Discover Dresden and the charming Elbe Valley
One of the most beautiful landscapes in Saxony is the romantic cultural landscape of the Elbe Valley.
The Elbe valley around Dresden is twenty kilometres long and a very picturesque section of the Elbe. The Elbe Valley is part of the area of the state capital Dresden and stretches from the southeast to the western city limits. It is a naturally grown landscape bordered and framed by river arches and slopes.
The enchanting Old Town of Dresden
Many have succumbed to the baroque charm of Dresden's Old Town with the opera Semper, the kennel, the reconstructed Church of Our Lady, the Brühlsche Terrasse and the Royal Palace with the Catholic Court Church; some may never go back.
Numerous art collections of world-class cultural assets are preserved in the magnificent buildings of the Renaissance, the Baroque and the Classicism in the heart of Dresden's historic Old Town.
Art and culture lovers, people interested in architecture and music enthusiasts will find a wide range exhibits in one of the most important art historical centres in Europe.
The lively, never resting 'Neustadt' of Dresden
In the immediate vicinity of our hotel you will find the lively new city of Dresden with its countless cultural activities for all tastes. In numerous theatres, 300 pubs, coffees and bars, many small and fine shops and the extravagant theatre "Carte Blanche", you will find relaxation and culture wonderfully combined.
Nearby you will also find the popular concert grounds of the Film Nights on the banks of the Elbe, the three Elbe castles worth seeing: Lingnerschloss, Schloss 'Albrechtsberg' and Schloss Eckberg, the Military History Museum and the Film Theatre 'Schauburg'... ... to name just a few of the many places worth visiting.
Amusement palace and the Pillnitz park
You can admire an outstanding gem of international horticulture in the southeast of Dresden. With an Elbe steamer from the White Fleet you can land in the impressive park in Pillnitz in true style, the country road is equally placid.
Marvel at the summer residence of Countess Cosel and the architectural pearls of the Baroque architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann at the gates of Dresden. He designed a mountain and water palace in the unique Chinois style for the Pillnitz park and had it built by the mighty Augustus.
Special highlights of the park are the palm house, the baroque orangery and the famous 250-year-old Japanese camellia, which is run over by a mobile greenhouse in the winter months due to its sensitive tropical exoticism.
Moritzburg
Close to the gates of the state capital, the cultural landscape of Moritzburg combines idyllic nature and important Saxon architectural history in an unexpectedly harmonious way. The Moritzburg pond area, with its meadows, forests and 28 ponds, is one of Saxony's most attractive recreational and excursion destinations, not only for Dresdeners themselves.
The centre of the picturesque pond and forest landscape, the baroque hunting and leisure palace Moritzburg with its Pheasant Garden and the pheasant palace in the style of the late Dresden Rococo, is one of the main works of the 'royal-Augustan' Dresden Baroque, along with Pillnitz Palace.
In Moritzburg, art lovers will find many testimonies of the famous artists' group "Die Brücke" on the traces of modern art and can visit the Käthe Kollwitz House, Käthe Kollwitz's last place of activity.
The Saxon Switzerland
Have you already visited the Saxon Switzerland National Park? You should! The holiday region in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains offers spectacular landscapes. As far as you can see, rhythmically forested table mountains and freestanding sandstone rocks rise. Deep gorges line the valley walls and at the bottom of the valley the Elbe meanders through picturesque health resorts and idyllic villages.
The bizarre rock formations and extensive Elbe meadows of the Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland were a much-visited place of inspiration and longing for numerous classical and romantic poets, painters and musicians such as Goethe, Schiller, Wagner, Caspar David Friedrich and many other greats of art and cultural history.
Along the painter's path you can take a relaxing walk in the footsteps of famous artists or enjoy the impressive landscapes of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains from the Elbe - on a steamer of the largest and oldest paddle steamer fleet in the world.
The Königstein Fortress
Among the many sights in Saxon Switzerland, one stands out in particular: the 800-year-old Königstein fortress is set against the rocky plateau of a high Table Mountain.
The impressive "impregnable" fortification with its impressive ensemble of buildings in the style of the late Gothic, Renaissance and Saxon Baroque is an eloquent testimony to European fortress architecture. For many centuries it served as a safe haven for the Saxon treasury, threatened celebrities but also as a notorious dungeon.
Numerous exhibitions, Saxon gastronomy and a fantastic panoramic view of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains await you at this popular excursion destination.
Wine and Karl May town of Radebeul
Experience the "heart of the Saxon Wine Route", experience the charming Radebeul, flattering every palate and one of the most beautiful places in Saxony. Radebeul is a jewel of the Elbe valley with its 400-year-old wine-growing tradition and picturesque listed landscape.
Visit Wackerbarth Castle and the Hoflößnitz Winery and the many fine wineries where Saxony's unique wine thrives and let yourself be enchanted in Radebeul with its beautiful and dreamy galleries, craft shops, wine bars and boutiques.
Radebeul is inseparably linked with the name of the adventure writer Karl May. In the popular Karl May Museum you will discover the novel legends Winnetou and Old Shatterhand.
The Cathedral City of Meissen and Porcelain
The residence town of the Saxon electors - the thousand-year-old town of Meissen is definitely worth a visit! A landmark of the city that can be seen from afar is the first German palace building enthroned on the castle hill, the late Gothic Albrechtsburg with its impressive purely Gothic cathedral.
Albrechtsburg Castle is also the cradle of European porcelain production. In 1710 August the Strong founded the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, run by the famous alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger.
Discover in Meissen the porcelain manufactory, the medieval market place with the Frauenkirche and the special Meissen wine culture...
- Heinrich von Kleist