Beautiful natural sanctuary in the middle of urban Dresden! Can't wait to be back next.read more

Beautiful gardens that extend for quite a while just outside the city centre. The Großer Garten is…read morea baroque style park. It is oblong in shape and covers an area of about 2 km² in a central location of the city. Established in 1676, it has been a public garden since 1814. A central feature of the park is the Sommerpalais. Established outside the old walls of the city, the park was encompassed by the significant growth of the urban area in the second half of the 19th century. A miniature railway known as the Parkeisenbahn was developed by youth organisations of the former GDR in 1950. The Volkswagen's Transparent Factory is the newest building built here and is located at the Straßburger Platz in the northwest corner of the park. Take time to walk around and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere. There is a nice cafe and Biergarten in the centre of the park that serves pretty decent food. A must visit when in Dresden.

Cute tourist trains covering most of the park with frequent departure. The steam locomotive is a…read morereal gem. This kind of attractions make a nice park real outstanding. The train is pretty fast for its size and therefore with small children (2 years old) it feels a bit unsafe with only a little chain to protect them from falling out.

Saxon Switzerland National Park (or in German, Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz) is one of those…read moreamazing discoveries that I think I will be strongly recommending to all my friends if they ever travel to the eastern part of Germany. Located about an hour east from Dresden (along the Elbe River), it's easy to get here by train from the city's main station. We got off at Kurort Rathen, an impossibly charming village and then waited for the ferry to take us across to the other side. From there, you follow signs to the Bastei lookout, an impressive cliff that you can immediately see once you get the train. The hike up to Bastei is a few miles. Uphill but not too strenuous. And it's beautiful. We were here in late March and I can only guess how much more vibrant it would be at the end of summer when the trees and flowers are in full bloom. Once you reach the top, you are presented with unparalleled views of the Elbe Valley in every direction, as well as close-up views of the unusual sandstone cliffs jutting out from the hillside. After resting at the Panorama Restaurant at the top of Bastei, you can hike several ways back down. We chose to not retrace our steps and instead continued down to the next town over, Stadt Wahlen, another charming haven consisting of a few homes and a church. From there, you take another ferry across the river to the train station where you can head back to Dresden. If you're not a hiker, don't let that stop you. By car, you can drive directly up to Bastei and enjoy the views without having to walk (although what really makes this experience is the hike and the views of the meadows and trees along the way).