We have checked out the earlier posts. There are so many options and so much valuable information we would like to get help in narrowing down the info to a manageable itinerary for a trip in May, 2013. Our situation: 2 retired women, both have traveled extensively, one speaks German fluently, want to travel like the locals, see some of the less touristy areas and minimize travel time. Better to stay in big towns and day trip to villages or vice versa? Little towns you know of that are worth a visit? We will catch some of the major sites, of course, but that is not our focus. We will be traveling independently by train and/or from Dresden (family history) to Vienna over 15 days. From Vienna we take a river cruise to Amsterdam so we will catch the associated sites along the river (including a day trip to Heidelberg). We recognize the value of leisurely travel and staying a few days in a locale. However – of course the WISH LIST ranges from: Plan A to Plan B to Plan C (all – which we know is impractical – but one can dream). That is the reason for this post – would appreciate your input – RS folks are the best resource. Many thanks. Plan A Dresden Bayreauth – obviously one of us is a music-lover Salzburg Hallstatt Vienna Plan B A more direct route Dresden Prague – one of us is a music-lover ??? Vienna Plan C
Both A and B above (not practical but one can dream)
Posted by
San Francisco
15107 posts
Diane, I much prefer Plan B and heartily recommend that one, much more doable logistically. As for the music connection, Leipzig, as suggested above, is the obvious place in reference to Bach, Liszt, and Mendelsohn, their houses/museums and the Gewandhaus Orchester. In the greater Dresden area, there is located the Carl Maria von Weber Museum. From Dresden Hbf you can take the S-Bahn for a day trip to Meißen, (In my opinion you need two days for Meißen), which pretty much came through the war unscathed. I liked Meißen, not inundated with tourists, and it's different. Schloß Pillnitz is worth visiting and historical, right on the Elbe, I was there once with a tour in 1992 and with the refubishing even better now.
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
Plan B is the most realistic. There are so many small towns which deserve a visit, you could easily spend twice the time between Dresden and Vienna. How about this: -> Dresden, with possible trips to - Meissen (looks like Prague in small, you can take the paddle steamer from Dresden) - Pillnitz palace (also with a paddle steamer, you pass the place where Carl Maria von Weber lived) - Saxon Switzerland (bizarre rocks, great for hiking) - Pirna (cute, preserved town) + Königstein fortress - Leipzig (with the church and choir of Bach) - Görlitz (best preserved town in Germany, more than 4.000 listed buildings) and Bautzen (preserved town, capital of the Slavic minority) -> Prague, with possible trips to - Karlstejn (one of the most beautiful castles in Central Europe - Kutna Hora (preserved town, one of the most amazing Gothic churches) between Prague and Vienna you could try to visit Telc, which is utterly cute -> Vienna - Melk abbey (impressively situated, great Baroque church) A gallery of Görlitz and Bautzen, and some other places close to these towns (beautiful villages), can be found here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=869852 And here is a gallery of Meissen:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1512349