Is One Day in Dresden, Germany Enough? | What to See in Dresden

In this Dresden travel vlog we visit Dresden, Germany to see what to do in Dresden and whether you should spend more than one day in Dresden when you visit!

⏩ CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
0:09 Frauenkirche
0:55 Procession of Princes
1:38 Zwinger Dresden
2:33 Yenidze
4:00 Frauenkirche Climb
5:28 Dresden Neustadt
5:48 Pfunds Molkerei
7:29 Kunsthofpassage
8:10 Biking Infrastructure
8:44 St. Martin's Church
9:45 Golden Rider
10:07 Augustus Bridge
10:49 Biergarten
11:59 Augustus Bridge Crossing
12:40 Dresden City Center
13:27 Dresden Altmarkt
14:06 Watzke Brewery
14:55 Eierschecke
15:34 Is One Day in Dresden Enough?

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🤔 WHO IS MY TRAVEL BF?
We are Mike and Becca, two passionate travelers who love traveling deep and experiencing a place through its food, history, and culture.
#dresden #germanytravel #travelguide

[WAJK]

Oh Boy. You didn’t even scratch the surface. As someone who is deeply rooted in this city, i can tell you one of the most important aspects of our valley, is the nature. Dresden is one of the greenest cities of Europe, mainly because of or grand Central Park „Großer Garten“, the Elbe which was kept with wide green habitats on its banks which we use as bathing beaches and Picknick areas and because of the „Dresdner Heide“, a large forest 80 m above the city, connecting to the Dresden high lands „Schönfelder Hochland“, which around Malchendorf, look and feel much like Ireland, especially in Spring, with lush green meadows, blossoming apple trees and these typical brown high land cows grazing all day, while giving amazing valley views.

Another important connection to our valley Geography, is our vineyards. We got 3 main locations to explore for this.
1. in the middle of the city, we have 3 very distinct castles sitting at 70 to 80 m above the city, with gorgeous views above the city center and the green districts of Dresden-Striesen and Dresden-Blasewitz on the opposite side of the River. Two of the castles can be visited for free, while the third is a luxury hotel built in a Scottish style. At the Lingner Palace, you may sit on the palace terrace and enjoy either a affordable beer garden on one side or a proper restaurant on the other side of the terrace, both with amazing city views. You may also encounter young couples getting married up there. The Castles have smaller vineyards attached to them and you can wander through one of them on stairs leading down to the river.
2. The Pillnitz district is famous for its summer palace, used by noblemen and royalty to flee the hot city. It’s Palace garden is worth a stroll, even if it costs a bit to enter. But for me as a local who loves to hike, the nearby Pillnitz vineyards are lovely to wander through. You may even connect your hike with a steeper climb through a creek canyon up to the Malchendorf Highlands!
3. The area of Radebeul and Meissen is east Germanies biggest vineyard area, easily reachable by train within 10 minutes from the main station. Here you will find typical vineyard architecture, big operating wine making companies (i recommend white, rose and sparkling wines for tasting) and again amazing hikes through vast plantations with great views of our green valley and the river. At the top, the Spitzhaus invites hikers to take a seat on their terraces and enjoy cold beverages. If you are exploring at afternoons or at the weekend, chances are very high, you will be able to take a seat in very small owner operated vineyards bars „Besenwirtschaft“, which lets you sit down under grape vines, drink their house wines and eat freshly baked „Flammkuchen“, made by the same hands who tend to the grapes.

Of course there is so much more to discover in here, especially the way of living in the Dresden Valley itself, which tends to slow everyone a bit down compared to other busy cities in Germany (i recommend to take a few days more, if possible, to actually experience this yourself). If you are lucky, you might be able to visit one of a dozen of our music, theater and art festivals, ranging from concerts in our major venues, over „Kleinkunst“ by artisans to our famous Dresden Film Festival, offering a more international atmosphere over 2 weeks. Someone else here mentioned our major art exhibitions already, so i only will add to that the yearly diploma / bachelor / master exhibitions of our fine arts university, the Dresden music university and our dance college - interesting for everyone who likes modern art and loves to see young artists standing around with their professors sipping wine and smoking Pott, while being totally serious about their art business. ^^ Dresden once was one of the cultural centers of Europe and we are investing a lot of money and love into getting back to that status. That being said, do not miss out on nightly street life of the Dresden-Neustadt district. Here you find dozens and dozens of Bars, Restaurants, tiny to small cinemas, small stage art spots and a few electronic and techno clubs in sand stone vaulted basements. The night hours will let you feel how young our population is, due to over a dozen of Universities and colleges. I recommend trying a few of local brews like „Elbhang Rot“ or „Vier Vogel Pils“, made in small (but professional) backyard breweries. You can also get these local brews in the craft beer store next to one of the exits of the Kunsthofpassage. You may drink them there, while sitting on the side walk or in the nearby Alaunpark, which is full of life and parties especially at the after hours and at the weekend in the warmer period. I recommend to visit us starting from April (Apple Blossom at the Dresden Highlands) to the End of September. Ofc saxony offers other amazing spots to visit, as mentioned in the video, but i feel this might be enough of travel tips for this comment section.

Greetings from Dresden! Come visit us again.

[astro_erik]

As a resident of the beautiful city Dresden, I encourage you to come visit us.

[jimreichardt]

I rented a bike at the train station and went on the bike path along the Elbe river. In a few minutes you can’t see the city at all! I happened into a restaurant for lunch that turned out to be Friedrich Schiller’s regular spot! I loved Dresden!

[diedampfbrasse]

My 2 cents as a native:
Currently we have to deal with a collapsed bridge, but if you visit Dresden in the future after that obstacle is gone and if limited to 48h I would strongly advise to skip Neustadt. Instead take 1 day for the classic Altstadt round and 1 day for a short trip on a steamer upriver, on the way you will get an amazing view on the cities riverside having some beautiful residences and green, you will go under an impressive new bridge and then under a beautiful old steel bridge (Blaues Wunder). Then you should get off in Dresden-Pillnitz to visit the palace and park there ... on the way back on that side of the river you have a historic rare suspension railway and a historic funicular, both going up a steep incline to get another nice view over the river in Dresden. Coming from those you then can cross the blue wonder bridge ... plenty of places to get coffee, cake and beer on this popular tour we natives take just like tourists, so dont fill up too much in advance.

[mimamo]

Beside the Church of our Lady there are two other must sees in Dresden's old town, which you sadly didn't see.
1) The Residence Palace with gorgeous renaissance courtyards, baroque interiors, and the greatest jewelry collection in the world, the Green Vault. Honestly, the British crown jewels look humble next to the size and splendor of the Saxon jewel collection.
2) The Old Masters Gallery. The sculpture and painting collection are on the smaller side, compared to other great European collections. However, the Old Master Gallery is among the most exquisite collections in the world. Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer... They've got main works of all of them.
Lastly, the courtyard of the Zwinger Palace is for over 2 years now under construction. It shouldn't really come as a surprise... This year will be the final year of construction though. By the end of the year all is supposed to be finished.

[boeni]

Thanks for the nice overview on this beautiful city I call home.
I was pleasently surprised you heard about Yenidze and Pfundsmolkerei. It's worth a visit in deed.
If you're just walking around looking at the buildings/the architecture I think the 48h can be enough (for the city centre). But going a little deeper (have you heard about "Festung Dresden"?) and visiting on or two of our incredible museums will take up a lot more time. You were disappointed by the custruction inside the Zwinger? See the vast collection of porcelain instead ot go look at the previously mentioned Old Masters gallery.
Btw I totally agree with one comment earlier: you have to see Pillnitz castle next time you're around 😉
Be safe on your travels and thanks for the video!

[fuquantiegermann]

Since I didn't find it in the comments (or maybe overlooked it in the longer ones), the Hokusai Wave is a memorial to the severe flooding we had in 2002. I was personally affected as I lived close to the city center and where there once was a road, the river Weißeritz took over.

As for the Yenidze, there are fairytale readings in the dome on top. The restaurant is pretty average, but the view is quite nice, even though there isn't much to see from there.
I agree with the other commenters that the museums are a highlight of Dresden, but it takes a lot of time to see everything.

As for the Christmas Market, I'm not a huge fan of those in general, but the Striezelmarkt is one of the oldest as far as I know. Lots of food, drink and crafts to buy at inflated prices.

Great video! Thank you so much for showcasing the beautiful city I live in.

[ichich]

In one day you can see most of the things in Dresden oldtown. The place have enough to offer to keep you entertained for a lifetime. Sächsische Schweiz is my favourite destination as a local the area is huge but can be overtouristed, also you can feel completly isolated depends where you go. Meißen, Bautzen, Moritzburg and so many other locations are also worth a trip. I live here all my life and recently i showed the area to guest and made a program. There are so many things to discover even for me. Dresden also have tons of museums, art galleries, jewelry displays n stuff. The ruler who shaped the city most was probably the biggest Lebemann after Ludwig XIV and Casanova(who also spent a fair ammount of time in the city and surroundings).

[itsmebatman]

If you come to Dresden and have some time you should also check out interesting sites in the area. Castle Moritzburg is not far away and a great place to visit. Also if you really have time, then taking a hike in the South East in the Elbsandsteingebirge is beautiful.

[blindscribe]

The wave on Augustusbrücke should have a high water mark somewhere close to it, at least before recent bridge refurbishment, that indicated the river level in 2002 when there was huge flooding of the city, 30k plus people displaced. It was a once in a hundred year event…but you know, global warming and stuff :)

[TalasDD]

Ill just list the sight you had to have walked by: Alte und neue meister, Synagoge memorial, Pulverturm, Festung dresden, Schloss, Militärhistorisches museum (direktly oposite to st.martins.), Kügelkenhaus, Stadtgallerie. And there are many wich you didnt walk by.

[TalasDD]

so in once did the calculation. If you want to see and visit all national relevant and unique sights in Dresden you need about 9 days at 8 hours a day.

[hape]

You skipped the "Green Vault"?!?!?!

[Tet-Offensive]

Hi My Travel BF, awesome video… thanks ..b safe wow the food looks great. Mum mum

[gonzagac]

Thoroughly enjoyed our day trip in Dresden when we visit Prague. Would love to go back one day as there were still works going at the time we went and also that was end of 2020 when Covid restrictions still a little bit strict…can’t go to restaurants without your Covid vaccine 😏

[sacroyalty]

Gutter music, never thought I’d hear that phrase lol !