Dresden

[Masbroughlad]

Planning our pre-Christmas trip to Germany. Considering Dresden.

It seems there are no direct flights from the UK? Can anyone tell me the best place to fly to (direct from UK) in Germany (or Eastern Europe) for a rail connection to Dresden please?

Any other hints for things to do in and around Dresden will be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Berlin or Leipzig

 

[duesselmartin]

Berlin or Leipzig

yes, both are very close and have good connections to Dresden. Mind you, Berlin-Tegel is not rail connected, so a bus is needed to the Hauptbahnhof. Train times and fares can be found here of course.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=15049&country=DEU&rt=1&newrequest=yes&&country=GBR

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Easy enough from Berlin or Prague, just over 2 hours, plenty of low-cost flights.
Leipzig is nearer, but not as many flights.
You can always connect on Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich.

The Elbe steamers won't be running, but there's plenty of culture if you're interested (opera, concerts, museums).
The Elbe gorge sandstone area (Bastei etc) to the south east makes an easy trip by train.
Same route as Prague but you use local trains to Rathen or similar.
Excellent walking country.

 

[30907]

Take a trip out to Bad Schandau, then either the tramway up the Kirnitschtal or the branch to Sebnitz (and over the border into CZ) which is scenic, as is Heidenau-Altenberg.
From Sebnitz you can come back via Neustadt to Pirna, but I haven't done that bit.
Or catch a bus as VVO Dayrovers are for all modes.

Zittau for the NG steam is do-able, but more obviously there are 2 NG steam lines closer to hand, the Loessnitztalbahn at Radebeul Ost and the Weisseritztalbahn (from Dippoldiswalde ATM IIRC).

Then there's the trams, which include a hill climb to the south of the city - some old Tatra bogies if it's busy too, and maybe even the VW Cargo tram IF it's running).

How long have you got?!

BTW the low cost operators mostly use Schönefeld which has STILL not been replaced by BBI and is served by the S-Bahn and some REs.

As a bonus, ISTR that Berlin-Dresden trains are diverted via a freight only route to near Riesa (it's no slower).

 

[gordonthemoron]

The most beautiful milk shop in the world

 

[306024]

Prague has a good choice of flights, and the journey to Dresden featured in the underrated European journeys thread - one of my favourites. With the added bonus of Prague itself.

 

[fandroid]

I doubt that you will find direct flights to Leipzig, although the airport there does have a station so it's better than Berlin. If you fly to Berlin Tegel, there is a frequent bus, the TXL which connects the airport with Berlin Hauptbahnhof, from where you can get trains to Dresden. I recommend Dresden. It's a lovely place despite the activities of the RAF and USAF in 1945. As already mentioned, plenty of railway interest in the vicinity.

 

[30907]

Last time I looked Ryanair flew there but only from STN.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

It's a lovely place despite the activities of the RAF and USAF in 1945.

We visited Dresden a few years back, apparently there is still some ill feeling towards the British, so don't advertise your presence too much (although not likely to get anything more than evil glares).

There is a big military museum on the outskirts of town and an interesting Dresden Fortress Museum in the centre, underground in the remains of the old Middle Ages fortifications.

 

[Senex]

As a bonus, ISTR that Berlin-Dresden trains are diverted via a freight only route to near Riesa (it's no slower).

There's a major closure on the Dresdner Bahn for upgrading work to continue, so ICs are diverted to the Anhalter Bahn to Jüterbog and on over the original main line to Dresden which took the form of a branch from Jüterbog through Falkenberg to a junction with the Leipzig-Dresden line just to the east of Riesa, on the east side of the Elbe at Zeithain. The route is electrified the whole way. Jüterbog to Falkenberg remains single (after the Soviet post-WW2 reparations), but the freight-only section south of Falkenberg was re-doubled a good few years ago.

If you haven't been in that area for a while, the route along the Leipzig-Dresden line uses the new connection from that line to the Dresdner Bahn south of Großenhain, from Abzw Leckwitz to Abzw Kottewitz (and south of Leckwitz the classic Leipzig line now handles local passenger traffic and freight traffic only).

 

[ChiefPlanner]

We visited Dresden a few years back, apparently there is still some ill feeling towards the British, so don't advertise your presence too much (although not likely to get anything more than evil glares).

There is a big military museum on the outskirts of town and an interesting Dresden Fortress Museum in the centre, underground in the remains of the old Middle Ages fortifications.

No bad feelings -to my knowledge and I have been there 6 or so times - and had discussions over beer with some locals - remember this was 70 years ago near enough - the DDR era now is being replaced and much fine restoration work is being done.

Dresden has a good Christmas Market in the rebuilt and rebuilding Alstadt - some fine cultural things going on (went to a concert in the Frauenkirch last I was there and nice , cold , bright weather is good for exploring the area by tram ! (lovely old suburbs and the Blaues Wonder bridge over the Elbe) - Neustadt has some good "grungy" pubs which are entertaining....

 

[johnnychips]

While waiting for a steam train at Radebeul Ost, tramride from the centre, there is a museum of East German life, where I could have spent all day.

 

[Harbornite]

We visited Dresden a few years back, apparently there is still some ill feeling towards the British, so don't advertise your presence too much (although not likely to get anything more than evil glares).

There is a big military museum on the outskirts of town and an interesting Dresden Fortress Museum in the centre, underground in the remains of the old Middle Ages fortifications.

I suspect this only applies to some older residents and perhaps some naive younger ones. After all, the British did pay for the reconstruction of one of Dresden's landmarks.

 

[Senex]

I suspect this only applies to some older residents and perhaps some naive younger ones. After all, the British did pay for the reconstruction of one of Dresden's landmarks.

I lived there for a year in the seventies and certainly didn't encounter any ill feeling towards the British.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Very fond of Dresden - I was lucky enough to go there in 1989 when it was still very DDR - the HBF was a blackened and run down (but grand station) , and the NG lines were carrying out real transport functions - including carrying bundles of newspapers. My interest has been further developed by reading the 3 volumes of Viktor Klemperor - a German-Jewish academic and writer - who kept a detailed diary from 1933 to his death in 1960 - and who avoided deportation and survived the bombing ,fled to West Germany - walked back to Dresden , and got his old job back at the Technical University.

 

[Senex]

Very fond of Dresden - I was lucky enough to go there in 1989 when it was still very DDR - the HBF was a blackened and run down (but grand station) , and the NG lines were carrying out real transport functions - including carrying bundles of newspapers. My interest has been further developed by reading the 3 volumes of Viktor Klemperor - a German-Jewish academic and writer - who kept a detailed diary from 1933 to his death in 1960 - and who avoided deportation and survived the bombing ,fled to West Germany - walked back to Dresden , and got his old job back at the Technical University.

I agree with you very strongly about the interest of Viktor Klemperer's writings -- very much worth reading. (And he was a cousin of Otto Klemperer!) It was the TU Dresden (formerly the Technische Hochschule Dresden, now I think the Universität Dresden) that I was working at. The Hbf and Neustadt have always been very fine and well-designed stations, though completely changed in recent years. Both classic German carefully-though-out layouts to segregate traffic-flows. (And both of them stations where one of the km-sequences reads from zero in a foreign country.)

 

[Gordon]

Very fond of Dresden - I was lucky enough to go there in 1989 when it was still very DDR and the NG lines were carrying out real transport functions -

The Radebeul line still carries out a real function - first train on schooldays is the 04.56 from Radebeul Ost...

and the first section out of Radebeul Ost is gutter running along the street past people's front garden fences - not generally the stuff of 'preserved' railways in the UK sense

I too went to Dresden in 1989 (camping - the camp site was an even better eastern bloc experience...).


An excellent hotel in the suburbs is the Mercure Elbepromenade near Dresden Cotta on RB31 - ask for an upper floor room looking towards Meissen and you can sit in your room and watch the parade of freights trains on the along the Elbe and on through Cotta station. Tram passes the hotel or a short walk from Cotta station.

A short distance north from Cotta there is a good station for photography - Dresden Stetzsch



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[ChiefPlanner]

I wanted to go up the Baltic Coast for a bit of narrow gauge railway bashing - but ahve found it impossible to get suitable accommodation so have caved in for 3 days in Dresden this week ! (life is hard) - flying int Berlin and train into Saxony.

Anyone know if the freight trams are still running ?

Any hints on a quick run out to Bad Schandau (told there are some interesting minor tram lines down there in Saxon Switzerland.

Of course - I will again be paying my respects to V Klemperor ....

 

[306024]

We visited Dresden a few years back, apparently there is still some ill feeling towards the British, so don't advertise your presence too much (although not likely to get anything more than evil glares).

Well it wasn't apparent today (no evil glares). In fact never had any problems with Germans anywhere. Indeed it surprises me how open they are regarding their history. You weren't doing a Basil Fawlty impression by any chance?

Another trip today from Dresden to Prague. Scenary along the Elbe top notch as mentioned previously.

 

[coppercapped]

Visit the rebuilt Frauenkirche - it is breathtaking, especially if you can listen to the organ being played.

There was a collection in Britain to pay for the replacement cross on the top of the steeple. A true symbol of reconciliation.

Dresden is full of museums - including the State Art Collections in the Zwinger Palace. Apart from many, as in a lot of, Old Masters it also has a fascinating Mathematics and Physics Salon. This includes clocks, surveying equipment and techniques and the mathematics of gunnery and cannon fire. All this led to the development of surveying methods which ultimately enabled the building of canals, railways and roads. Quite fascinating.

 

[Railman10]

Planning our pre-Christmas trip to Germany. Considering Dresden.

It seems there are no direct flights from the UK? Can anyone tell me the best place to fly to (direct from UK) in Germany (or Eastern Europe) for a rail connection to Dresden please?

Any other hints for things to do in and around Dresden will be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

I'd fly to Berlin where there are good connections to Dresden. I doubt there's an easier place to fly to for a connection to Dresden and of course Berlin is well worth a visit. There's plenty to see and do in Dresden but Leipzig is also a city worth visiting.

If you are planning to visit Christmas Markets, have you seen this useful site?
http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/dresden_christmas_market.php

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Well it wasn't apparent today (no evil glares). In fact never had any problems with Germans anywhere. Indeed it surprises me how open they are regarding their history. You weren't doing a Basil Fawlty impression by any chance?

I love Germany, it was just something a tour guide once told us, but then they had been travelling there since the 1980s so perhaps it was more noticable then. There was also an anti-British protest in the city a few years back - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...sts-on-60th-anniversary-of-Dresden-raids.html - although far right groups in Germany now have different people to preach hate against.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Any hints on a quick run out to Bad Schandau (told there are some interesting minor tram lines down there in Saxon Switzerland.

Of course - I will again be paying my respects to V Klemperor ....

Yes, definitely worth doing it. I can't recall the name of the station but there's a small boat across the Elbe to get to the town and then an excellent tramway, the Kirschnitzschtal Eisenbahn, through a scenic gorge of eroded sandstone rock of about 30 mins duration. The town also a nice historic centre, I remember though the mandatory marks on the side of the buildings showing how high the Elbe had reached back in 2002....

 

[MarcVD]

I'd fly to Berlin where there are good connections to Dresden. I doubt there's an easier place to fly to for a connection to Dresden and of course Berlin is well worth a visit. There's plenty to see and do in Dresden but Leipzig is also a city worth visiting.

If you are planning to visit Christmas Markets, have you seen this useful site?
http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/dresden_christmas_market.php

There are direct trains to Dresden from Frankfurt Flughafen. Been there, done that...

Envoyé de mon GT-I9505 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Gordon]

Any hints on a quick run out to Bad Schandau (told there are some interesting minor tram lines down there in Saxon Switzerland.
..

That's correct:

Kirnitzschtalbahn

An interurban tramway running from Bad Schandau to Lichtenhainer Wasserfall. I did it in 1990 just after the end of the DDR when the Ex-Erfurt trams were the service cars. Nowadays they use a variety of younger Gotha/Reko two axle cars second hand from various DDR tram networks .

Bad Schandau is on the Dresden S-Bahn, but the main line station is on the south side of the river whereas the town centre and tramway is on the north side of the river, so you will have to get the ferry.



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[blackfive460]

That's correct:

Bad Schandau is on the Dresden S-Bahn, but the main line station is on the south side of the river whereas the town centre and tramway is on the north side of the river, so you will have to get the ferry.

Or a bus which, if you have a VVO day ticket is included as is the ferry.

When I did the Kirnitzschtalbahn earlier this year I only did the tram one way, walked up to the Kuhstall and back then caught the generally hourly bus back direct to Bad Schandau station.

 

[Spamcan81]

We visited Dresden a few years back, apparently there is still some ill feeling towards the British, so don't advertise your presence too much (although not likely to get anything more than evil glares).

There is a big military museum on the outskirts of town and an interesting Dresden Fortress Museum in the centre, underground in the remains of the old Middle Ages fortifications.

Utter nonsense. I have visited Dresden several times over the years and have never had any animosity directed at me at all. Everyone I've met has been most friendly.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Take a trip out to Bad Schandau, then either the tramway up the Kirnitschtal or the branch to Sebnitz (and over the border into CZ) which is scenic, as is Heidenau-Altenberg.
From Sebnitz you can come back via Neustadt to Pirna, but I haven't done that bit.
Or catch a bus as VVO Dayrovers are for all modes.

Zittau for the NG steam is do-able, but more obviously there are 2 NG steam lines closer to hand, the Loessnitztalbahn at Radebeul Ost and the Weisseritztalbahn (from Dippoldiswalde ATM IIRC).

Then there's the trams, which include a hill climb to the south of the city - some old Tatra bogies if it's busy too, and maybe even the VW Cargo tram IF it's running).

How long have you got?!

BTW the low cost operators mostly use Schönefeld which has STILL not been replaced by BBI and is served by the S-Bahn and some REs.

As a bonus, ISTR that Berlin-Dresden trains are diverted via a freight only route to near Riesa (it's no slower).

The Weisseritztalbahn runs from the S-Bahn station at Freital-Hainsberg to Dippoldiswalde. The rebuilding of the section on to Kurort Kipsdorf is finally under way so won't be too long before you can ride the full line once more.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Visit the rebuilt Frauenkirche - it is breathtaking, especially if you can listen to the organ being played.

There was a collection in Britain to pay for the replacement cross on the top of the steeple. A true symbol of reconciliation.

Dresden is full of museums - including the State Art Collections in the Zwinger Palace. Apart from many, as in a lot of, Old Masters it also has a fascinating Mathematics and Physics Salon. This includes clocks, surveying equipment and techniques and the mathematics of gunnery and cannon fire. All this led to the development of surveying methods which ultimately enabled the building of canals, railways and roads. Quite fascinating.

Indeed and there is also a Coventry Strasse in Dresden as the two cities are twinned as a result of their suffering in WW2.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Thanks for the hints on Bad Schandau - a must and will do !

 

[30907]

The Weisseritztalbahn runs from the S-Bahn station at Freital-Hainsberg to Dippoldiswalde. The rebuilding of the section on to Kurort Kipsdorf is finally under way so won't be too long before you can ride the full line once more.

Sorry, hadn't caught up with the progress at the lower end.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Anyone know if the freight trams are still running ?

I don't think so.