Dresden Highlights: Baroque Old Town & the Elbe

What's the walk about?

Welcome to Dresden, the city they call 'Florence on the Elbe'. On this walk you'll loop through the heart of the baroque Altstadt, a golden ensemble of palaces, church domes and sandstone facades rising above the river. It is a scene that was reduced to ash in a single night in February 1945 and then, stone by patient stone, brought back to life. Starting at the Kreuzkirche on the Altmarkt, we'll wind past the ornate Zwinger, the grand Semperoper and the towering Hofkirche, cross the shadow of the royal castle and its Green Vault, admire the world's largest porcelain mural, and step out onto Brühl's Terrace for the classic view across the Elbe — before closing the circle at the resurrected Frauenkirche, the very symbol of Dresden's rebirth.

What you'll see

1. 1

   Kreuzkirche

   Church

2. 2

   Zwinger

   palace

3. 3

   Semperoper

   Opera House

4. 4

   Katholische Hofkirche (Kathedrale)

   cathedral

5. 5

   Residenzschloss (Dresden Castle)

   castle

6. 6

   Fürstenzug (Procession of Princes)

   monument

7. 7

   Elbe Riverfront (Augustusbrücke)

   viewpoint

8. 8

   Brühl's Terrace

   Viewpoint

9. 9

   Frauenkirche

   church