Elevation: 113 meters (344 feet)

Tourist Information: Dresden-Werbung und Tourismus, Ostra-Allee 11, D-01067, Dresden, tel. +49/351/4919 20, fax 351/4919 2116, info@dresden-tourist.de,  www.dresden-tourist.de. Visitor info on Prager Strasse (near the Hauptbahnhof) and in the Schinkelwache at Theaterplatz

Tourism Marketing Company of Saxony, 3220 SW 66th Ave., Portland OR 97225, tel.503-227-1750, fax 503-241-4746, www.saxonytourism.com

Flight Arrivals: Dresden-Klotzche Airport, modernized and expanded since reunification;  located five miles north of the city center. Rapid-transit S-Bahn service costs €1.70 for rail connection to Neustadt Bahnhof (13 minutes) and Dresden Hauptbahnhof (21 minutes)

Train Travel: Frequently scheduled long-distance trains, including German Rail’s high-speed InterCity Express (ICE), arrive at and depart from the two stations above

Driving Distances:

• Leipzig: 67 miles,108 km
• Berlin:127 miles, 205 km
• Munich: 300 miles, 484 km
• Hamburg: 312 miles,502 km
• Nürnberg: 209 miles, 337 km
• Prague: 94 miles, 152 km
• Vienna: 286 miles, 461 km

Best Buys: Dresden Card for free public transportation (trams, buses, Elbe ferries, local trains) within the city fare zone; free admission to 11 museums of the State Art Collections, price discounts for city tours by bus, river excursions and selected shops and restaurants; €19 per person for 48 hours

Dresden Regio Card for all benefits of the Dresden Card, plus free public transportation throughout the metro region as well as steam-train trips on the area’s narrow-gauge Lössnitztal and Weisseritztal railways; €29 per person for 72 hours

High-Altitude Panoramics: From the open-air platform atop the Frauenkirche’s dome, reached by elevator, stairways and spiral ramps; superlative cityscape and Elbe River vistas; daily from 10am (closed 1-2pm); €8. 

Boat Rides: The world’s oldest and largest paddle-steamer fleet, founded in 1836, offers day trips from Dresden Altstadt’s embankment to Saxon royalty’s Pillnitz summer palace  (€14 round-trip) and upriver to Meissen, home of the porcelain workshops and exhibition hall (€15.80 round-trip); www.saechsische-dampfschiffahrt.de

Major Events in 2006:   

• Elbe Steamboat Parade, Dresden-Pillnitz (9 old-time vessels): May 1
• 36th Dixieland Festival (Europe’s biggest): May 7-14
• Classical Music Festival: May 25-June 11
• Elbhangfest Riverside Festival: June 23-25
• Dresden 800th-Anniversary Celebrations: July 14-23
• Moritzburg Chamber Music Festival, August 6-20
• “White Fleet” Paddle-Steamer Festival: August 18-20
• Contemporary Music Festival: October 1-10
• Altstadt Unity Night (all styles of music): November 11
• 572nd Striezelmarkt (Christmas Market): November 23-December 24