Eastern Germany

Eastern Germany, with Berlin as its gateway, takes in the palaces of Potsdam, Dresden, Leipzig, and the homelands of Luther, Bach and the Bauhaus.

This region is what Chinese-language travel writing calls “East Germany”, divided by whole federal states, and includes Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Although Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was part of the former East Germany, by tourism convention it is counted as northern Germany; to the west the region is bounded by Lower Saxony and Hesse, to the south it adjoins Bavaria, and to the east and southeast it borders Poland and the Czech Republic.

Highlights: in Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Museum Island (a World Heritage site), remains of the Berlin Wall and the East Side Gallery; Potsdam’s Sanssouci gardens; in Dresden, the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger Palace and the “Florence on the Elbe” view along the river, plus the Bastei Bridge in nearby Saxon Switzerland National Park and Meissen porcelain; in Leipzig, St Thomas Church (Bach) and the Old Town Hall; in Saxony-Anhalt, Luther sites in Wittenberg, the Bauhaus in Dessau, the old town of Quedlinburg and the eastern foothills of the Harz; in Thuringia, the classical Weimar sites, the Old Town of Erfurt and the Wartburg in Eisenach; and in the Spreewald you can tour by flat-bottomed boat.

Classic itinerary: 3 days in Berlin plus 1 day in Potsdam, 2 days for Dresden and Saxon Switzerland, 1 day in Leipzig, and 1–2 days in Weimar–Erfurt, for 7–9 days in total.

Getting there: Berlin Brandenburg Airport is the gateway, and trains from Berlin to Leipzig and Dresden both take about 1–2 hours.

Note: Many museums are closed on Mondays; some Berlin attractions (such as the Reichstag dome) require advance online booking.

Destinations

Itineraries