2 hour stopover Dresden?

The Green Vault is the big attraction in Dresden. I stopped over for four hours to see it and the city center. I think you would need more than two hours in Dresden to make it worth your while sightseeing as the train station is 1.6 miles from the city center where the Green Vault, along with most of Dresden’s attractions are located.

I was just in Dresden. We walked from the train station to our hotel - 20 minutes. The hotel was right by where the Residence Palace and Zwinger are. Do you have 2 hours total, including getting to and from the area you want to see? I don’t think you really have enough time then.

The Residence Palace is a little confusing - at least for me it was. I always have trouble finding the right entrance, the right cashier etc.

The Old Green Vault requires a separate timed entry, if that’s the area of your focus. We entered the Residence and already had tickets but couldn’t figure out where to go. A visit to the cashier and then we were informed that there’s a whole SECOND entry way for the Old Green Vault. We had to stop before going in to put ALL of our stuff into cubbies - no cameras, no tiny crossbody bags…nothing.

Then we entered. We used the provided audio guide, which was crucial - there’s not much other signage. We listened to just the basic info - we skipped all the offshoot info on specifically numbered pieces. We were there for an hour.

Then we headed out into the rest of the areas of the Residence Palace and those areas took another two hours.

We are very fast in museums, I think, and we still needed 3 hours here.

Hope this helps:)

It is a 20 minutes walk from Dresden Central Station to the important sights. Of course you could do a little walk to the Elbe river and enjoy the Frauenkirche, Zwinger and the Brühlsche Terrassen.

If a 2 hour time is in your plans you could walk to the central square that surrounds the historic Frauenkirche, walk along the Meissen tile wall, stroll through the courtyard of the Zwinger Palace, take a peek at the Elbe River and head back up to the train station. It would give you some exercise and a taste of this beautiful, historic baroque city. Like others have stated, you wouldn’t have time for any timed entries of art or green vault treasures but the city center is an architectural treasure in and of itself.

The Czech train runs every 2 hours leaving Berlin 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 etc. (There doesn't seem to be a German Regional train that makes this run.) Making the 7 am train is just too unpleasant a thought, and arriving Prague after 3:30 is too late for our friends who fly in at 1:30 and are previously cruise-only travelers who need some hand-holding. Normally I would book 4 hours and arrive in Prague a bit later.

Confession: I really dislike decorative arts and objets d'artes-- I just don't get the point of pretty little things. I don't like seeing furniture in a museum. The Victoria and Albert Museum (London) is my idea of hell on earth. The Green Vault isn't something that would normally be of interest to me. Frankly baroque interiors I find to be on the ugly side, although I haven't looked into this Residence in particular. So thinking just seeing exterior architecture is enough and maybe timed tickets are not essential?

Noting that Dresden Neustadt seems to be closer to the sites than the Hbf. In either case would need baggage storage so would come with all the potential euro coin combinations for using a locker.

With only two hours I would not visit any of the museums. Getting off at Dresden-Neustadt is actually a good idea. Store your luggage in a locker (plenty available) and walk via Erna-Berger-Straße, Carolinenstraße to Albertplatz. From there walk down to the river, either via Königsstraße (Baroque houses, some upscale stores, coffee/chocolate places/restaurants) to Japanese Palace with the nice gardens by the river OR via Hauptstraße, a nice pedestrian shopping street with shade giving old trees, benches, sculptures and flowers - and a few Baroque houses, but mostly modern facades, ending at the Golden Horseman statue. Enjoy the view from this bank of the river - the old town silhouette looks like 300 years ago. Cross the river (Augustus bridge) and get lost between opera house, Zwinger, Royal Palace, Neumarkt with Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).

Make sure to see the Procession of Princes mural (Porcelain tiles) and stroll along Brühl's Terrace, the old city fortification by the river. Drop into catholic cathedral/Hofkirche for a moment (famous organ and altar painting), and see at least the two courtyards of the Royal Palace. The smaller one is relatively much originally preserved (ticket desks), the large one is reconstructed but with the sgraffito decorated walls more impressive.

Back across the bridge. Maybe time for a Bratwurst but it is already a tight schedule.

A 2 hour stopover would work as the 9:01 EC train does not stop at Prague main station, but only at Prague Holesovice. It is continuing on to Budapest, so it short cuts the main station.

Thanks. It would be a nice 90 minute walk.

I would absolutely do a 90 minute blitz walk in Dresden with the time you have. I went there for a half day and LOVED it!!!! I did not do any museums and just explored using the RS walking tour. I was taking my time but if I had to do it in 90 minutes I could have.

Just checking since the Czech rail prices are 5 eur less, but there is no way to book a free stopover on the Czech rail website, it has to be booked on bahn.com for the free stopover?

Why not? Dresden is a beautiful place simply to stroll through and enjoy!

As a follow up this was definitely worth it. It’s about a 20 minute walk to the river from Neustadt bahnhof, a beautiful view walking across the river, then enough time to wander past the princes mural and over to the the Frauenkiche. A nice Dresden sampler. 4 hours would have been nicer of course.

Thanks for the follow up.

Glad you took the time to stretch your legs and get a peek at this beautiful city.

Glad you did it and enjoyed it. Thanks for reporting back.