Dresden

The recently rebuilt Church Of Our Lady
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The warm European weather continued as we arrived in Dresden. Our hostel was only 20-30 mins walk from the town centre, but regular trams and trains could take you all over the city with typical German efficiency.

This city is best known historically for the controversial carpet bombing by Allied forces when WWII was virtually over. Most of the old city was completely flattened, and we could see the enormous efforts that have been made to restore the old buildings to their former glory. In particular, the spectacular Church Of Our Lady has just been completed and is well worth a visit. As with other German cities we have visited, the old buildings are floodlit after dark. This makes an evening walk along the river extra special.

Stunning scenery surrounds this historic riverside city

Limestone canyons on the hike up to Bastei
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The River Elbe is an important feature of the city. The long water-wheel ferries were a relaxing way to see the well-tended houses and gardens along the banks. An interesting feature of these craft were that the hinged funnels could be lowered and raised as they passed under bridges. Large swathes of grassed areas along the banks were popular picnic spots for the locals.

Our second day saw us take an S-Bahn train south along the river towards the Czech border. We stopped at a small riverside town called Stadt Wehlen. We had been recommended a walk around this area by our hostel staff and the scenery did not disappoint. At this point on the river, the banks rise to become towering limestone outcrops and cliffs some 300m high. Well-graded walking tracks take you through lush forest, dark canyons and finally up to the highest point on the cliffs overlooking the river. An ancient system of stone walls and buttresses built right into the cliffs and towers make an incredible place to visit, making this the highlight of Dresden for us. This National Park area is known as Bastei and is best visited during the week when there aren’t quite so many crowds of tourists (there is also a road up to the top, making it easy to avoid the hike up).

The ancient stone bridge across the towering outcrops of Bastei
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A lot of the BusAbout travellers tend to skip Dresden due to time and cost restraints. We were really glad we spent a little longer there, since a day trip out into the German countryside made a great change from all the cities on the trip. We were also surprised by the number of locals who spoke good English, even in the small towns. That didn’t put us off at least trying to speak the basics in Deutsche, we found it really is appreciated when you put a bit of effort in.