anyone been to Dresden.....?

[olivia41]

Hi, am thinking of taking family to Germany this year to celebrate DH's birthday..... we're doing a few days in various places which include 3 days in Dresden. Is there enough to do in Dresden? Is it worth visiting? DH is into history/culture etc, any advice appreciated! Thanks.

Yes, Dresden is fantastic!

If museums are your thing, the Zwinger alone would take you 3 days to get round. The zoo is lovely and when we went it was pretty quiet, not mobbed like zoos here. The Frauenkirche is worth a visit. Beautiful setting on the river, and you can take boat trips. We hired bikes one day too and went on a bike ride along the river. It's a lovely city and 3 days really isn't enough.

If you want to get out of town, Saxon Switzerland has the Bastei Bridge which is amazing. There are also castles and walks around the area (we had a car which made getting out and about a bit easier -trams are good within the city). You can also visit the Meissen pottery.

This all sounds fantastic, NGNB! This is really encouraging and sounds right up our street - the Bastei Bridge sounds well worth a visit - I've wanted to go to Germany for years.... can't wait to go! Many thanks for your comments.

I love the former GDR! I lived in Leipzig for 6 months back in 1988.

Where else are you going?

Oh, and brush up on your German - lots of people in Dresden, particularly the older ones, learnt Russian at school rather than English.

And how could I forget about Colditz Castle? Dresden seemed to have mainly German tourists, but at Colditz there were Brits, Dutch, etc. Strangely the average German doesn't seem to know much about Colditz...

Numberlock, we are also hoping to go to Berlin and maybe Munich....

NGNB - Colditz Castle a must!! Thanks again,

Berlin is one of my favourite cities, I can recommend the former East German part in particular.

Potsdam and Sanssouci are also worth a visit and not far from Berlin.

Also Weimar and Leipzig.

I'd skip Munich but that's only my personal opinion!

I love Dresden, and Berlin. I would also skip Munich, the only German city I've been to and not liked. I like Germany generally, especially the former GDR.

Thanks, Numberlock and Kindle, although was geared up for Munich (as well as Berlin etc), now starting to have doubts!!

It depends on personal taste though. I find Munich very meh. To me, it's nearest to the cliches of Germany - grumpy people, bad food, dull town. Obviously some interesting 1930s and 40s history there though. The rest of Germany I love, I could happily live in Germany. But I'm sure Munich also has its fans.

I really want to go back to the former GDR now! Sadly most of my dealings are in West German these days. I need to plan a road trip!