After all of the help so many on this forum gave me in planning our travels in northern Germany, I wanted to come back and tell you how it went. This trip was a bit of a leap of faith for us. I knew we wanted to go to Berlin after our tour, but that was all I had. I put out an appeal for help on this forum, and, from your suggestions (and generous help with details), our itinerary was developed. We had never even heard of any of the towns we visited after Dresden, but it turned out to be a marvelous journey.
After our St. Petersburg/Tallinn/Helsinki tour, we flew to Berlin, where we spent five nights. This was our first time in Berlin and we enjoyed the city thoroughly. Unfortunately, we hit several days that peaked at 99°, so we had to adjust our planned schedule several times. Our reserved visit to the Reichstag was limited when the dome was closed due to extreme temperatures. I had really been looking forward to climbing up the spiral ramp but, unfortunately, it was closed for the rest of our week here, so that was our one chance. We spent much of one very hot day at the Tiergarten seeking shade and, while we were there, we found a beer garden by a lake for lunch and some relief from the heat.
From Berlin, we took the train to Dresden. To the person who suggested that we purchase seat reservations - many thanks! The train was very crowded with travelers who filled every seat and all of the aisles. Right now, I can't remember who told me to extend my planned two nights in Dresden, but I'm so glad we did. There was so much to see!
We took two day trips out of Dresden. The first was to Rathen for the hike to the Bastei Bridge. Thanks to Martin for the step-by-step directions, along with photos. We even ate a very good lunch at the restaurant you recommended. We had an amazing day hiking up to the bridge and, then, beyond to take photos. Our other day trip was to Meißen, another recommendation from this forum. I think we walked most of the streets in the Old Town and I'm pretty sure we climbed all of the stairs. We had no particular agenda in mind, other than to enjoy the town and that we did.
From Dresden, we went on to Quedlinburg, a town that looks as though it's straight out of a fairytale. I read that there are 2069 half-timbered houses along Quedlinburg's narrow cobblestone lanes and they’re just amazing to see. During the days there were German tourists there, but we rarely heard anyone else speaking English. The locals were very patient with us and were most welcoming. We had some very fun chats with people, although I wasn’t always positive that we were talking about the same thing. Mornings and evenings were free of tourists and we often seemed to have the city to ourselves. Our dinners on the near-empty Market Square were such a treat; we could almost convince ourselves that we belonged there, rather than being tourists passing through.
When we were in Quedlinburg, I thought that we must be in the most picturesque town in Germany, but then we moved on to Lüneburg and we were in awe all over again. We left the half-timbered houses behind and moved on to seeing everything built of bricks. Having survived the Second World War unscathed, it still has its charming medieval center with winding cobblestone lanes. We loved Lüneburg!
From Lüneburg, we took the train to Lübeck, a much larger old Hanseatic town, but one that is still filled with winding cobblestone streets and elaborate brick buildings. Most amazing its huge 15th-century gateway. We walked from the train station, through the gate and over the river to get to our hotel, which was in a 14th-century building - very cool. We had a wonderful room looking over the river and the gate, and there was a bottle of local wine (Lübecker Rotspon) waiting for us as a gift for booking online. We had a very good stay in Lübeck!
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