Design your very own trip. choose your route around our network and stop where you want. Our Flexitrip is the ultimate flexible travel option, you can choose anywhere you'd like to go and then buy the number of corresponding flexistops. This is ideal if you really want a true trans-continental adventure or have a clear idea of what cities you want to experience.
How it works
A Busabout Flexitrip Pass (6 or more flexistops) will give you access to the entire Busabout coach network. A flexistop is any time you jump off the coach overnight - compulsory overnight stops are indicated with red dots on the map below.
Flexitrip Passes are perfect for travellers who are looking to go from point A to point B without wanting to get the whole "Loop". Your Flexistops are valid for the entire operating season giving you maximum flexibility (thus the clever name). Break away from the network and explore destinations like Greece or Morocco. Start and finish anywhere - just keep travelling until you run out of stops, or buy more as you go.
For example : Start in Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice and finish in Rome - all with only 8 'flexistops'. Stay in each city as long as you like. If you'd like to make an extra 'stop' in say Salzburg, simply buy an extra 'flexistop' from your On-board Guide.
The Flexitrip Pass is valid for the entire 2008 operating season (May to October). Each "sector" may be travelled once and departures from each city are every other day.
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Start and finish anywhere.
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Travel at your own pace.
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No 'time-limit'
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Minimum recommended travel time: 18 days
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Break your loop - make it into more than one trip.
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Door to door.
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Every other day service.
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Travel Dates and Accommodation
We recommend that you utilise the "MyBusabout" feature on the website, so you can make confirmed seat reservations and pre-book you budget accommodation. Once you have booked your Busabout pass you can just log-on to the website with your booking reference number and start planning and booking your trip.
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| Population : 479,000 |
In the 18th century Dresden was famous throughout Europe as ‘the Florence of the north’, as Italian artists, musicians, actors and master craftsmen flocked to the court, bestowing countless masterpieces upon the city. Today, however, it’s best known for the carpet-bombing of February 1945, when Allied aircraft levelled much of the city, killing at least 35,000 people at a time when the war was almost over.
Luckily you can’t keep a great city down, and many of Dresden’s monumental baroque buildings have been restored, putting the Saxon capital firmly back at the forefront of Germany’s tourist towns. Floods in 2002 set things back a bit, but with major restoration work going on for its 800th anniversary in 2006 and a bid for European Capital of Culture 2010 in the offing, the next few years should see Dresden garner even more fans.
Click Here for our Guides Top Ten!
Sights
Dresden straddles the River Elbe, with the attraction-studded Altstadt in the south and the livelier Neustadt to the north. The focal point of the Altstadt is Neumarkt, where Dresden’s one-time pride and joy, the bombed-out Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady; 1738), is being reconstructed in all its towering former glory. With a lot of sentiment attached to the project, the proposed reopening in 2006 should be a very big event indeed.
Leading northwest from Neumarkt is Augustusstrasse, with the stunning 102m-long Procession of Princes porcelain mural covering the outer wall of the old royal stables. Augustusstrasse leads directly to Schlossplatz and the baroque Catholic Hofkirche (1755). Located just south of the church is the Renaissance Schloss, which is being reconstructed (albeit slowly!) as a museum.
THEATERPLATZ
On the western side of the Hofkirche is Theaterplatz, with Dresden’s glorious opera house, the neo-Renaissance Semperoper ((491 1496; tours adult/concession €5/3) – if you’ve watched any German TV you’ll probably recognise it from a certain beer commercial. The opera tradition goes back 350 years, and many works by Richard Strauss, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner premiered here.
Next door, the baroque Zwinger fortress (Theaterplatz 1; h10am-6pm Tue-Sun) is another great Dresden heavyweight, with no fewer than six museums within its ornate walls. The most important are the Old Masters Gallery ((491 4619), which features masterpieces including Raphael’s Sistine Madonna; and the Rüstkammer (armoury; (491 4619), with its superb collection of ceremonial weapons. A combined ticket costs €6/3.50 per adult/concession. The dazzling Porcelain Collection ((491 4622; adult/concession €5.50/3.50) includes plenty of local Meissen classics.
BRÜHLSCHE TERRASSE
East of the Augustusbrücke, this pleasant elevated promenade looks out over the Elbe, with imposing views in every direction. At the eastern end is the Albertinum ((491 4619; combined museum ticket €6; h10am-6pm Fri-Wed), which houses major collections including the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister (New Masters’ Gallery), with renowned 19th- and 20th-century paintings (particularly from the impressionist school).
Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt ((866 090; tours €10) runs river tours on rebuilt steam ships from the docks below the terrace.
Information
DISCOUNT CARDS
Dresden City-Card (48hr €18) Includes local public transport and free or discounted admission to many leading museums.
Museums day card (adult/concession €10/6)
INTERNET ACCESS
E@sy Internet ((0172-579 5652; Pfarrgasse 1; per hr €3.60) Unstaffed Internet office.
Media Call Shop ((656 7277; Rothenburger Strasse; per hr €3)
MONEY
Dresdner Bank ((4890; Prager Strasse)
Reisebank ((471 2177; Hauptbahnhof)
TOURIST INFORMATION
Dresden Information Hauptbahnhof ((4919 2100; www.dresden-tourist.de; Prager Strasse 21; h9.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4pm Sat) Schinkelwache ((491 1705; Theaterplatz 2; h10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun)
Eating
The Neustadt is Dresden’s food and nightlife hub and student central, though there are still a few reasonable options in the tourist-saturated Altstadt.
Café Europa ((389 923; Königsbrücker Strasse 68) A smart and relaxed café, with newspapers, strange décor features, intimate lighting and free Internet.
Italienisches Dörfchen ((498 160; Theaterplatz 3; mains €5-20) This collection of four restaurants offers everything from bargain barbecue on the terrace to swish Italian inside.
Raskolnikoff ((804 5706; Böhmische Strasse 34; mains €5.20-7) This café/gallery/pension couldn’t be more bohemian if it tried – it’s even on Bohemian St! The menu sorts its good-value light meals by compass direction.
Scheunecafé ((802 6619; Alaunstrasse 36-40; mains €6.40-10.10) Devotees of Indian food and alternative rock come together nightly in the beer garden of this unusual venue.
X-fresh ((484 2791; Altmarkt Galerie; mains €6.50-14.90, buffet €7.80) Dresden’s only ‘Wellness-bistro’ provides healthy alternatives to traditional stodge, with salads, shakes and a Sunday prosecco (Italian sparkling white wine) buffet.
Entertainment
Opera at the Semperoper (www.semperoper.de; Theaterplatz) is a quintessential Dresden experience. The two great theatres are the Staatsschauspiel ((491 3555; Theaterstrasse 2) and the Staatsoperette ((207 9929; Pirnaer Landstrasse 131, Leuben). Tickets can be bought from Dresden Information. A variety of musical and big-name events are presented in the Kulturpalast ((486 60; Schlossstrasse 2).
Sax (€1.30) has detailed German-language
listings of entertainment.
Drinking
The Neustadt zone between Alaunstrasse and Kamenzer Strasse is Dresden’s ‘Bar-muda riangle’; with pubs and clubs lining both sides of just about every street, it’s easy to get lost until the early hours!
Neue Tonne ((802 6017; Königstrasse 15; admission free-€15; hvaries) Live jazz up to five nights a week.
Reisekneipe ((889 4111; Görlitzer Strasse 15) Run by a travel company, this exotic bar gives
a taste of various different cultures. It’s popular with students, backpackers and the wanderlusty.
Strasse E ((866 600; Werner-Hartmann-Strasse 2; free-€8) A massive 6000 sq metres of clublife, from disco to drum ’n’ bass. Take tram No 7 to Industriegelände.
Gay visitors could start at Roses cocktail bar ((802 4264; Jordanstrasse 10), the lively
Queens club ((803 1650; Görlitzer Strasse 3), or Sappho women’s café ((404 5136; Hechtstrasse 23).
© 2006 Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd. All rights reserved
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