City: Dresden

Country: Germany

Season: During Christmas season(Early December)

Your 2-day City Guide to Dresden

After almost 4 years in Berlin, I finally made it to Dresden, I am still not sure why it took me so long, well it is better later than never. Dresden was everything I had imagined and more. Dresden used to be called the  “Florence on the Elbe” and was and still, is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, understandably so, its opulent baroque architecture, the incredible Art and beautiful canals make it a perfect city escape, I hope you enjoy reading this City Guide to Dresden as much as I enjoyed writing it and reminiscing my time there.  

We decided to visit during the Christmas season so we could pay a visit to the Striezelmarkt, the oldest Christmas market in the world, of course, there’s so much more to the city than the Christmas market, Dresden is such a beautiful city with so much to offer. Here are some things to do in this charming city.

We took the Flexibus from Berlin to Dresden, and it was super easy and affordable, it took us 2h30 one way and we paid 41.50€ per person roundtrip ticket by bus.

Day 1 Dresden City Guide

Konditerei Kreutzkamm

First, we visited the Konditerei Kreutzkamm, since 1825, they have offered delicious German cakes and have the cutest vintage decor, eierschecke is one of my favourite German cakes which is originally from Dresden so, of course, I had to try it, the cakes were really good and the service was quick and friendly, its quite a popular spot so the waiting time could be anywhere in between 10 to 20 minutes for a table. You can also buy some traditional Christmas stollen from them, a stollen is a traditional German cake people eat through the festive season it is also typical of Saxony. The cafe was right by the  Striezelmarkt we could already see the festivities from there.

Afterwards, we walked around the Dresden city centre, most places of interest are in the city centre, and it’s quite convenient to walk around, we only took the bus once from the hotel to the Christmas market as it was late and we didn’t feel like walking anymore other than that we walked everywhere. We visited the Bruhls terrace with the lake and magnificent architecture that Dresden is known for right beside the Bruhls terrace we had a relaxing walk around the Garden and walked around the cute little alleys, there were people selling street art and souvenir shops.

Bruhl’s terrace

Fustenzug

Right beside Bruhl’s terrace is located the famous Fustenzug, Dresden has one of the largest porcelain-tile artworks in the world, the “Fürstenzug” or “Procession of Princes” is a work of art which has 101 m in length and is made out of 24,000 porcelain tiles depicting dukes, kings, as well as scientists, it’s an awe-inspiring work of art.

Where to Stay and How to Get Around

Holiday Inn Dresden-city South

Afterwards, we headed to our hotel, to refresh and relax, and eat something light before we head out to the Christmas market. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Dresden-city South, it was quite central but we still walked around 30 minutes from the old town, the hotel was nice, had a little restaurant/bar and the service was lovely but we figured out that they had another chain right in the middle of the old town, and the price was almost the same if we knew it before we would have booked the other one but it was still central.

We walked to most of the places and took the bus once from the hotel straight to the old town, the good thing about Dresden is that it is fairly small compared to Berlin and the must-visit spots were located very close to each other, cities like Dresden make it so much easier to visit and move around for a quick getaway, especially because transportation is always one of the biggest considerations when we visit a place.

Striezelmarkt Christmas market

Lastly, our last stop of the day was a visit to the Striezelmarkt Christmas market, the world’s oldest Christmas market, I am obsessed with Christmas markets, its one of my favourite German traditions, I was super excited to visit Dresden during this time of the year, it was a nice visit, we tried lots of food, did some shopping, some shows, it wasn’t as big as I expected and I saw in pictures but it was indeed a nice market and we had a good time.

Tip: On the bus stops they also had a card vending machine, which was super easy to use, I liked it because it was easy and convenient, in Berlin you usually have to buy the inside the bus, which can slow down the journey if everyone is buying their ticket from the bus driver.

Day 2 Dresden City Guide

First things first, we need to eat, quite frankly we both regretted that we didn’t eat at the hotel, because I wanted to visit a brunch spot in town, I was naive enough to think that we would get a table on a weekend without a reservation, we did only not get a table on this cute brunch spot, we searched so many others around and they were all fully booked, they didn’t even have a waiting list so we ended up finding a place at the end but not to our liking, don’t be like us and plan.

URBEAN

 The brunch spot we wanted to try but failed, they have great reviews, and we will for sure visit Dresden again, and hopefully next time we will then try it.

Molkerei Gebrüder Pfund

After our not-so-great brunch, we decided to visit the Oldest milk store in the world, since we were a new part of town not so far from the old town, but it was a different part, we were in the area near the Urbean cafe and the oldest Milk store was around a 15to 20 minutes walk, so we walked until we arrived at the  Molkerei Gebrüder Pfund, the shop is so cute, they have lovely cakes and it was surprisingly empty upstairs where you can sit and relax and try their delicious cakes, this shop dates back from 1880, the vintage decor, the tiles, and the ceiling everything looked like a fairytale, I would recommend to add it on your Dresden itinerary for a cake and coffee break in a beautiful seating.

The Zwinger

Our last stop in Dresden was the Zwinger, we went to the Zwinger on day 1 briefly but this place is so huge, there’s so much architecture, art, and history that we decided to come on day 2 to spend as much as time possible as we could. If there’s only one thing you should do while in Dresden it has to be the Gemaldegalerie alte meister inside the Zwinger, this Galerie is one of the most impressive galleries I’ve been to, you can easily spend hours in there.

Final Reflection

Dresden was a fun weekend trip, a perfect city trip away, and very doable on the weekend being less than 3 hours away from Berlin, we had a lovely time during the festive season. It is certainly one of the most beautiful cities I’ve visited in Germany, in many ways it reminded me of Budapest and Prague, the public transportation works fairly well, However, we walked to most places since we were fairly near the city centre, I hope this guide was helpful and you can get some tips and ideas as you plan your Dresden getaway.

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