66 attractions in Saxony, including Lichtenhain Waterfall, Mädler Passage and Malerweg (Painters' Way). Map, details and practical tips before you go.
Waterfalls
Sebnitz
The Lichtenhain Waterfall in the Kirnitzsch Valley near Sebnitz is one of the oldest visitor attractions in Saxon Switzerland, the sandstone region southeast of Dresden. It is a small cascade with a twist: a weir holds the stream back and…
Landmarks
Leipzig
The Mädler Passage (Mädlerpassage) is one of the most beautiful shopping arcades in Germany and a highlight of any walk through central Leipzig. Between Grimmaische Straße and Neumarkt, boutiques, cafes and restaurants line a glass-roofed…
Nature parks
Pirna
The Malerweg ("Painters' Way") is a long-distance hiking trail through Saxon Switzerland and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, southeast of Dresden. In eight stages and about 112 to 116 km (70 to 72 miles), it leads from Liebethal near Pirna t…
Museums
Dresden
The Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden is one of Germany's major history museums and a striking piece of architecture. Star architect Daniel Libeskind drove a giant wedge of steel and glass straight through a 19th-century Saxon…
Museums
Dresden
The Panometer Dresden is a former gasometer in the Reick district where artist Yadegar Asisi shows enormous 360-degree panoramas. The name blends "panorama" and "gasometer." If you are looking for unusual things to do in Dresden, this imme…
Landmarks
Dresden
Pfunds Molkerei (Pfund's Dairy) in Dresden's Neustadt district has been called the most beautiful dairy shop in the world. The small sales room on Bautzner Straße is covered from floor to ceiling in hand-painted Villeroy & Boch tiles, maki…
Palaces
Dresden
Albrechtsberg Palace (Schloss Albrechtsberg) in Dresden's Loschwitz district is the grandest of the three Elbe palaces, a Neoclassical villa-palace on a hillside above the river with terraces, ponds and landscaped parkland. If you are look…
Palaces
Augustusburg
Augustusburg Castle (officially a hunting lodge) crowns a hilltop on the edge of the Ore Mountains near Chemnitz in Saxony. Built in the 16th century for Elector Augustus, the white Renaissance complex is nicknamed the "Crown of the Ore Mo…
Palaces
Colditz
Colditz Castle in Saxony is a Renaissance castle on a porphyry cliff above the town of Colditz, and one of the most famous prisoner-of-war sites of World War II. From 1939 to 1945 it served as Oflag IV-C, a camp for Allied officers whose e…
Palaces
Torgau
Hartenfels Castle in Torgau is one of the most important Renaissance palaces in Germany and the largest fully preserved palace of the early Renaissance in the country. On the banks of the Elbe in Saxony, it is known for its free-standing s…
Palaces
Müglitztal
Weesenstein Castle (Schloss Weesenstein) in the Müglitz valley is an eight-story castle clinging to a rock above the river, famous for having been built partly from top to bottom. Located south of Dohna in Saxony, it is one of the more unu…
Mountains & peaks
Bad Schandau
The Schrammsteine look as if someone had set a sandstone wall into the landscape and then hacked at it with an axe. This long, deeply fissured ridge east of Bad Schandau has around 80 summits, broken by three massive gaps known as the Schr…
Churches & monasteries
Annaberg-Buchholz
When rich silver veins were found in the Ore Mountains in the late 15th century, Duke George the Bearded founded a new mining town and had a church built that was meant to tower over everything. At 65 metres long and 40 metres wide, St. An…
Nature
Lohmen
Between moss-green sandstone walls the path narrows until you pass beneath huge boulders that once fell from above and jammed between the cliffs. The Rock Gate in the Uttewalder Grund is one of the oldest motifs of Saxon Switzerland: Caspa…
Museums
Dresden
The Dresden Transport Museum (Verkehrsmuseum Dresden) sits in the historic Johanneum on Neumarkt square, a few steps from the Frauenkirche. Across roughly 5,000 square meters it tells the story of road, rail, water and air travel, from an…
Landmarks
Dresden
The Yenidze in Dresden is a former cigarette factory built to look like a mosque, complete with a colored glass dome and a chimney disguised as a minaret. Nicknamed the "Tobacco Mosque," this quirky landmark stands just west of the Old Tow…
Museums
Leipzig
The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig (Forum of Contemporary History) is a free museum in the heart of Leipzig that tells the story of dictatorship and democracy in East Germany after 1945. Located on Grimmaische Strasse between the Market…
Zoos
Dresden
Dresden Zoo sits in the leafy Großer Garten park, a short walk from the city's baroque old town. Opened in 1861, it is the fourth-oldest zoo in Germany and covers about 13 hectares, making it an easy half-day outing. Its newest attraction,…