Best Things to do in Dresden Old Town and New – EPIC 2023 Guide

Dresden has a multitude of things to do, from High Street shopping to punk parties. It’s a city that could happily accommodate a grown family, with baroque sightseeing or hiking during the day, a wide selection of restaurant styles for the evening, and energetic clubs and bars to help you see in the next morning.

It’s a great option when visiting Saxon Germany, as we did with a German Rail Pass from ACP Rail.

Best Tours of Dresden

Here are some of the best walking, biking and coach tours of Dresden.

• Dresden in under 2 hours – group walking tour balancing budget and enjoyment.
• Private Dresden walking tour through Historic Dresden – 2 hours.
• Dresden by Bike: 3 Hour Bike tour of Dresden, taking in highlights of the Old Town, New Town, and suburbs.
• Hop-on/hop-off bus tour gets you around while maintaining your flexibility.

Best Day Tours from Dresden

Getting out to Saxon Switzerland is the most important thing to do!

• This tour to Saxon Switzerland, or this tour to Saxon Switzerland are the two best-reviewed.

Best Things to Do in Dresden – The Old Town

Rebuilt from the ground up after the World War II firebombing of the city, Dresden’s Old Town is actually its most-recent construction site. This collection of baroque buildings is bordered by the Elbe River on one side – and a controversial bridge built across the river has caused the removal of its UNESCO World Heritage ranking.

The Dresden Castle

The Saxon palace forms the centre of a circle whose radius touches all the important baroque buildings in the Old Town. Inside you can explore several galleries ranging from Turkish silks, weapons, and tents imported for the Army to modern photography from internationally recognised artists.

The Zwinger

The Zwinger is not your everyday fairground! It’s more like a pleasure palace with a large, fountain-filled courtyard. It houses three important galleries: the Old Masters Gallery, the Mathematics and Physics salon and the Royal Porcelain Collection.

The Opera House

The Semper Opera has been called the most magnificent in the world. Rebuilt in 1985, the interior is even more impressive than the facade. Tickets are pricey but if you’re lucky, cheap tickets might be available on the day. Don’t forget to dress up as this is a high society pastime.

The Bruhl Terrace

The so-called Balcony of Europe is a promenade built on top of mediaeval city fortifications. As well as offering views to the river and the new town, it has a life of its own. Hawkers sell paintings, cafes and bars open onto it, and the art gallery, Albertinium, is accessed from it. Of all the galleries we visited in Dresden, this was my favourite: combining canvases alongside dynamic sculpture.

Church of Our Lady

The Frauenkirk, or Church of Our Lady, has the kind of interior that puts you in mind of a wedding cake. White, pink, blue, and rounded — it is always full of people and tour groups.

Shopping

Heading away from the Church of Our Lady towards the edge of town you’ll find a large, modern shopping centre with a few interesting cafes and bars nearby. This seemed to me to have a better quality-to-price ratio on meals and snacks with Weisse Gasse being a popular option from lunch until evening.

The Big Garden

The ingeniously named Grosser Garten is a large park complete with a train, the zoo, museums, and anything else you could possibly put in a park — don’t forget the beer gardens! It’s a great place to relax with a drink on a warm day or to slackline under the trees.

The big skate

If you have wheels, there’s a big skate meet-up at 7pm on Friday nights during the summer. Rollerskaters and rollerbladers congregate at the halfpipe on Lignerallee, near the park, and take it from there.

Dresden Neustadt – Best Things to Do in Dresden New Town

Dresden Neustadt is the alternative contrast to the baroque fairytale of the Old Town. Along the Elbe River, the palaces continue, but after you hit Albertplatz there is little gentrification in sight. Students, artists, and other interesting folk live here, disparagingly referring to the Old Town as “Disneyland”.

The Inner New Town

Crossing the river on the Augustusbrucke you see a gold statue of a man on a horse. This is Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony. From here until Albertplatz, Antonstraße and Bautzner Straße is the Inner New Town, or Innere Neustadt.

Beside the river

The meadows alongside the river provide a great spot for sunbathing, kicking around a football, or cycling. All during summer of course! There are also some excellent photo opportunities looking towards the Old Town in any weather.

The Palais

In Palais Square you’ll find the natural history museum and a museum dedicated to the Damascus carpet and Turkish arts.

Eating and shopping on Hauptstraße

On either side of the golden Augustus is some of my favourite eating in Dresden. The microbrewery Watzke also serves an excellent flammkuchen while the ice cream store opposite has a wonderful range of delicious sorbets and ice creams.

There’s interesting shopping just off this pedestrian arterial with small fashion stores to be found, serving the more conservative (and deep pocketed), while punk and alternative fashionistas are well looked after further out. We stayed in this area for a few nights at the Bulow Residenz: It served as a perfect point of contact between the Old Town and the New Town.

The Outer New Town

To my mind, this is the most exciting area of Dresden. The coldness of the Communist-era apartment blocks is contrasted with the energy of its inhabitants.

Eating and drinking

There are so many options here, I don’t even know where to begin. My favourite snack was found at Curry and Co, a small bar that specialises in currywurst and chips. There’s limited seating in a funky environment, and the option to take away. We found some great bars on the Dresden Night Walk tour including Zille, Stilbruch and Room 64. At the latter, I ended up with a custom-mixed whisky cocktail which wasn’t rivalled until 2021! (Long Islay Iced Tea at the Grove, Auckland, New Zealand, if you must know.)

On the street

While there are countless bars and clubs, the real life of the New Town happens on the street. Pick up some beer or cheap spirits at one of the many late shops and head down to almost any street corner with people will be congregating, the area around Louisenstraße and GorlitzerStraße being one of the most popular.

The colourful republic

After the fall of communism, the Colourful Republic of Dresden Neustadt was founded. The utopian ideal (complete with its own monetary system) failed but is still celebrated each year in a massive party with tens of thousands packing the streets of the new town. It’s worth being in Dresden for, but don’t expect to find accommodation easily or to get any sleep that night.

Best Things To Do Outside Dresden

Without doubt, the best thing to do outside Dresden is hiking in Saxon Switzerland. This large national park boasts excellent climbing, although it’s far too technical for beginners. Saxony has its own system for climbing difficulty which seems to be much harder than the EU standard.

Hiking, however, is very accessible. There are many well-marked trails with the highlight being the romantic stone fortifications and soaring bridges between the karst spires.

If you can’t get there yourself, this tour to Saxon Switzerland, or this tour to Saxon Switzerland are the two best-reviewed.