Hello, I have about 4 hrs in Dresden on my way to Prague. What is the best way to use them effectively? I want to try food (vegetarian) that is local and represents Dresden.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I didn't have much luck with food in Dresden, and Germany didn't strike me as a vegetarian's paradise, so I'm interested to see what folks might suggest.

But in terms of sights--the old and new green vaults are amazing if you like museums.

What time of the day are these four hours? Morning, lunchtime, afternoon?

Fours hours are fine to walk around the old town and drop into some churches, maybe visit one of the museums - but if you plan on having a meal then a museum is probably out of the question.

Start is at the main railway station, no? Walk through Prager Strasse (pedestrian shopping zone from the 1970s with recent additions, you will either hate it or love it), then along Seestrasse to Altmarkt square (1950s architecture), pass the huge Kulturpalast on the right side and get to Neumarkt square. Have a look into Frauenkirche (church of Our Lady). Walk past Coselpalais to Albertinum, walk through the courtyard of this museum and have a glance at the sculptures, exit on the upper floor to Brühl's Terrace. Walk along this beautiful remains of the city walls (partially designed as gardens) with excellent views of the river, the paddle steamers, the New Town. Walk down the stairs to Schlossplatz (unfortunately a construction zone at the moment, just like neighbouring Augustus bridge).

Have a look at the mural "Procession of Princes" to your left, pop into the Renaissance courtyard (former stables) in the back of that mural, have a quick look into the catholic cathedral - exit to Theaterplatz. See Semper Opera house and turn left to the Zwinger. See the courtyard and have a walk on top of the roofs. Finally go to the neighbouring Royal Palace, at least see the Renaissance courtyard with the ticket counters. If you have time (I doubt it), see one of the museums - one of the Green Vaults recommended. Back to the railway station.

The problem is that along this route you will pass only the touristy restaurants. They usually offer good quality, but are a bit overpriced IMO (by Dresden standards, though, which doesn't mean expensive compared to tourist hotspots in Europe). And you will hardly find places where locals love to go. Anyway, for good veggie food try Ladencafe AHA, tucked away on the left side of Kreuzkirche, off Altmarkt square. They offer mostly vegan/vegetarian/organic food. Monday through Friday they serve lunch specials for quite low prices (main courses between 8 and 13 Euro). Excellent quality! Also a good choice for dessert/coffee.

Locals love their sweets/pastry. A local specialty is Eierschecke, a sort of cheesecake, but fluffy. The absolute best you can get is at Dresdner Kaffeestübchen, a tiny cafe-bar across the street from Albertinum (and next to Innside Hotel). All housemade cakes, excellent coffee. My favourite is the Eierschecke cake with cherries.

Other regional vegetarian specialties are potato soup and Klitscher (potato pancakes) e.g. No idea where you can get the latter in this area, though. And potato soup is served in many restaurants, but often in mediocre quality. However, if you are getting desperate, there are several Italian restaurants in the area (Da Miri highly recommended) for pasta and pizza, and Alte Meister (www.altemeister.net) is an excellent restaurant in the corner Zwinger/Semper Opera house which has fancy food for (justified) higher prices.

Ingo, Thank you so much! The 4 hours will be in the day time. We are planning to leave Berlin during daytime take a train to dresden, stop there for 4 hrs and then take another train into Prague. We will stay in Prague overnight.

ANy suggestions on Prague?
II will try Eierschecke, cheese cakes my favorite. How far is the Bruhl's terrace and how do we get there?

Thanks,

Also, I am not hung up on a sit-down meal, I am happy with the local specialty cheesecake.
I would prefer to make most of my time visiting places.

NVM on Bruhl's terrace, you have mentioned how to get there.

You will almost pass by Dresdner Kaffeestübchen enroute from Frauenkirche to (Albertinum-) Brühl's Terrace. So this is the best spot for you to enjoy some local food, if you don't insist on full lunch. They open at 9 am, are very busy during breakfast time and then again in the afternoon, but inbetween you should easily find a table in this little cafe. Btw, they have two tables with two seats each in front on the pavement and also a bar - espresso at the bar is only 0.99 Euro, rarely seen in Germany. And very good, too!

If you want to save time you can hop on a tram at the main railway station and take it to Pirnaischer Platz e.g. (3, 7, 8, 9) Or to Prager Strasse (11) (Karstadt department store), the latter close to Altmarkt square and the former closer to Neumarkt square. And you can go back from Zwinger/Postplatz by tram 11 (stop for main railway station with this tram is Hauptbahnhof Nord). A tram ride (valid for one hour) is 2.40 Euro. Buy the ticket(s) at the DVB service booth outside, or Deutsche Bahn Travel Center inside the main railway station. You need to validate these tickets by stamping them upon entering the tram.

Yes, I have recommendations on Prague. But you will get more responses if you start a new thread and tag it "Czech Republic" ;-)

And now I want to go back to Dresden and follow Ingo's itinerary. As always, you're a fountain of info Ingo - fantastic!

How did I miss the Eierschecke?

No idea why, Mel You're always welcome back! Hehe ...

For a start, I would recommend either the Zwingers palace characterised by its brilliant magnificence or the Dresden castle with its renaissance architecture. I honestly can't say which you should start with, they are both of equal standing with me.
After you have had your fill of these two, you should check out the Lutheran church of our lady. Its big and beautiful dome, it's a must see and the surrounding Neumarkt square is an added bonus to this site.
Another place would be the Catholic court church. Though without a dramatic history like the Lutheran church, it's still a good site and it's Riverside nature only adds to the appeal.
These should be a sufficient way to spend your four hours, but you can add a trip to the semper opera House, it's close to the Catholic court church so a stop there won't be amiss.

Ingo, I love the detailed information you have put out for me. I am taking a train to Prague and reaching by 7:20 pm and I will have. to leave by 8: 45 am the next day for Vienna. Planning to stay in Prague overnight. Of the things I found on the web, Royal route, Charles bridge, old town square, and the Prague castle sound interesting.
Do you think I can cover all these from when I arrive by train to the time I leave the next day?

Thank you Jess Brown!

Ingo, if I were to take the tram and follow your first route (by foot), which tram do I take? 11 to theater platz and walk to the newmarkt square?
You are a wealth of information. Would really really love to know your recommendation on Prague.

tugozi, do I understand correctly that you only have the evening and very early morning in Prague? Not even a full day? In this case all you can do is checking into your hotel and head out right away if you want to see a bit of the city. Yes, the places you mentioned are the absolute highlights (but crowded!) and could be seen (at a glance) on a walk of 2 hours. Frankly, Prague is absolutely charming, outright magical, at dawn and night. So it is probably not even a bad idea to walk across Charles Bridge late. Maybe take tram 22 up to Hradcany castle, walk from up there down to Malostranske namesti (Lesser Town square), then across Charles Bridge and Royal route (Karlova street) to Staromestske namesti (Old Town square). Depending on where your hotel is walk back to the hotel or take a tram.

In Dresden - I'd say skip the walk along the pedestrian shopping zone Prager Strasse, so take tram 11 from Hauptbahnhof Nord to Prager Strasse, start the walk from there (Seestrasse, Altmarkt etc.) And back from Postplatz by tram 11.

Yes Ingo, you got that right. I have the evening and the early morning. I may have a chance to move the early 8 am train out of Prague to a later time like mid afternoon.
Am I missing anyhing if I do not go inside the Prague castle?

If you have seen other castles earlier then you don't really miss anything important (I know others will disagree, though.)

Ingo,

I cannot thank you enough. We had a great time visiting both Dresden and Prague. Your tram numbers and routes are the best!
We did not have any hiccups at all.

I did try the cheesecake, the best I have eaten. We found a bakery right across from the Dresner dome, they got the best variety
of pastries along with this cheesecake and their expresso is out of the world! The prices are rock bottom. The expresso with milk is
2 euros and the cheesecake is 1.50 euros. Thanks again.

Very happy to hear my tips were helpful, and that you enjoyed your time in both Dresden and Prague. Reminds me that I must have a cheesecake and coffee myself soon ;-)