Access Dresden Read the dark stones and the pale.
Königstein fortress on its table mountain
DOWNRIVER, UPRIVER AND OVER THE BORDER

Day Trips

Meißen's porcelain and castle, the sandstone rocks of Saxon Switzerland, Moritzburg's lake palace, and Prague.

Kora27, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
MeißendownriverMoritzburgnorthDresdenPillnitzin the cityRathen · BasteiSaxon SwitzerlandKönigsteinPragueover the border
The Albrechtsburg above the Elbe, Meißen
Meißendownriver, by S-BahnThe Albrechtsburg above the Elbe, MeißenRolf Kranz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Bastei bridge, Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerlandupriver, by S-Bahn and ferryThe Bastei bridge, Saxon SwitzerlandKora27, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Schloss Moritzburg in its lake
Moritzburgnorth, by bus or narrow-gauge railwaySchloss Moritzburg in its lakeBybbisch94, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Prague Castle above the Vltava
Pragueabout 2¼ hours by trainPrague Castle above the VltavaGiorgio Galeotti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
  1. 01Why the Elbe is the plan
  2. 02Meißen, downriver
  3. 03Saxon Switzerland, upriver
  4. 04Moritzburg
  5. 05Prague, over the border

01Why the Elbe is the plan

Dresden sits halfway along a river valley that runs from the Czech border to Meißen, and the same S-Bahn line and the same paddle steamers follow it both ways. None of the places below is Dresden — each is its own town or landscape, which is exactly why they are worth a day.

02Meißen, downriver

Downriver to the north-west, Meißen is the town where Europe's first hard-paste porcelain was made, in 1710, and its factory still works there. Above the old town stand the Albrechtsburg castle and the cathedral on their rock.

The S-Bahn runs every half hour; get off at Meißen Altstadt, the stop nearest the old town. The steamers go too, much more slowly.

03Saxon Switzerland, upriver

Upriver, the Elbe cuts through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains: towers and cliffs of sandstone — the same stone Dresden is built of. The classic walk is up to the Bastei, a rock bridge high above the river: take the S-Bahn to Kurort Rathen and the little ferry across the water.

Further upriver, the fortress of Königstein sits on its table mountain — where the Green Vault's treasures were hidden during the war.

04Moritzburg

Fifteen kilometers north, Schloss Moritzburg is a baroque hunting palace on an island in a lake. Take the train to Dresden-Neustadt and the bus from there — or, the slow way, the S-Bahn to Radebeul Ost and the narrow-gauge steam railway through the Lößnitz valley.

05Prague, over the border

Prague is about two and a quarter hours away by the direct trains through the Elbe gorge — possible in a day, though it rewards more. If you are going, Access Prague covers the city practically, from the koruna and the tram tickets to which of its two main stations your train arrives at.

Other sections

The SightsEighteen places on two banksGetting HereTwo stations, one on each bankGetting AroundTrams, ferries and a bridge to walk