One of the things I love about Brno is its central position within Europe. You can explore many parts of the Czech Republic by bus or by train, but you can also explore so many other places within Europe thanks to direct connections to Germany, Austria, Hungary, or even as far as France and Croatia!
Last week I took the 11:36 train from Brno Hlavní Nádraží all the way through to Dresden Hauptbahnhof, and spent 48 hours in Dresden. The direct return train journey cost CZK 1,865 with České Dráhy. Capital of the state of Saxony and the 12th most populous city in Germany, Dresden is famed for its cultural contribution to the world, with an abundance of art and music created and composed right in the city. Of course, it’s also well known for being the main residence of many royals and kings of Saxony through the ages, which is obvious from the number of palaces and grand buildings throughout the city.
Unfortunately, none of this is really visible from the train station. Though it’s not a bad area of town, the area around the station is a lot more modern, with large glass high rises in every direction, air-conditioned shopping malls with all the usual suspects (H&M, Berksha, C&A etc), and a bunch of chain restaurants and cafes. It is very much the shopping district, where you can find pretty much anything you’re looking for or simply enjoy the air conditioning, which is exactly what I did for my last hour or so in town! But I’m getting ahead of myself…
After leaving the train, I headed straight for the S-bahn to get to my hotel. A single ticket for the trams or S-bahn in Dresden is €3.80, and it lasts for an hour, which should be more than enough to get from A to B. You can also get a day ticket for €8.60, which I ended up buying the next day, so I didn’t have to worry about transport. As with most European cities, you need to buy your ticket from machines at the stop then validate them once you’re onboard. Don’t get caught out with this one; if you don’t validate your ticket, you will get a fine!
I was staying in the Dormero Hotel at Wasaplatz. It was €140 for 2 nights for 2 people, and although it was about a 20-minute tram ride from the historical centre, the location was really nice. It was about a five-minute walk to StadtPark, which houses Dresden Zoo, Grosser Garten and Palace as well as the botanical gardens, so even if we had stuck to the area around the hotel, we would’ve had plenty to do!
The hotel itself was also great. Although the room wasn’t the biggest in the world, the bed was huge, the mini bar was free, it was clean, and had both air conditioning and a fan – which were well needed considering it was above 20 degrees most of the time. A huge plus for me was also the resident python in the lobby. She had been borrowed from the nearby Zoo, and as a lover of snakes, I was so happy when passing her each day.
Once we were all checked in and had dropped off our bags, my first thought was food. There was a fair selection of restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel, including Thai, Indian, and German. We decided to go with some Indian food and paid a visit to Dera Restaurant. I had a classic Daal with naan bread, which was decent enough – nothing to write home about but pretty tasty. The naan bread was very interesting, a pizza bread base with Indian spices rubbed onto it. Not unpleasant but definitely a first for me! After eating our fill, I headed back to the hotel for an early night, as the six-hour train journey had taken it out of me.
The next morning, we woke up and fell into the nearest bakery for a proper European breakfast of coffee and some pastries. With no real plan for the day ahead, we jumped onto the tram and headed for the city centre. During the second world war, Dresden city centre was heavily bombed by both the British and the Americans, essentially razing the entire area to the ground, and killing almost 25,000 people in the process. After decades of effort to rebuild the city, decadence and vibrance radiates from every towering building, and the blackened stone gives the historical centre a very unique feel.
We spent most of the morning wandering around and taking in the amazing architecture. As an opera lover, I had to spend some time at Theaterplatz admiring the Semperoper, which is exactly as majestic and beautiful as a classic opera house should be. Unfortunately, it was outside of opera season, but I’ve now added going to see a performance at the Semperoper to my bucket list. We then moved on to the Zwinger building, and took a walk around Bruhl’s Terrace. There was a lot of construction and landscaping of the gardens happening during our visit, but it looked as if it’s going to be very beautiful once it’s all finished.
We moved up past Residenzschloss, the main palace within the city centre; the mixture of Baroque and Neo-renaissance architecture makes it pretty imposing to walk past. Although we didn’t go in, it currently houses five different museums, including: The Green Vault, which holds the largest collection of treasure in Europe; the Numismatic Cabinet, showcasing coins from ancient history to modern day; the Kupferstich-Kabinett, with artwork from artists including Rembrandt and Picasso; the Armory (pretty self-explanatory); and the State Apartments. A combined Historical Green Vault & Royal Place Ticket costs €24.50 and includes entry into all the museums.
Heading into Neumarkt, we found ourselves in the middle of preparations for the Palais Sommer festival, Dresden’s annual summer celebrations. Seats were being put out by a small stage in the centre, and a programme posted nearby told us that live music would be playing throughout the evening. Running from 3 July until 18 August, the free festival consists of anything that could be considered art and culture, including music, open-air cinema, art showcases, sculpture workshops and dance classes. If we had known about this ahead of time, we would definitely have spent a bit more time there!
By this time, our breakfast pastries had worn off and we went in search of lunch. We discovered a lovely little bistro literally called Lunch Time. It mostly specialises in soups, but also offers a couple of specials each day, such as pasta or salads. Considering how hot it was outside, we were more than happy to enjoy the cold beetroot soup, topped with a dollop of horseradish and some lambs lettuce salad leaves. Add to that a lovely refreshing lemonade and it was the perfect pitstop.
As a lover of art, particularly impressionism and expressionism, the next stop had to be the Albertinum, which houses works from Monet, Van Gogh, Degas and Liebermann. For €12, you get access to works from the Romantic period to the present day, along with a sculpture collection from 1800 onwards. The gallery is set up so as to take you on a journey from the start of Romanticism through Impressionism and on to Expressionism, before continuing with New Objectivity works from the 1920s, before ending with contemporary art. Personal highlights for me included exhibitions of the Dresden-based Caspar David Friedrich, my long-time favourite Monet, and the work of Otto Dix and the group of artists known as Die Brücke. If there’s one piece of art you should see while in Dresden, it’s Dix’s “The War”, which is hauntingly beautiful and excruciatingly grotesque all at once, and perfectly embodies the horrors of war.
After leaving the gallery, we went back to Neumarkt for a well-deserved pint and a piece of cake. The live music had started by now, so we listened to an acoustic guitarist playing for a little while, before heading to Augustusbrücke to continue exploring. Although not as impressive as Prague’s Charles Bridge, it’s still worth a look, and we crossed the river here, walking past Neustädter Markt and up Alaunstrasse, a long street full of bars, cafes, and restaurants of every cuisine imaginable.
We eventually reached the Kunsthofpassage, a series of courtyards connected by small alleyways, absolutely covered in artwork. Each house has been decorated in a different style and each little courtyard has its own theme, from elements to animals to mythical creatures. There are also several small independent art and craft shops throughout, which are lovely to look around. If you’re more interested in seeing the hipper up-and-coming areas of cities, you need to add this to your list when visiting Dresden.
Following a second beer pitstop, we headed back towards the city centre, only to discover that Deep Purple were playing near the riverbank, so we took a seat alongside a ton of locals on the grassy banks of the River Elbe to have a listen. By now it was nearly 9pm, we had done about 18,000 steps, and still hadn’t had any dinner, so we were starting to get a little bit tired! We took a tram back towards our hotel and found a little Asian restaurant called Hot Wok, just opposite our tram stop. One big, delicious plate of pork fried rice later, we were back at the hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning, we were due to check out and head back to Brno. Our hotel had a generous check out time of 12pm, giving us plenty of time. We took the tram back towards the main train station to store our bags; the handy luggage lockers cost just €2.00 for 4 hours, and were able to fit my backpack and my friend’s small suitcase.
We then headed into town in search of lunch, deciding that we should really try some German food, since most of what we’d had so far had been Asian! We found a place called Dresdner Trödelschänke, and sat outside to enjoy the good weather, so it was only later we realised what a treasure trove was inside. It was like a cabinet of curiosities, with antique furnishings from floor to ceiling, and vintage posters, decorations and crockery everywhere, definitely a uniquely decorated little spot! I had a schnitzel and my friend a bratwurst, both of which were well cooked and very tasty. It was roughly €22.00 for a meal and a beer, similar to what we’d been paying the whole trip.
For our last couple of hours, we wandered around the Town Hall and Altmarkt, before taking refuge in the aforementioned air-conditioned shopping galleries. We hopped on the 15:10 train back to Brno and, with a bit of a delay, arrived at Hlavní Nádraží at about 21:30.
Altogether, including train tickets, my half of the hotel room, food, drink and attractions I spent roughly €270 (CZK 6,800), which could obviously be greatly reduced by staying in a cheaper hotel or visiting different restaurants. Dresden is only the third place I’ve ever been in Germany, but so far it’s by far my favourite. Although the six-hour train ride is pretty long, it’s worth it to explore this great city if you have a spare weekend. In my case, I feel I barely scratched the surface of what Dresden has to offer, and I’m already looking forward to my next visit!
