Dresden, Germany
About This Stop
Our German journey continued with a visit to Dresden, the historic capital of Saxony. This beautiful riverside city quickly became one of our favorites, offering an impressive blend of rebuilt Baroque splendor, cultural richness, and comfortable modern amenities. Like other German cities we visited, Dresden's story of destruction and rebirth added another layer to our understanding of European history.
Our journey and arrival featured a strategic stopover in Leipzig to visit its exceptional zoo during our travel day, amazing zoo experience with thoughtfully designed habitats allowing close animal encounters, arrival at our Dresden accommodation – the most spacious and newest apartment of our trip, and luxurious lodging despite minor quirks (no internet and self-cleaning requirements).
Historic Old Town exploration included walking tour of downtown Dresden with its reconstructed Baroque magnificence, discovering the city's impressive collection of palaces, churches, and historic statues, learning about Dresden's WWII bombing and remarkable reconstruction efforts, appreciating how the city maintains its historic appearance despite being largely rebuilt, and quick visit to the less impressive New Town across the river.
City character and atmosphere featured Dresden quickly becoming 'one of my favorite towns' on our European journey, observing the city's focus on tourism as the capital of Saxony, noting the blend of historical grandeur and modern reconstruction, and experiencing the comfortable pace and navigable scale of the city.
Family activities included morning runs adapted around rainy weather, finding a nice park with a pond for workouts, shopping excursion to the local mall for food and the girls' favorite makeup store, comfortable apartment living with home-cooked dinner, and the girls' compassionate monitoring of a fallen baby bird (with an unexpected dramatic ending when nature took its course with a hawk visit!).
Leipzig Zoo side trip featured strategically planned stop on our travel day, exceptionally designed animal habitats, unique opportunity to get unusually close to the animals, and perfect break in our journey between cities. Dresden's elegance and beauty, rising from the ashes of WWII destruction, offered yet another perspective on German history and reconstruction. The city's Baroque splendor, though largely rebuilt, created an atmosphere of historical grandeur that captivated our family. From exploring reconstructed palaces to relaxing in our spacious apartment, from morning runs to unexpected wildlife drama, our time in Dresden provided a perfect blend of cultural exploration and family relaxation as our European adventure began to wind down!
Our journey and arrival featured a strategic stopover in Leipzig to visit its exceptional zoo during our travel day, amazing zoo experience with thoughtfully designed habitats allowing close animal encounters, arrival at our Dresden accommodation – the most spacious and newest apartment of our trip, and luxurious lodging despite minor quirks (no internet and self-cleaning requirements).
Historic Old Town exploration included walking tour of downtown Dresden with its reconstructed Baroque magnificence, discovering the city's impressive collection of palaces, churches, and historic statues, learning about Dresden's WWII bombing and remarkable reconstruction efforts, appreciating how the city maintains its historic appearance despite being largely rebuilt, and quick visit to the less impressive New Town across the river.
City character and atmosphere featured Dresden quickly becoming 'one of my favorite towns' on our European journey, observing the city's focus on tourism as the capital of Saxony, noting the blend of historical grandeur and modern reconstruction, and experiencing the comfortable pace and navigable scale of the city.
Family activities included morning runs adapted around rainy weather, finding a nice park with a pond for workouts, shopping excursion to the local mall for food and the girls' favorite makeup store, comfortable apartment living with home-cooked dinner, and the girls' compassionate monitoring of a fallen baby bird (with an unexpected dramatic ending when nature took its course with a hawk visit!).
Leipzig Zoo side trip featured strategically planned stop on our travel day, exceptionally designed animal habitats, unique opportunity to get unusually close to the animals, and perfect break in our journey between cities. Dresden's elegance and beauty, rising from the ashes of WWII destruction, offered yet another perspective on German history and reconstruction. The city's Baroque splendor, though largely rebuilt, created an atmosphere of historical grandeur that captivated our family. From exploring reconstructed palaces to relaxing in our spacious apartment, from morning runs to unexpected wildlife drama, our time in Dresden provided a perfect blend of cultural exploration and family relaxation as our European adventure began to wind down!
Location
Photo Gallery
