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Dresden
Capital city of Saxony, Germany

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig.

Plan a trip to Dresden→From Schkeuditz

It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area, and the third-most populous city in the area of former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg, and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has over 1.3 million inhabitants.

Get in

Getting to Dresden

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  1. 01
    Dresden Airport
  2. 02
    Dresden Hauptbahnhof
  3. 03
    Dresden-Neustadt

    Some trains terminate here and not at Hauptbahnhof.

  4. 04
    Intercity bus station platform 1 and 2
See

Worth seeing

Dresden is a very beautiful, light-spirited city, especially in summer, when you can appreciate the serene setting of the historic centre. Although Dresden is larger than Munich when measured by area, the historic centre is quite compact and walkable.

  1. 01
    Frauenkirche

    The original Church of Our Lady was completely destroyed during World War II; however, it has been reconstructed.

  2. 02
    Zwinger Palace

    Theaterplatz 1 ( 4 8 and 9 Theaterplatz and 11 am Zwingerteich), besucherservice@skd.museum.

  3. 03
    Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister

    A highly regarded collection featuring around 700 European works from the 15th to the 18th century.

  4. 04
    Porzellansammlung

    A unique collection showcasing the obsession with "white gold" during the 18th century.

  5. 05
    Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon
  6. 06
    Residenzschloss
Do

Things to do

Semperoper. Go to a performance or take a tour. Be sure to book in advance. Details are in the listing in the See section.

Eat

Where to eat

Dresden is particularly famous for its Stollen (a Christmas cake made from yeast dough with raisins, butter and almonds) Locals perennially discuss which bakery bakes the best Stollen. Another speciality is Dresdner Eierschecke, a cake with three layers: a thin base of yeast dough, a layer of quark pudding in the middle, and a broad layer of egg yolk cream on top.

How locals move

Getting around Dresden the local way

  • Get in{{go | name | url information@dresden-airport.de | address 51.134444 | long in Klotzsche, a north Dresden borough | phone | hours | wikipedia Q657005 | lastedit=2026-04-27 | content=Mostly served by charter flights to popular holiday destinations.
  • Get aroundThree ferries cross the Elbe and two cable car systems go up Loschwitz hill.
  • Get around(VVO covers 27 municipalities in central Saxony.) VVO tickets are valid on all buses, trams, regional trains and some ferries within a particular zone in the VVO network area.
  • Get aroundIt allows you to use all trams, buses, most ferries and trains (except InterCitys and ICEs) and is relatively cheap.
  • Get aroundDresden has a lot of cycle rickshaws, mostly operating around the Old Town.

From Wikivoyage: Dresden, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.