When we were planning our route across Germany, Mr G was very keen to include Dresden. It was a few hundred kilometres off the route, so I was a bit meh, but < takes a deep breath and grits teeth> he was absolutely right.

Dresden used to be known as the Jewel Box of Germany because of its beautiful Baroque architecture-and, against all odds, it remains a gem. The city centre was practically destroyed by allied bombing during the second world war. The black and white images of rubble filled streets in 1945 are shocking; very little was left standing and it’s estimated that 25,000 people died. Under the Soviet regime there was limited rebuilding or restoration, the people had to live among the ruins of the formerly magnificent capital of Saxony.

After reunification, Germany has totally renovated Dresden. They have done an extraordinary job. In comparison with the UK rebuilding of cities like Hull, Swansea and Coventry, the new blends beautifully with the old. The recently constructed houses, hotels and squares all have the proportions of the old town, without being a pastiche. The Schloss, Zwinger and Frauenkirche are magnificent, but they also reflect their turbulent histories. Modern stonemasons have repaired the damage without hiding their restoration. We’d definitely like to come back to explore more.

We had lunch in a great little restaurant just off the Neumarkt, not far from the Frauenkirche. The Hofbrau zur Frauenkirche was warm, friendly and filled with locals. The food was reasonable, delicious and the staff wore lederhosen- what’s not to like?

Quick campsite comment:

We stayed at Camping Platz Wostra, just outside Dresden centre. Well, when I say just outside it was around 8 miles away, but we’ve started to realise that there are always compromises with city camping. If you want space and good facilities, you’re really unlikely to be two minutes from the hot spots! Hopefully, later on our journey we’ll be able to camp in the wild on the side of lakes, beaches or mountains- but at the moment it’s more important to be able to nip to the loos without collapsing from hypothermia!

https://www.dresden.de/de/leben/sport-und-freizeit/sport/campingplatz.php?pk_campaign=Shortcut&pk_kwd=campingplatz

The good bits: It’s cheap (E22.5), clean, practically empty and the shower facilities and loos are excellent. Public transport is decent, we got a bus and a train to Dresden which took about 30 minutes.

The bad bits: It’s quite far from the city, we couldn’t find many shops or facilities nearby- it’s kind of bland but functional.