EastBayer

I will be in Dresden for 3 nights in June, and going to an evening concert at the opera house, so I'm thinking of staying within walking distance. Would that be a pleasant area to be in, specifically Ostra-Allee or Maxstrasse? A friend recommended Schloss Eckberg, which looks great, but not so convenient a location? I'll be going to museums and walking around the Altstadt and Neustadt during the days. Thanks for any advice.

Ingo

Since you're talking about Ostraallee or Maxstrasse you probably think about staying at Pension am Zwinger, right? It is a very nice place, friends of mine stayed have stayed there a couple of times and loved it. However, it's in opposite direction to the touristy things from the opera house.

Schloss Eckberg is indeed pretty far from the old town, there is also a lot of road works between the centre and this area until late summer and the tram #11 is partially replaced by bus service - not exactly convenient.

Across the river from the old town and in very nice surroundings (Neustadt) is Martha Hospiz, a charming 3star hotel. A 15 minutes walk to the opera house, or a 5 minutes walk to the next tram stop, from there two stops to the opera house.

EastBayer

Thank you, Ingo; I was hoping you would see my post. Yes, I am talking about Zwinger--but do you know what the difference is between the Pension and the Aparthotel? It looks close to the train station and major roads so I wonder if it's noisy or maybe not pleasant for a woman (of a certain age) walking around at night. Is it about a 10 minute walk to the opera house from there? The Martha Hospiz does look charming, but I believe it is unavailable for my dates.

Ingo

Pension or Aparthotel is practically the same; they bought three or so 4-storey townhouses, each with separate entrance, that are along Ostraallee and Maxstraße but only a few meters from one another, the reception is in one of them. Pension means (smaller) rooms like in a B&B, with the usual service, Aparthotel means rental apartment including kitchen, no service. Breakfast buffet style is available for a surcharge (no advance booking needed), is in a restaurant in the townhouse next door to the reception. It's pretty good, I ate breakfast there with friends who stayed in the Pension Zwinger.

Yes, it is pretty close to the train station Dresden-Mitte. Please note that only regional trains and suburban trains stop there, no long-distance trains (EC, ICE). In the end it doesn't matter whether you change to the suburban train or a tram at the main train station to get to your hotel/apartment - a change is a change - so that train station around the corner is not really a plus.

The rooms to the street can be slightly noisy, but it's not really bad. You won't hear much of the trains and the major road parallel to the trains. The other streets (Maxstraße and Ostraallee are not *that* noisy, except that the tram runs along Ostraallee. You could ask for a room to the back, which is totally quiet.

A friend of mine, music journalist from New York, close to retirement age, stayed there for 10 days in December and loved it. He used to walk to the opera house almost every night, yes, it's about 10 minutes. He felt totally safe walking around at midnight, which is true for (almost) any area in Dresden.

Ingo

Sorry, just saw even their "Pension" rooms have a small kitchen now. And I believe service is available in all rooms/apartments. So, there's no difference anymore.

EastBayer

Many thanks, Ingo. That's very helpful. Next, I have questions about food. Is there a place to get great prepared food I can take to my room/apartment? Someplace like Dallmayr in Munich? And a bakery for wonderful cakes and pastries? And do any of the museums have especially good cafés?

Ingo

Not exactly like Dallmayr, but my favourite upscale grocery with lots of prepared food: Perfetto in the basement of the Karstadt department store. Website in German only:
http://www.perfetto.de/ihr-perfetto/...ategory_id=203

Another option is the basement of the Altmarkt Galerie shopping mall with several places, nothing upscale/gourmet like, but wide selection from Asian over Italian, Spanish to German food. Only a ten minutes walk from your place, entrance at Postplatz e.g.

There are lots of wonderful bakeries in Dresden, unfortunately most of them in the outskirts/19th century residential areas. My favourite is (show-)bakery Scheinert in Dresden-Weisser Hirsch. www.baeckerei-scheinert.de
Another favourite of mine is Wippler, the bakery is located in Dresden-Pillnitz, but they have shops and cafes all over the northeastern area of Dresden. The one at Körnerplatz in Loschwitz is closest to the centre. www.baeckerei-wippler.de

At Schillerplatz, in the same area, is the Cafe Toscana, run by the bakery Eisold from a small town near Dresden. Excellent (fancy) cakes and cookies/pastries, they have shops in the centre, too - one is in the previously mentioned Perfetto grocery in the Karstadt department store. http://cafe-eisold.de/filialen.html

In the centre have a look at the cafe-restaurant Coselpalais with the most delicious fancy cakes (right behind Frauenkirche). http://www.coselpalais-dresden.de/index.php?id=336&L=1

The closest good bakery to your place is probably the shop of the bakery Walther in the train station Dresden-Mitte.

As for cafes in museums - I recommend Alte Meister, a mix of cafe and restaurant, attached to the Old Masters Picture Gallery. www.altemeister.net

The Albertinum and the Royal Palace also have small cafes, pretty good but really just for coffee and cake. Better head to one of the cafes or restaurants across the street from the Royal Palace, like the lobby bar/cafe in the Taschenbergpalais hotel or the Swissotel, or for the sweet tooth have a delicious praline/chocolate/espresso in the chocolate manufacture shop in the Swissotel block (Schlossstraße).

EastBayer

This is fantastic, Ingo, and I can't wait to get to Dresden and go to as many of these bakeries and cafés as possible. I see on another site that you have advice about Leipzig also, where I will go for a couple of days after Dresden. I may ask further under a Leipzig heading.
Thank you so much.

Ingo

Feel free to ask any questions about Leipzig, too. I am sure you'll have a great trip.

Aramis

Ingo IS Sachsen (Saxony)

It's easier if we all just accept that.

And I don't mean to limit you Ingo

Ingo

LOL, thanks Aramis

quokka

Aramis - true, true! ;-)

annhig

shame that the Martha-hospiz is full for your dates - we stayed there on the recommendation of Ingo [danke, Ingo] and it was very nice, and ee enjoyed walking through the Neustadt.

while you're in Dresden, do go to the Stadtmuseum - it's excellent and very interesting.

EastBayer

The Stadtmuseum is on my list of places to go, annhig. Too bad I'll miss the exhibition on sweets that will be there later in the year. One reason I decided to go to Dresden and Leipzig is to see the ethnographic collections, although it sounds as if most of the Dresden collection is in storage.

annhig

great, EB. when we went, we were virtually the only people there.

the Zwinger was also excellent, and again, relatively few people once you got past the first few rooms.

Ingo

Sadly, yes, the Ethnographical collections in Dresden are mostly in storage. Yet, I found the permanent exhibit on the second floor of the Japanese Palace (about Micronesia/South Sea) fascinating. And the recently restored Damascus Room is a jewel.

Too bad you won't have time to go to Herrnhut, the third of the places where the Saxon State Ethnographical collections are on display. There you could learn everything about the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine and their missions. I was blown away by that museum!

carmar

I have no suggestions but just wanted to chime in. We were in Dresden 3 years ago and LOVED it. The weather was cold and rainy but it only held us back from doing a few things we wanted to do (boat ride dowm the Elbe) It is a beautiful city and nice people and oh that architecture......

Have a great time.