Art, cuisine and iconic things in autumn: 11 reasons for a city break to Dresden

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Let’s start with the first reason: Just an 80-minute flight from Switzerland, Dresden offers a wide range of options for a fun city break, with its many magnificent historic buildings, vibrant artworks, trendy shops, specialty beer gardens, and a variety of boats. Excursions to the Elbland wine region or the Saxon region of Switzerland. Thanks to the legendary “Cinderella” castle, the Striezelmarkt, Germany’s oldest Christmas market, and the famous Christmas Stollen, Dresden is also a real land of milk and honey for Christmas fans. Our bucket list shows you in detail the things to experience!

You can twist and turn it however you want. But you can’t avoid the Frauenkirche when visiting Dresden. The magnificent domed building has been the undisputed heart of the city since its reconstruction in the 1990s and can be explored on one of several guided tours focusing on history and architecture. A real highlight: the climb to the 67 meter high viewing platform with a unique view and a good overview of the city. Back downstairs, you can get a compact look at the other must-see sights of Dresden’s old town, in the historic center on the left bank of the Elbe, where the Semperoper, Zwinger and Residenzschloss are located. The touristic chocolate side of Dresden is completed with a visit to the Brühl Terrace, where you can watch the most beautiful view of the Elbe.

From the Brühl Terrace you can also see the majestic Augustus Bridge, which leads to the new town, which is the historical and cultural counterpart of the old town. In this part of Dresden, you will be greeted by the Golden Horseman, the symbol of August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, who turned Dresden into a magnificent baroque metropolis. The magnificent baroque area around Königstrasse, one of the most interesting places in Dresden, is a witness to this, right behind the equestrian statue. This part of the city is an El Dorado, especially for art lovers; The galleries and passages are literally lined up here. You shouldn’t miss the Kunsthofpassage, with its narrow streets and cozy backyards, in the adjacent Wilhelminian-style Äussere Neustadt district. This corner of Dresden is considered a popular area with many bars, pubs and clubs; is the starting point.

Besides art and pub crawl, this part of Dresden is also valuable for shopping enthusiasts. The Baroque district shines with noble boutiques and the historical marketplace. Äussere Neustadt, on the other hand, combines trendy shops selling clothes, jewellery, toys and local delicacies with a popular cheese dairy that is a popular attraction: Pfunds Molkerei at Bautzener Strasse 79 is considered the most beautiful dairy store in the world! The store, which has been in existence since 1891, has become a crowd-pleaser as it is covered in hand-painted tiles. Besides milk and cheese à gogo, you can also buy all kinds of delicacies from the region, such as mustard, jam and butter.

Chocolate – who invented it? Dresden people! The Jordan & Timaeus company was the company that created the first milk chocolate in bar form in 1839, using what was then donkey milk! It was not until more than 30 years later that the milk chocolate recipe was successfully marketed by Daniel Peter of Switzerland. You can find more information about this at the Dresden Chocolate Museum. And of course, you can try chocolate at Kamondas’ various chocolate shops.

Dresden’s diverse museum landscape leaves you spoiled for choice; There are more than 50 museums to explore. 15 of them alone are under the umbrella of the Dresden State Art Collections. Thanks to numerous important exhibitions, ambitious exhibition concepts and, most importantly, historical sites, this combination of museums is at the top of the most visited list of visitors to the city. Must-see attractions include the Old Masters Picture Gallery, featuring the world-famous Sistine Madonna, and the Green Vault at the Residenzschloss. Families have a lot to discover in the new multimedia time travel “Dresden Xperience” at the castle and Zwinger. The German Hygiene Museum is also popular. She conveys interesting facts about people and health, and scores points with the eye-catching “Glass Woman.” This human model from the 1930s provides a detailed view of the inside of the body, including the skeleton, organs, blood vessels and nerve pathways, thanks to transparent skin and muscle tissue.

About five kilometers above the old and new towns is the “Blue Wonder” bridge, another landmark of the city. The connection between the two areas, Loschwitz and Blasewitz, is a popular sightseeing spot due to the presence of restaurants and beer gardens on both sides of the bridge. This is the perfect place to enjoy Dresden’s golden autumn days with a local beer, for example with the Feldschlösschen at the ElbeGarten – that’s actually the name of the most famous Dresden beer brand! If you prefer to go high, visit Dresden’s highest beer garden on the roof of Yenidze. This striking building resembles a mosque but has housed a completely non-religious cigarette factory for decades.

If you prefer to have a glass of wine, you won’t miss Dresden and its surroundings. There is a small but very high-quality wine producing area in Elbland, in the west of the metropolis. The region can be explored by bike, ferry or on the Saxony wine trail. A particularly enjoyable way to discover the typical characteristics of Saxon wine is to visit a winemaker, take a trip to one of the many ostrich taverns or take a vineyard tour on the Saxon Wine Trail.

Of course, you can also drink exquisite wines without having to cycle or walk, that is, directly in a restaurant in the city. Gastro offerings are often large and sometimes very eventful. The “Schillergarten” in “Blauen Wunder” offers home-style cuisine, from Saxony potato soup to sauerbraten. The eponymous writer was a regular guest here in the 1780s and immortalized the then innkeeper’s daughter, Johanna Segedin, in her work “Wallenstein”. The gastronomic concept of the “Sophienkeller” in the Taschenbergpalais dates back a century. The menu includes dishes similar to those from the era of August the Strong Elector at the beginning of the 18th century. A “motley group of performers” provide entertainment with roast suckling pig and beer. Guests can experience similar fun at the “Prinzenkeller,” where a medieval adventure world is housed in a sandstone vault. People eat with daggers and fingers, mead is made from bull horns, and torches and candlelight shine atmospherically. If you prefer something quieter and want to enjoy the beautiful view of Dresden, also known as “Florence on the Elbe”, you should take the “Kahnaletto”, including carpaccio and fettuccine.

Of course, you can also go on various excursions on the Elbe by boat. One of these ships is heading for Saxon Switzerland. This is the name of Germany’s part of the stunning Elbe Sandstone Mountains, which are characterized by peculiar rock shapes and offer a breathtaking panoramic perspective with the “Bastei”. A “Switzerland” tour by ferry starts in the very center of Dresden and takes you to the famous Königstein Castle, the charming towns of Pirna, Wehlen and the health resort of Rathen, among other places. Popular sightseeing spots include Meissen, with its thousand-year-old old town and famous porcelain factory, as well as the Elbe wine village of Diesbar-Seusslitz, with its baroque castle, further down the river.

Another highlight of every visit to Dresden can be reached under steam – this time on rails: the historic Lössnitzgrundbahn runs directly to Moritzburg Castle just outside the city. An address of particular interest to television enthusiasts: the iconic Christmas movie “Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella” was filmed here in the early 1970s. Visitors can visit the castle and park, and of course also meet Cinderella, depending on travel time. From November 22, 2023 to February 25, 2024, the castle will be transformed into the magical setting of the popular fairy tale classic, with interesting information about filming, original costumes, fan objects and props.

As Moritzburg is already in prime Advent mood, it’s not far from Cinderella’s two absolute Dresden hits: Striezelmarkt and Christstollen. Germany’s oldest Christmas market is being held for the 589th time this year, starting from November 29, and is a legendary, fairy-tale Christmas with lovingly designed market houses, many handicrafts from the Ore Mountains, delicacies, mulled wine and similar attractions. It creates the atmosphere. like a historical ferris wheel. There are also ten other very different Christmas markets, such as the Advent in Neumarkt or the Elbhangfest Christmas market in Blauer Wunder. The magical “Wine and Light” at Wackerbarth Castle and the Christmas Garden at Pillnitz Castle with its impressive light installations are also an experience. The Christmas experience is completed by exhibitions that change every year, such as the City Museum of Dresden or Meissen and the Saxon Folk Art Museum, as well as concerts and theatrical performances of all kinds for young and old.

Source : Blick

Malan

I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.