The musty smell in the three-berth train compartment was reminiscent of British Rail in the 1980s, the seats had seen better days and the only socket was in the ceiling of a cupboard that housed the sink.
Clearly, the European Sleeper’s most luxurious compartment won’t challenge the Orient Express anytime soon. The private train is also not easy to find in Brussels, where the details are only displayed half an hour before departure and where you can find carriage number 19 connected to carriage number 1.
And yet, once I settled into my seat, I felt something stir inside me, a sense of excitement to embark on a train journey reminiscent of Interrail student holidays across Europe.
It was Friday evening and I set off on a mini adventure, leaving Brussels via European Sleeper (which has just extended its Brussels to Berlin route as far as Prague) and heading to Dresden before returning overnight on Sunday. And it would be fun.
As we drove from town to country, I packed my picnic (there is no buffet car) while reading about the scarcity of sleeping cars in the onboard literature. “That is why we started with our comfortable, yet relatively old carriages,” wrote European Sleeper founders Chris Engelsman and Elmer van Buuren.
Those carriages consist of six-seat compartments that have apparently traveled through time since my Interrailing days, as well as six-berth couchettes and my more luxurious sleeper cabin. Each carriage class had one thing in common: people were chatting with their neighbors, perhaps over a bottle of wine or a playing card. That’s the funny thing about trains.
I also met my neighbors, two brothers from Colorado. “We love night trains,” says Anthony Redlin. “You can easily cross countries without the hassle of airports, it’s greener and as a bonus for getting from A to B you don’t have to pay for a hotel room.”
Precisely. As for my own room on rails, it was surprisingly comfortable; the rocking of the train made me fall asleep under the duvet much easier than I expected. I woke up to a breakfast-in-a-box, followed by Dresden, which looked beautiful in the spring sunshine at 8:30 am.
Given the spires, domes and palaces rising above the Elbe, it was hard to believe that most of the old town – small enough to walk around easily – was decimated by the Allied bombing raids in 1945, while restoration work was still underway. was still going on.
It was Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (1670-1733), who was largely responsible for turning the city into a cultural center, home to some of the finest German art. Impressed by Versailles, he ordered the construction of the Zwinger as his own Baroque pleasure palace, with a huge courtyard full of fountains (due for complete restoration next year) surrounded by sculpture-strewn walls.
He added lavish state apartments and a mini ballroom to the royal palace, which the Sun King himself is said to have approved; they opened in 2019. Just next door, Augustus commissioned a third palace which he gave to his mistress, Anna Constantia, Countess of Cosel.
That building now houses the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski, which has just reopened after years of renovation and where my room with its high ceiling offered a beautiful view of the historic center.
From this elegant base I set out on a journey of discovery, admiring art ranging from Raphael’s Sistine Madonna to the 24,000-tile Fürstenzug – the Procession of Princes – depicting the rulers of Saxony. There was music too – not in the impressive Semper Opera, but in the form of a classical concert in the domed Frauenkirche, Dresden’s beautiful Baroque church that was rebuilt stone by stone from rubble.
If the old town feels a bit like a living museum, Neustadt across the river offered a grittier, graffiti alternative, with its captivating street art adorning the buildings of the Kunsthofpassage, and cheap restaurants and the ornamental cheese shop Pfunds Molkerei.
You can’t stay on the banks of the Elbe without going up the river, so on Sunday I took a pedalo ride along the river, marveling at how quickly we moved into rural Saxony, with its meadows and three castles along the riverbanks. .
That still left time before my 8:30pm train to linger over dinner and a lager on the terrace of the Balcony of Europe, gazing at the Augustus Bridge, beautifully immortalized by Canaletto.
And then, after a whole weekend of wandering, I returned to the station to find that the train back to Berlin was an hour late. Not that the delay worried me; I was too busy chatting with some Dutch guys and a Canadian family. That’s the problem with trains: they connect more than countries.
Essentials
Jane Knight has been a guest on The Trainline, which returns to Brussels from £218 (trainline.com) and on the German National Tourist Board (germany.travel).
European Sleeper (europeansleeper.eu) returns from Brussels to Dresden from £118 for a seat, £170 for a couchette berth and £307 in a sleeper. The Kempinski Hotel (00 49 351 49120, kempinski.com) has rooms from £257 per night, including breakfast. For more information, see visit-dresden-elbland.de.
Five great new reasons to visit Dresden this year
Restaurant Das Palais in the Kempinski
Outdoor tables at this newly reopened restaurant allow you to admire the Royal Palace and the bridge that connects it to the Kempinski hotel, while enjoying exquisite yet simple international dishes, including spiny lobsters in lobster mousse and grilled salmon with pea puree. Three courses €59 (kempinski.com).
Caspar David Friedrich in the Albertinum
A special exhibition from August 24 will mark the 250e anniversary of the birth of the German landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich, who spent 40 years in Dresden. It will exhibit his works alongside paintings that inspired him from the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden (albertinum.skd.museum).
Courtyard Royal Palace
This courtyard of the Royal Palace is still finished, but looks stunning with the recently restored colorful frescoes in the bell tower galleries and the monochrome graffiti surrounding it. It is accessible for free. Admire it from a table at Anna im Schloss, which specializes in homemade dishes and snacks (anna-dresden.de).
Opera bar and dining
Opened just in time for the warm weather, the Opera Bar is the perfect place to sit outside and enjoy a cool beer while looking out at the exterior of the Royal Palace and Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski. You can also eat everything in the minimalist interior (opera-dining.bar), from salad to steak (€39).
Puppet Theater Museum
From September 7, the Puppentheatersammlung will have larger premises in the former Mitte power plant, where it will display its collection of more than 100,000 puppets, ranging from Dr. Faust to Little Red Riding Hood (puppentheatersammlung.skd.museum).