down the Elbe - or vice versa? how long should we stay in the Harz? and is there any point in devoting a night to stopping somewhere along the Rhine/Mosel en route to the Pfalz?
OTOH, the trip will have a to be a bit shorter - though that pleases DH who gets homesick if we're away for more than 10 days!
once we take off the last 3 nights we'll be spending with our friends near Landau, so we will have 8 nights in which to get from Berlin [where we have stayd before so we aren't bothered about staying there this time] to the Pfalz. ideally I would like to spend time in Dresden, the Saechsische Schweiz, the Harz, and the Rhine/.Mosel, but clearly all that isn't possible.
so do we stay in Dresden and do a day trip down the Elbe - or vice versa? how long should we stay in the Harz? and is there any point in devoting a night to stopping somewhere along the Rhine/Mosel en route to the Pfalz?
Feb 16th, 2011, 03:10 PM
#33
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When you go from Berlin to Dresden, you could stop in the Spreewald for a punting "cruise" into Germany's Everglades (well, sort of) - and to sample the famous gherkins ;-)
I'd stay 2 nights in Dresden, take the train to Bad Schandau or Pirna and the river boat back to Dresden (if you don't have much time, downstream is faster). Has mentioned Ingo Meissen yet?
The Harz is up northwest again from Dresden, but quite easy to reach via A14/B6 from Dresden to Quedlinburg. I'd overnight there and go west next day. If you have an extra night to spare, you could take a ride with the narrow-gauge steam trains from Quedlinburg to the top of Brocken mountain.
I'd stay 2 nights in Dresden, take the train to Bad Schandau or Pirna and the river boat back to Dresden (if you don't have much time, downstream is faster). Has mentioned Ingo Meissen yet?
The Harz is up northwest again from Dresden, but quite easy to reach via A14/B6 from Dresden to Quedlinburg. I'd overnight there and go west next day. If you have an extra night to spare, you could take a ride with the narrow-gauge steam trains from Quedlinburg to the top of Brocken mountain.
Feb 17th, 2011, 12:03 AM
#34
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8 nights for 3 different locations is really not much. Deduct a day or at least a half day for driving from one to another ...
I'd stay 3 nights or better 4 in Dresden (you said you're into music, right?). This way you can explore the city for two days, do one day trip upstream to the National Park Saxon Switzerland (yes, Cowboy is right - train up and steamboat down is best - but make sure to get off the train and off the steamboat somehwere to actually SEE something from a different (higher) viewpoint) and another excursion downstream to Meissen and the vineyards. Steamboat down, train back this time. You'd also have enough time for music performances in the evenings this way.
Three days in the Harz mountains IMO. Wernigerode is the most central base (and a cute town). From there the steam train excursion to the Brocken mountain would be shortest (a bit long from Quedlinburg).
That would leave two days in the Mosel/Rhine region.
I.
I'd stay 3 nights or better 4 in Dresden (you said you're into music, right?). This way you can explore the city for two days, do one day trip upstream to the National Park Saxon Switzerland (yes, Cowboy is right - train up and steamboat down is best - but make sure to get off the train and off the steamboat somehwere to actually SEE something from a different (higher) viewpoint) and another excursion downstream to Meissen and the vineyards. Steamboat down, train back this time. You'd also have enough time for music performances in the evenings this way.
Three days in the Harz mountains IMO. Wernigerode is the most central base (and a cute town). From there the steam train excursion to the Brocken mountain would be shortest (a bit long from Quedlinburg).
That would leave two days in the Mosel/Rhine region.
I.
Feb 17th, 2011, 08:47 AM
#35
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En route to Berlin check out Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Martin Luther's old stomping grounds and where he nailed demands to the main church door, allegedly. Anyway the town has all been gussied up and is a neat old-world town and with a slew of Luther sites and the great cathedral on a hill, if I recall rightly - anyway a great stop for a few hours or overnight about perhaps 100 miles from Berlin.
Feb 17th, 2011, 11:28 AM
#36
Hi Cowboy, Ingo -
thanks for the responses, you've more or less confirmed what I was thinking.
if we get the earliest flight to Berlin, we should be in Dresden by lunchtime I reckon - how long to get from Berlin to Dresden? so if we stay 3 nights, we get 2 1/2 days. then three nights in the Harz, and two on the Mosel/Rhine gives us 8 with three left for the Pfalz.
now to find some hotels and concerts.
I reckon that we can wing it in the Harz and Rhein/Mosel, but would want to book somewhere in Dresden. It needs to be central and clean [hope that goes without saying] but apart from that we are quite easy to please.
Sadly the opera seems to be sold out for the time we'll be there, but i've read about the operetta in Dresden - they are doing Carmen during our dates - Ingo - what do you think?
thanks for the responses, you've more or less confirmed what I was thinking.
if we get the earliest flight to Berlin, we should be in Dresden by lunchtime I reckon - how long to get from Berlin to Dresden? so if we stay 3 nights, we get 2 1/2 days. then three nights in the Harz, and two on the Mosel/Rhine gives us 8 with three left for the Pfalz.
now to find some hotels and concerts.
I reckon that we can wing it in the Harz and Rhein/Mosel, but would want to book somewhere in Dresden. It needs to be central and clean [hope that goes without saying] but apart from that we are quite easy to please.
Sadly the opera seems to be sold out for the time we'll be there, but i've read about the operetta in Dresden - they are doing Carmen during our dates - Ingo - what do you think?
Feb 18th, 2011, 12:15 AM
#38
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Yes, about 2 hours, from Tegel airport 2:30 hours to Dresden.
Accommodation for Dresden:
www.pension-am-zwinger.de
www.martha-hospiz.de (favourite)
www.aparthotels-frauenkirche.de (please note: the apartments at Münzgasse can be affected by pub/restaurant noise by night)
Another fodorite stayed here:
www.hofgarten1824.de
Quite basic but fits your criteria.
Let me know when exactly you'll be in Dresden and in which performance at the opera you are interested. I have connections ;-) and can probably help with the tickets. The operetta theatre is not bad, but I think they should stick with operetta. Carmen is not in their league.
Accommodation for Dresden:
www.pension-am-zwinger.de
www.martha-hospiz.de (favourite)
www.aparthotels-frauenkirche.de (please note: the apartments at Münzgasse can be affected by pub/restaurant noise by night)
Another fodorite stayed here:
www.hofgarten1824.de
Quite basic but fits your criteria.
Let me know when exactly you'll be in Dresden and in which performance at the opera you are interested. I have connections ;-) and can probably help with the tickets. The operetta theatre is not bad, but I think they should stick with operetta. Carmen is not in their league.
Feb 18th, 2011, 03:31 AM
#39
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Not meaning to hijack annhig's thread, but I just wanted to give a big thanks to Cowboy1968 and Ingo for the info on the river boat. We'll be in Dresden again (yippee!) this summer for 6 nights, plenty of time for a boat ride!
annhig - you will LOVE Dresden!
Happy travels!
annhig - you will LOVE Dresden!
Happy travels!
