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Saxony & the East
Germany · Western Europe

Saxony & the East

Two great Saxon cities and the storybook east

Live destinationIn the Western Europe journey

Two great Saxon cities and the storybook east. Below, everything you need here — grouped by the Wells that matter, with vetted providers and straight pricing.

Stay-Well
Where you rest
4 options
Backstage Hotel Zermatt
★ Prime
Design boutique in car-free Zermatt, minutes from the Matterhorn lifts
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Commission partner. We may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Hotel Arlberg St. Anton
★ Prime
Family-run five-star ski-in ski-out on the Arlberg
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Hôtel Mont-Blanc Chamonix
Vetted
Historic grande-dame in central Chamonix with Mont Blanc views
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Badrutt's Palace Hotel, St. Moritz
★ Prime
The landmark of St. Moritz since 1896 — grande-dame luxury above the frozen lake
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Activities-Well
What excites you
4 options
Zermatters Ski & Guide School
★ Prime
Zermatt's official ski school & mountain-guide bureau — lessons, off-piste, touring
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Commission partner. We may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix
★ Prime
The world's oldest guide company (1821) — Vallée Blanche, off-piste, alpinism
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Commission partner. We may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Arlberg Ski School, St. Anton
Vetted
The historic Arlberg school — the technique that founded the sport
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Schweizer Skischule St. Moritz
★ Prime
St. Moritz's official Swiss ski school — lessons, off-piste and Engadin touring
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Eat-Well
What you savor
4 options
Chez Vrony, Zermatt
★ Prime
Iconic mountainside restaurant above Zermatt — a Matterhorn table
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Commission partner. We may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Chesa Veglia, St. Moritz
★ Prime
Badrutt's 1658 farmhouse — grill, pizza and old-world Engadin glamour
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Le Chabichou, Courchevel
★ Prime
Two-Michelin-star Savoyard cooking on the piste at 1850
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Rifugio Averau, Cortina
Vetted
Storied mountain hut on the Cinque Torri — Dolomite classics with a view
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Move-Well
Getting around
1 options
Alpybus Alpine Transfers
Vetted
Shared & private transfers from Geneva/Zurich to the Alps resorts
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Commission partner. We may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you.

Don't-miss jewels

Gorlitz — 'Gorliwood' + the eastern border townEssential

Germany's easternmost city and one of its best-preserved — ~4,000 heritage buildings, a favourite film set, and a footbridge to Polish Zgorzelec

standing; best May-Oct + Advent DMC/affiliate
Bautzen + Sorbian LusatiaEssential

Görlitz — ~4,000 heritage buildings spanning Gothic to Art Nouveau, Germany's easternmost city on the Neisse; Bautzen — the towered Sorbian capital

standing; Sorbian Easter a highlight DMC/operator 10-15%
The Erzgebirge — Christmas heartland + Fichtelberg snowComfort

the Ore Mountains, where Germany's Christmas woodcraft is made, the mining heritage, and winter snow + skiing at Fichtelberg/Oberwiesenthal

Advent Nov-Dec; ski Dec-Mar DMC/operator 10-15%
Freiberg — silver mines + Terra MineraliaEssential

the Ore-Mountain silver-mining town — a show-mine tour, the Terra Mineralia gem-and-mineral collection in Freudenstein Castle, and the Silbermann organ in the cathedral

Jun-Aug + December affiliate/operator
Meissen — Europe's first porcelain at AlbrechtsburgComfort

the manufactory that cracked Europe's porcelain secret in 1710 and marks each piece with the hand-painted crossed swords

Jun-Aug + December operator/DMC 10-15%
Dresden baroque core — Zwinger, Semperoper + Green VaultEssential

Pöppelmann's Zwinger, the Semperoper and August the Strong's treasure chambers — the New Green Vault and the Historic Green Vault

Jun-Aug + December affiliate/DMC
Leipzig — Nikolaikirche + the Peaceful Revolution (9 Oct 1989)Essential
Jun-Aug + December guided wrapper only (sites free/non-commissionable)
Dresden — Frauenkirche, rubble to reconciliation (rebuilt 1994-2005)Essential
Jun-Aug + December non-commissionable core
Fichtelberg/Oberwiesenthal — eastern Germany's ski hill + Nordic heartlandEssential

Saxony's highest peak and Germany's highest town hold the region's biggest ski area — ~15.5 km of pistes served by Germany's oldest cable car

Dec-Mar, snow-dependent school/operator 10-15%
Seiffen — the toy village where Christmas is turned on a latheEssential

the Erzgebirge "Toy Corner," where the Räuchermann smoking-figure, nutcrackers, angels and Schwibbögen are still hand-made using the region's signature Reifendrehen ring-turning

Advent Nov-Dec peak; year-round craft DMC/operator
Dresden Stollen + the Striezelmarkt (Germany's oldest, since 1434)Essential
late Nov-24 Dec DMC/operator 10-15%
Saxon wine + Meissen porcelain tableComfort

the Elbe Valley around Meissen and Radebeul is one of Germany's northernmost, smallest wine regions

standing; harvest late summer/autumn operator/DMC 10-15%
Baroque Dresden by the Elbe — Semperoper night + terrace dinnerComfort

the floodlit Frauenkirche and Zwinger over the Brühl's Terrace, a night at the Semperoper and an Elbe paddle-steamer at dusk

standing; opera season autumn-spring consortia/DMC
An Erzgebirge Advent — candlelight, woodsmoke and snowComfort

the Ore-Mountain Christmas at its source — Schwibbögen glowing in every window, Räuchermann woodsmoke, a mountain spa hotel and snow at Fichtelberg

Advent Nov-Dec; snow Dec-Mar consortia/DMC
The Bastei — the bridge in the skyEssential

the sandstone Bastei Bridge strung between pinnacles 194 m above the Elbe

Apr-Oct best; mind unfenced edges operator/affiliate
Konigstein Fortress — the castle that was never takenEssential

one of Europe's largest hilltop fortresses on a sandstone table 240 m above the Elbe

year-round affiliate/operator
A night at the SemperoperComfort

Gottfried Semper's neo-Renaissance opera house, twice destroyed and twice rebuilt — reopened 13 February 1985, exactly 40 years after the firestorm

season autumn-spring; day tours year-round ticketing/DMC
Leipzig — the Monument to the Battle of the NationsEssential

the colossal Völkerschlachtdenkmal, inaugurated on 18 October 1913 for the centenary of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, stands 91 m tall

year-round affiliate/operator
The Erzgebirge 'Home of the Lights' AdventComfort
Advent late Nov-Dec DMC/operator 10-15%
Leipzig's festival calendar — Bach to gothic (WGT)Comfort

the Bach Festival each June at the composer's own Thomaskirche, and the Wave-Gotik-Treffen

Bach June; WGT Whitsun DMC/ticketing 10-15%
Gorlitz on the film trail — the real Grand Budapest HotelEssential

walk the actual "Görliwood" sets — the 1913 Görlitzer Warenhaus that became the hotel interior in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel

Jun-Aug + December DMC/affiliate
Oberwiesenthal — the cable car to Saxony's roof (Fichtelberg 1,215 m)Essential

ride Germany's oldest cable car from Oberwiesenthal up the Fichtelberg for summit views, a summer playground and winter snow

year-round; snow Dec-Mar operator/affiliate
A gentle idea