Culture meets nature in Saxony: A mere 40 kilometers lie between splendid Baroque art and architecture in Dresden and the distinctive peaks of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.
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10 reasons to love Saxony
Saxony has about 4 million inhabitants and covers 18,400 square kilometers (7,110 sq miles). Here are some of our favorite places to visit.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. & A. Kosten
Meissen porcelain
The Saxon city of Meissen is known the world over for its porcelain. The first European hard-paste porcelain was developed here in 1708. Saxon kings even brought the white gold with them when they traveled. Meissen porcelain remains one of Germany's best known products.
Image: Marcel Kusch/dpa/picture alliance
Muskauer Park
In 1815, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau began creating this masterpiece of garden design. The park extends on both sides of the river Neisse, which constitutes the border between Germany and Poland. The park boasts broad meadows, miles of winding paths, numerous lakes, rivers as well as a magnificent castle.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Kalaene
Dresden
Saxony's state capital Dresden is a Mecca for tourists, offering plenty of culture, art and and fabulous architecture. The Frauenkirche church (pictured) was destroyed at the end of the Second World War and remained a ruin for decades. After German unification, it was rebuilt using as much original material as possible. When it reopened in 2005, Dresden won back one of its famous landmarks.
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images
Elbe meadows
The opposite riverbank offers a fabulous view of Dresden's historical city center. The meadows that stretch along the river for some 30 kilometers (18 miles) are ideal for extended walks and picnics. Sometimes, there are open air film nights and concerts too.
Image: Peter Zimmermann/dpa/picture-alliance
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland national park is right around the corner and the perfect place for those wanting to hike or climb. The area is known for its unqiue rock formations that can reach a height of 730 meters (2,395 ft).
Image: Soeren Stache/dpa/picture-alliance
Leipzig
Leipzig recently celebrated its millennial anniversary — but it's by no means an old-fashioned city. It's actually hugely popular among young people and creative types. Many artists have established studios in abandoned cotton mills. And the city is full of bars and galleries.
Image: Schoening/dpa/picture alliance
Johann Sebastian Bach
Today, Leipzig is perhaps best known for composer Johann Sebastian Bach, who spent most of his working life in the city. This is reflected in Leipzig's Bach archive, the Bach Museum and honored annually with the Bach Festival. The composer is buried in St Thomas' Church.
Image: Jan Woitas/dpa/picture alliance
Görlitz
Germany's easternmost city survived the Second World War virtually undamaged. As a result, the town boasts 4,000 historical buildings from different eras. That in turn attracts international moviemakers: Görlitz has been used as a film location for several Hollywood blockbusters, such as The Grand Budapest Hotel — earning it the nickname Görliwood.
Image: ArTo/Zoonar/picture alliance
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains extend along the German-Czech border and are a heaven for nature lovers. In summer, this region is perfect for hiking, whereas in winter, the area is ideal for skiing. Here, you’ll find the town of Oberwiesenthal, a ski resort at 914 meters above sea level. It can be reached by narrow-gauge railway.
Lower Lusatia in Brandenburg and Upper Lusatia in Saxony are settlement areas of the West Slavic Sorbs, a recognized German minority. Sorbs are also known for their traditional costumes, parades and dances.
Image: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/picture alliance
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Saxony is steeped in history with a fabulous treasure trove in Dresden, a busy trade fair and trading center in Leipzig, and an insider tip for architecture fans in Löbau. A total of four million people live in this diverse federal state in eastern Germany.
Travel tips Saxony
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Leipzig
Young, dynamic, creative — Leipzig is Saxony's largest city and an aspiring metropolis. The Peaceful Revolution began here in 1989, which brought down the Berlin Wall and ended East Germany's governing communist regime. Lukas Stege, host of the Travel Magazine Check-in, takes an excursion into the city's past and present. The footage was recorded before the coronavirus pandemic.
Leipzig: City of the Peaceful Revolution
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Dresden
The historical and political heart of Saxony beats in the state capital. It owes its nickname, "Florence on the Elbe," to the splendid Baroque buildings in the city center and the vineyards along the River Elbe on its outskirts.
City portrait: Dresden
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Saxony's Wine Route
The wine-growing region between Dresden and Meißen is the smallest and easternmost in Germany with around 480 hectares of vineyards. Check-in presenter Lukas Stege visited winegrowers, wineries and castles before the COVID-19 pandemic. On his itinerary: the State Vineyard at Castle Wackerbarth and the organic winery Hoflößnitz. He also climbed the "Goldener Wagen" terraced vineyard.
Traveling Saxony's Wine Route
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Elbe Sandstone Mountains
Climbers will find exactly 1,125 peaks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also known as Saxon Switzerland. This special landscape got its name in the 18th century from Swiss people who felt reminded of their homeland.
A trip to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains
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House Schminke in Löbau
A jewel of modern architecture can be found in the small Saxon town of Löbau near Görlitz: Haus Schminke, named after its builder Fritz Schminke. Hans Scharoun designed the family villa in the unusual shape of a ship. Today it is a museum where visitors can even spend the night.
#DailyDrone: Schminke House, Löbau
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Muskau Park
Some 60 kilometers away from Görlitz, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau — a bohemian, travel writer and landscape gardener of great renown — designed Muskauer Park, one of the most beautiful landscaped gardens in the world, in the early 19th century. Covering around 830 hectares, it is made up of a number of smaller parks on either side of the German-Polish border, each with its own character. Muskauer Park is one of the few bi-national UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world and the largest English-style landscape park in Europe.
Muskau Park
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Erzgebirge
The Erzgebirge, or ore mountains as it would be called in English, is a low mountain range in Saxony and Bohemia. It is known the world over for its wood handicrafts, which transform the region into a Christmas wonderland during the Advent season. Originally, the Erzgebirge region was shaped by mining. Silver and tin were already mined here over 800 years ago. Watch as our drone flies into the unique mountainous cultural landscape, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019.
Montanregion Erzgebirge
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The Erzgebirge in winter
The Erzgebirge with its extensive forests attracts nature lovers in summer and winter. The highest mountain at 1214 meters (3983 ft.) is the Fichtelberg. This is where you will also find the largest ski area in Saxony, a winter paradise. Check-in presenter Nicole Frölich had a look around before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Erzgebirge in winter
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A highlight in a 360-degree video
The Saxon King Augustus the Strong had his royal capital rebuilt as a Baroque artwork — including the Zwinger palace complex, the Taschenbergpalais, and the Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady, Dresden's symbol of tolerance and peace.
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Your trip to Germany
Are you looking for recommendations for your visit to Germany? We've got them: Tips for Germany — state by state.
