Your tour through the city starts at this fine square, which is notable for its view of the famous buildings: from here you can enjoy a panorama  taking in the opera house, royal palace, Zwinger, Hofkirche, the Italian Village and Neustädter Wache.

An equestrian statue of King John (1854-73) dominates the centre of the square. He already had a reputation as a scholar when he ascended the throne: he had published a translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The Palace used to be the magnificent residence of the Wettin dynasty. It developed over seven centuries from a castle, and following destruction in the war is now being rebuilt as a museum centre for the Free State of Saxony. In Augustusstrasse, on the outside of the Langer Gang (long passage), look out for the famous Fürstenzug (procession of princes), the world’s largest porcelain picture. Over a length of more than 100 metres, 25,000 tiles of Meissen porcelain portray Wettin rulers from 1127 to 1904 with their entourages. The Fürstenzug was created in 1872-76, originally in sgraffito, but as this quickly weathered, the design was then done on ceramic tiles.

The highlight of the walk through the Old Town is a visit to the Church of Our Lady, which again dominates the skyline of the city. When the bells rang out for the consecration of the new Frauenkirche on 30 October 2005, they marked the completion of an unparalleled commitment to reconstruction and a symbol of the reconciliation between nations: 45 years after this Baroque masterpiece was severely damaged as bombs rained down on 13 February 1945, and collapsed two days later, a group of committed citizens founded an initiative to rebuild the church, and publicised the idea around the world. They gained the support of 13,000 people in 23 countries – the son of a bomber pilot in London, for example, a skilled smith who made the cross for the tower – and raised over 100 million euros, almost two-thirds of the costs of reconstruction. 

Whether you want to feel the Mediterranean flair of Elbflorenz, sit in a cozy beer garden or get to know a quaint pub, for your evening out there are many offers. In the “Weisse Gasse” and “Münzgasse” of the old town, dozens of restaurants and bars invite you to linger, the bars and pubs in the Neustadt district and the pure South Sea feeling can be spent in warm summer nights on the river Elbe, which becomes a fancy party mile. In the BKB travel guide “3 days in Dresden” you will find a selection of the favorite localities of our editors.

Before noon you stroll along the promenade of Innere Neustadt, admire baroque burgher houses, chic boutiques and cozy backyards, before strolling through the dazzling scene district of Äußere Neustadt.

The quarter on the right bank of the Elbe is called Neustadt, New Town, because Augustus the Strong had the area previously known as Altendresden rebuilt as the “New Royal Town” after a fire in 1732. The four wings of the late Baroque and neoclassical palace built by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann to house Augustus the Strong’s collection of Chinese, Japanese and Meissen porcelain is a testimony to this period.

The area around Alaunstr., Görlitzerstr. and Louisenstr., where the Colourful Republic of Neustadt was founded in 1990, is no longer just the home of the alternative scene. With its many little shops, trendy pubs, bars and clubs the Äussere Neustadt is a vibrant quarter that is worth looking around, as the bombing of the last war largely spared its 19th-century architecture.

Don’t miss the Kunsthofpassage between Alaunstr. and Görlitzerstr. It consists of five backyards, thematically designed by Dresden artists, with shops and pubs that are interesting to view and visit.

Altmarkt is the ideal place to start a shopping tour from Prager Strasse to the main railway station. The Altmarkt-Galerie, a modern shopping centre with more than 200 specialist stores and restaurants, is a particular attraction amidst the post-war buildings. Prager Straße is a shopping street with all the big brands and retail chains as well as well-known department stores.

Shopping centres such as Centrum Galerie, Prager Spitze by the main station and the Kugelhaus on Wiener Platz – its glass ball (Kugel) a throwback to the world’s first Kugelhaus, built in Dresden in 1928 – round off the shopping experience.

Even if visitors to Pillnitz no longer arrive in the style of court society, taking the princely gondola along the river Elbe and ascending steps flanked by sphinxes in order to enter the palace, the half-hour journey by bus through the Elbe valley to Pillnitz is still an experience in its own right. The palace and its grounds, which nestle into the landscape below the vineyards of the Elbe, are one of the most notable Baroque ensembles in Europe. Make an excursion to the summer residence of the Dresden royal court to find out how landscape and architecture can combine harmoniously, how many flowers can bloom on a camellia, and on which throne Augustus the Strong sat in state.

MEDITERANEAN ATMOSPHERE

Have a break in the old fishing and wine village of Loschwitz. “No-one could be happier than I now feel”, wrote Caspar David Friedrich in his diary in 1803. Like many other artists of the Romantic period, Friedrich lived and worked here for a period. To this day the old centre of the village, with its lovingly restored houses of fishermen, wine-farmers and craftsmen, is a romantic place. In the idyllic beer garden of Villa Marie right by the Elbe below the Blaues Wunder, or in the Tuscanstyle interior, you can enjoy the Italian side of Dresden.

The two angels at the bottom of the page have been reproduced millions of times and are probably more famous than the Sistine Madonna that Raphael painted for the high altar of the monastery church of San Sisto in Piacenza in 1512-13. The latter, one of the many masterpieces in the Gemäldegalerie, is among the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Over 50 years Augustus the Strong and his son Augustus III gathered together almost all the works for which the gallery is famous and for which Gottfried Semper designed the appropriate setting in 1854.