My brother is getting married in Dresden in August! My husband and I are arriving in Frankfurt on a Tuesday morning and leaving from Vienna the following Wednesday morning. We will have free time before and after the wedding (Thursday-Saturday night). Need suggestions for Tuesday & Wednesday around Frankfurt and then Sun-Tuesday in Austria. We love the outdoors (hiking, biking & walking around small towns), antique shopping, and enjoying the countryside.
Posted by
Atlanta
1358 posts
There's tons of hiking in Austria. You can actually get brochures of hiking trails in the Salzkammergut region, just outside of Salzburg.
Also, right outside of Dresden is Saxon Switzerland. It's on the Elbe just southeast of Dresden, and you can reach it from the S-Bahn line out of Dresden. You'll need to take a ferry across the river to get to the Saxon Switzerland National Park. There's lots of little towns dotting the area along the river. There's bike paths along the river that are nice and flat, and you can rent a bike in any of the towns along there. The national park there is known for its huge rock outcroppings, and there's lots of rock climbers all through there. My favorite part, though, was hiking along in the woods, and seemingly in the middle of nowhere is a beer and brat stand. Gotta love Germany!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Here is a page from the Schwarzwald website with some information about hiking in that area. They even offer "hiking without luggage" programs where the take your luggage to the next town, but I'm not sure they offer that for as short times as you would want.
Posted by
Lancaster, PA, USA
43 posts
A few suggestions:
The town of Hallstatt, Austria in the Salzkammergut lake region - small town on a lake with an interesting and old history
The Erzgebebirge Mountains in Saxony - hiking and small towns known for Christmas ornament handcraft, especially Seiffen
Just outside of Dresden is the town of Meissen, known for porcelain. It is a wonderful small town and the factory tour is worth the time.
Posted by
Breckenridge, CO
239 posts
Check out the Wachau area just west of Vienna, it is beautiful!! Vineyards and picture perfect towns. And, Gorlitz to the East of Dresden is a beautiful town about and hour or so from Dresden on the Polish border. Or, Prague is only a couple hours south from Dresden. Near Frankfurt, the drive along the Rhine is beautiful. Really, too many good choices :-))