Dresden yay or nay

Dresden is certainly worth a stop. But two weeks for 5 cities seems too little time for too many places.

It all depends on your interests whether you should stop there or not. Do you have a guidebook with information about Dresden to see if it has sites that you want to see?

I enjoyed myself in Dresden a lot, though I only had 1 day to really spend there and it was raining the whole time. Kind of put a damper on things. The Green Vault was breath taking, I liked visiting both of the inner city churches, and I got a kick out of walking through the underground wall fortifications.

No one can tell you if there are place of interest for you between Prague and Berlin because we don't know what you like. History (ancient, medieval, modern), museums, scenery, music, castles, markets, shopping?

marie,

I would enthusiastically recommend a stop in Dresden! I was there for the first time in September, and was wishing I had a few more days, as I hardly scratched the surface. I never did get to the Green Vault, so will have to make a return visit. I quite enjoyed my visit to the Bundeswehr Museum, which also has a very dramatic exterior appearance. The rebuilt Frauenkirche is spectacular.

There's a lot of new construction and I found a vibrant atmosphere, nice people and a lot of interesting historic sights.

Dresden is well worth spending a night, but if you only have a half-day to stop en-route between Prague and Berlin, then you can still see several highlights. It's right on your way on this trip and may not be as convenient on any later trip.

To allow more time at each stop, Belgium would be my first choice to cut, to save for another trip, unless you already bought the plane tickets home from there.

Large parts of Dresden, including the historical center, were bombed to the ground in one of the more controversial US and British bombing raids of WW2. Many civilians were killed.
What you see now is marvelously rebuilt architecture. If you didn't know what happened, you'd think the buildings were hundreds of years old.

The city is well worth a visit. In fact, some visitors go at least partly to commemorate the tragedy, as well as to enjoy the rebuilt architecture and other sights.

I saw Dresden in 1965, 20 years after bombing and it was still a lot of open space and ruins. Frauenkirche looked almost the same as right after the bombing. It's amazing how Dresden changed.

Yay. I like the looks of the old German - style buildings in Dresden. And Dresden is a smaller city than Berlin. I think you will have time for going to all of those places. I suggest visiting Dresden the day you ride in trains from Prague to Berlin.

I have relatives from Dresden, and they were on the last U.S. ship to leave Hamburg prior to WWII. The Gestapo was physically chasing them from place to place the last two days.

Dresden was one of the premier cities of Europe, and possibly the most beautiful. The Allies tried to bomb the city to the ground in retaliation for German attrocities being discovered.

The museums are simply unbelievable. And the Saxony mountainous area southeast of there are well worth seeing, too.

You can be in Prague in about 2 hours from there.

I agree that Dresden is worth a stop. And you can see quite a bit in a half day. On the Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour we left Berlin right after breakfast, had a lovely lunch in Dresden, toured the museums in the PM and then spent the night in Dresden with another AM start for Prague. We arrived mid afternoon. We had stopped for longish lunch, and we stopped for at least an hour to try a luge run. Really glad I did the luge run!

Pam

Wow, I can hardly believe I went somewhere before Ken!!

I agree with Ken and the others. Dresden is a gem of a city and I'm surprised it is not mentioned more often, which probably keeps it so pleasant and relatively uncrowded.
If you are going to Berlin, Potsdam nearby, is enchanting for the palace and its historical significance.
Have fun!