# Who's been to Dresden (Germany)?



## hypnotiq (Oct 13, 2012)

So my finace has decided she wants to attend her friends wedding in Dresden in June 2013. Her friends fiance is from Meißen.

Neither of us have been to Germany before, so this should be fun. 

The current plan is to fly from SEA to FRA on Icelandair (anyone flown w/ them before? how is it?) and then take the train from FRA to Dresden.

The wedding is in Meißen and they have a couple of rooms at a B&B in Meissen setup for friends coming from stateside.

We've heard Prague is a good day trip (and is only a 2hr train ride). Any other suggestions?

Guess I better get a copy of German Rosetta Stone so I can learn German in the next 8mo. 

-Nico


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## Magic1962 (Oct 13, 2012)

hypnotiq said:


> So my finace has decided she wants to attend her friends wedding in Dresden in June 2013. Her friends fiance is from Meißen.
> 
> Neither of us have been to Germany before, so this should be fun.
> 
> ...



Our exchange students family is from east Berlin so in the last five years we have been there twice... While I can not comment on the airlines I CAN help you with Dresden.... It is a beautiful old city that the allied Air Force destroyed... A lot of history.... If you can drive on the Autobahn see all the Huge wind turbines also go to Berlin.... What a city...modern with a lot of old yet... People ride bikes, walk and take the train to get around a lot..... Most of the younger people talk English there... The Queens English... It's taught in the schools... We have loved our time in Germany and can not wait to go back... Guten tag... (Good day) Dave


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## spencersmama (Oct 13, 2012)

Sounds like fun!  Two websites you may want to check out to get ideas of things to see and do are travelocity and Rick Steves' travel website.  Rick Steves' website may have suggested itineraries.  

Before kids, my DH and I went to a friend's wedding in Belgium.  It was such a great experience, because we really got to be part of their culture rather than tourists.  

Are you against renting a car?  For some reason, I see you as the type of guy that would really enjoy driving in Germany.


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## sgtdesi (Oct 13, 2012)

I was in Dresden last year for the Christmas Markets. It is wunderbar (wonderful). You don't really need to know German, but if you can at least speak the normal greetings, you will have an easier time. I speak some German and they pretty much speak English to me when I go to Germany. Hard to get better at German when you hesitate to find the words and they just jump into English. :ignore:

There is lots to do in Dresden, lot of museums, and the Frauenkirche has been rebuilt. Go to the top, you have to pay extra, but you can see so much of the city from there. You also want to see the Green Vault, but you likely need an advance reservation to go in.

I also recommend Berlin. I can't wait to go back to both cities. You could go to Prague also, but between Berlin, Dresden, Potsdam....I think you could spend a few weeks and not see everything.

Have fun, and personally, I would take the train. Driving is fun in Germany, parking, not so much.


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## Magic1962 (Oct 13, 2012)

Takea boat ride downtown Berlin..I agree see Potsdamn also


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## persia (Oct 13, 2012)

Icelandair!  A blast from the past.  30 to 40 years ago they were THE discount carrier between North America and Europe.  No idea how they are today.  Do stop in Reykjavik though, it's a fascinating place.  Lots of seafood and alcohol.  The Northernmost capital in the world.  Glaciers, Geysers and Volcanos are fun too and not far from the capital.

Icelandair used to run two different types of flights, ones that were transatlantic and very budget (for the '70s/'80s, now they might be considered a luxury flight) and ones that had good food and happy crew and passengers that terminated in Reykjavik.  Don't know is they still do that.


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## Carolinian (Oct 14, 2012)

Dresden has had a number of its important buildings rebuilt, including the Royal Palace.  The firebombing of the city was a senseless tragedy as the city had no military significance and was crammed with civilian refugees of many nationalities from the east, but there is still lots to see today.

Dresden has the largest fleet of sidewheeler steamboats in the world, mostly built in the 1890s, and it is a great way to see the area from the river.  You can take a sidewheeler west to Meissen, or east to another royal palace and a medieval castle.

There are also several steam narrowgauge rail lines close to Dresden.  The easiest one to access has its station adjacent to a DeutschBahn station just west of Dresden, and that narrow gauge steam line takes you to yet another royal palace.

Prague is an easy rail trip from Dresden.


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## radmoo (Oct 14, 2012)

Flew Icelandic last year.  It is no frills but very adequate and the flight attendants are MOST attractive
I agree that Berlin is worth seeing and yes, everyone speaks English.


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## MILOIOWA (Oct 14, 2012)

Sorry to hijack the thread but seems like rather than start a new one, there is some experience here that may answer my question. My son and I are planning to visit Germany in a couple years and we figure it is about a grand a piece airfare RT, and roughly 1500 for eurail passes. We want to spend about 12-13 days traveling and maybe rent a car a couple three days to see some specific sights that arent on the rail route. What kind of $$$ should we plan to have available for spending and other necessities? Thanks!


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## Magic1962 (Oct 14, 2012)

MILOIOWA said:


> Sorry to hijack the thread but seems like rather than start a new one, there is some experience here that may answer my question. My son and I are planning to visit Germany in a couple years and we figure it is about a grand a piece airfare RT, and roughly 1500 for eurail passes. We want to spend about 12-13 days traveling and maybe rent a car a couple three days to see some specific sights that arent on the rail route. What kind of $$$ should we plan to have available for spending and other necessities? Thanks!



Depends on the exchange rate.... Right now every dollar is worth about .75 I took my wife and daughter the first time and our other daughter the second time.... There are to many variables to answer your question... Will you stay in Hostels? TS? Hotels? We spent 2&1/2 weeks both trips.... Probably spent around 500.00 each on lodging, food, entertainment etc... Make sure if you go to Berlin to see the BLUEMAN GROUP....


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## MILOIOWA (Oct 14, 2012)

Well, I read somewhere about paying an extra 30 or so dollars a night to get a sleeper car on the train. Probably would do that I'd guess half the nights. We want to spend a day or two in the town/area where my family has been traced back to coming from so would need a car for that as it's sort of out of the way I believe. We want to see as much of the country as we can so a timeshare probably wouldn't benefit us, but have to do a lot more research I guess as we are just beginning the planning stages. Thanks!


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## Carolinian (Oct 15, 2012)

Eurail passes are not the value they were in the 60's.  Look at that carefully, as point to point rail tickets often work out cheaper, sometimes MUCH cheaper.  In comparing point to point prices, also ignore RailEurope, as they often charge much more than the ticket would cost you at the station in Europe.  The worst I have seen is RailEurope wanting about four times what a ticket would cost at the station for an itinerary in the Baltics. If you insist on rail passes, the one country rail passes are cheaper than the multi-country EuRail passes, and if all you are visiting is Germany, that is all you need.  Mostly I drive in Germany, as it is an easy country to drive in, unless I am just passing through, in which case, I take a train or an LCC flight.




MILOIOWA said:


> Sorry to hijack the thread but seems like rather than start a new one, there is some experience here that may answer my question. My son and I are planning to visit Germany in a couple years and we figure it is about a grand a piece airfare RT, and roughly 1500 for eurail passes. We want to spend about 12-13 days traveling and maybe rent a car a couple three days to see some specific sights that arent on the rail route. What kind of $$$ should we plan to have available for spending and other necessities? Thanks!


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## MILOIOWA (Oct 15, 2012)

Carolinian said:


> Eurail passes are not the value they were in the 60's.  Look at that carefully, as point to point rail tickets often work out cheaper, sometimes MUCH cheaper.  In comparing point to point prices, also ignore RailEurope, as they often charge much more than the ticket would cost you at the station in Europe.  The worst I have seen is RailEurope wanting about four times what a ticket would cost at the station for an itinerary in the Baltics. If you insist on rail passes, the one country rail passes are cheaper than the multi-country EuRail passes, and if all you are visiting is Germany, that is all you need.  Mostly I drive in Germany, as it is an easy country to drive in, unless I am just passing through, in which case, I take a train or an LCC flight.



That is the kind of info that helps a bunch! Thanks!


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## Passepartout (Oct 15, 2012)

Milo, I don't know how experienced you are with European travel. It isn't difficult, but sometimes it helps to have someone else handling the logistics of a roof over your head, transport, and some meals. We've had good results from Gate 1 Travel. Here's one that might be of interest to you: http://www.gate1travel.com/central-europe-travel/europe-rail-9dberdrsprgrs12.aspx#hotels This is NOT a big-bus tour. You can add days in hotels of your choice, and you can speak with one agent to make your own choices of car, train, etc.

Have fun with the planning.

Jim


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## hypnotiq (Oct 15, 2012)

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.

We definitely plan on checking out Praque and Berlin. Will probably check out the steamboats too as that sounds like fun.

Will probably do trains most of the trip for the experience.

Im strongly considering doing the BMW Fly & Drive (European Delivery) on a E92 M3, in which case, we'll do that towards the end of the trip and definitely go for a spin on the autobahn. 

Will still learn a little bit of German as I think its polite to at least know common phrases/greetings in the country you are visiting language.


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## Carolinian (Oct 15, 2012)

For rail travel in Germany, check on schedules and prices on the Deutsch Bahn site, which is the national railroad.  You can also buy tickets there.

For hotel accomodations in Europe, I have had good results with www.booking.com

For rental cars, consolidators are the best bet, and the ones I have used with best results are www.economycarrentals.com ,  www.europebycar.com , and www.autoeurope.com .

For guidebooks, I prefer Rough Guides and Lonely Planet series, although for many German cities that have In Your Pocket guides, these are great, too.  They can be downloaded at www.inyourpocket.com


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## Carolinian (Oct 15, 2012)

Here is the website on the steamboats:

http://www.saechsische-dampfschiffahrt.de/index-en.html



hypnotiq said:


> Thanks for all of the feedback guys.
> 
> We definitely plan on checking out Praque and Berlin. Will probably check out the steamboats too as that sounds like fun.
> 
> ...


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## Passepartout (Oct 15, 2012)

hypnotiq said:


> Will still learn a little bit of German as I think its polite to at least know common phrases/greetings in the country you are visiting language.



Nico, here's a quick, easy, and most important, FREE language course. Many languages are offered, and will easily get you the basics. Here's German: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/

BTW, my stepson, DW's #1, is also resident in Redmond and a mgr for Bill.

I spent 2 years in S. Germany complements of Uncle Sam over 40 years ago, still remember the necessities (Ein Bier Bitte and Danke Schoen). Funny how you remember the important stuff.

Jim


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## spencersmama (Oct 15, 2012)

Passepartout said:


> I spent 2 years in S. Germany complements of Uncle Sam over 40 years ago, still remember the necessities (Ein Bier Bitte and Danke Schoen). Funny how you remember the important stuff.
> 
> Jim



Ein Dunkel Bier Bitte  - Nothing like a good German dark beer!


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## Passepartout (Oct 15, 2012)

spencersmama said:


> Ein Dunkel Bier Bitte  - Nothing like a good German dark beer!



Entschuldigen Sie. Ein Dunkel Bier Bitte! You're soooo right.


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## MILOIOWA (Oct 15, 2012)

Passepartout said:


> Milo, I don't know how experienced you are with European travel. It isn't difficult, but sometimes it helps to have someone else handling the logistics of a roof over your head, transport, and some meals. We've had good results from Gate 1 Travel. Here's one that might be of interest to you: http://www.gate1travel.com/central-europe-travel/europe-rail-9dberdrsprgrs12.aspx#hotels This is NOT a big-bus tour. You can add days in hotels of your choice, and you can speak with one agent to make your own choices of car, train, etc.
> 
> Have fun with the planning.
> 
> Jim


I have never been anywhere in Europe LOL! We sort of had in mind to just hop on the train and go wherever we feel like it for 12-14 days. Maybe that's not the way to do it? We don't like structure really so a tight timeline, or guided tour probably will not suit us. I guess we could look into driving, just thought we could enjoy the scenery better if we were just along for the ride. We have a looong time to decide-that's the good thing, and the bad thing!


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## MaryH (Oct 26, 2012)

hypnotiq

A lot of things have been rebuilt in Dresden and Meissen was a nice small town and the factory is worth a tour if you or your fiance is into that.

Berlin and Prague are 2 of my top 5 European cities and worth a visit.  Both should be easy to travel to by train or other methods.  Lived/worked in Prague for a number of years but have not been back for a few years.


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## Carolinian (Oct 26, 2012)

MILOIOWA said:


> I have never been anywhere in Europe LOL! We sort of had in mind to just hop on the train and go wherever we feel like it for 12-14 days. Maybe that's not the way to do it? We don't like structure really so a tight timeline, or guided tour probably will not suit us. I guess we could look into driving, just thought we could enjoy the scenery better if we were just along for the ride. We have a looong time to decide-that's the good thing, and the bad thing!



One option to combine timeshare with the train is Erlenbruck in the Black Forest, originally a hunting lodge built a couple of centuries ago.  The timeshare gives you free regional rail passes for your week for all the occupants of your unit that will take you through most or all of Baden-Wurtemburg state and even over the border to the edge of Switzerland (the3 city of Basel specifically).  The train station is walkable from the resort, but it is uphill on the way back.  There are some great places to go over the border in France into some medieval towns and cities in Alsace-Lorraine, so it might be worthwhile to rent a car one day for that, or you can use the railpass to get to the border and buy a very cheap ticket for your travel beyond the border into France.


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## x3 skier (Oct 26, 2012)

hypnotiq said:


> Im strongly considering doing the BMW Fly & Drive (European Delivery) on a E92 M3, in which case, we'll do that towards the end of the trip and definitely go for a spin on the autobahn.



I have done an ED of a BMW and will do another in the near future. It is a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it. The new BMW Welt in Munich where you pick up the car is a site to be seen even if you are not picking up a car.

Bimmerfest has a board dedicated to European Delivery www.bmmerfest.com

If you do decide to do it, you get insurance for two weeks included so i would pick the car up first and use it for transport. Another option is to use it for a few days, drop it off in one of many Euro cities and continue by train to get a head start on shipment back to the USA. If you wait to the end of your trip to drop it off, you would basically add a week to the time you get it back.

BTW, Berlin is one of my favorite cities.

Cheers


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## hypnotiq (Jul 31, 2013)

Been MIA for a while (work, vacation, life, etc) and I'll write something up that is more detailed when I have time...

Long story short though, part of our trip pretty much blew because we hit at the right time for all of the flooding in Praque, Saxony (Dresden/Meißen), etc.

We were evacuated out of where we were in Meißen, so we headed to Munich early, where things were much better. 

Quick picture of what we were dealing with in Meißen.





Here is an article on some of the flooding, for those that didn't hear about it.
http://www.voanews.com/content/flood-waters-sweeps-across-europe/1678511.html


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