The Saxon Elbe Valley: the landscape around your holiday home in Radebeul

Radebeul sits right in the Saxon Elbe Valley, the cultural landscape either side of the Elbe that stretches from Saxon Switzerland in the south to the Elbe-Elster lowlands in the north. The tourism association covers, among others, Dresden, Meißen, Riesa, Torgau, Pirna, Coswig, Großenhain and Moritzburg, spanning the districts of Meißen, Saxon Switzerland-East Ore Mountains and Dresden. What makes the region distinctive at first glance is the wine: the vines between Pillnitz and the Elbe wine villages form one of the north-easternmost wine-growing regions in Europe — not even a full percentage point of Germany's wine output, but a landscape all its own, shaped by terraced walls and winegrowers' houses.

Cycling, hiking, wine tasting

Cyclist in the landscape around Radebeul

The Elbe cycle path runs right past Radebeul, downstream to Dresden, upstream via Meißen to the Elbe wine villages such as Diesbar-Seußlitz. Those who prefer to walk will find marked hiking trails through the Lößnitz vineyards with views over the Elbe valley, plus seasonal wine taverns known in Saxony as "Besen" that open only for the autumn harvest. The Hoflößnitz estate in Radebeul has grown wine on the same site since 1401, is now Saxony's first certified organic winery, and also houses the Saxon Wine Museum.

A base for day trips

Albrechtsburg castle and cathedral in Meißen

From Radebeul, Dresden, Meißen, Moritzburg, Pillnitz and Saxon Switzerland are all under an hour away by train, tram or car. For a slower pace, take the Lößnitzgrundbahn narrow-gauge railway to Moritzburg, or one of the nine historic ships of the Saxon Steamship Company, the world's oldest and largest paddle steamer fleet. Aboard the "Diesbar", built in 1884, still runs the world's oldest working steam engine in a river steamer, built in 1841. The landing stages between Dresden and Meißen are close enough together to plan a day trip without a car at all.

Wineries and culture

Vineyards and winegrower's house at the Hoflößnitz estate

Alongside the Hoflößnitz, Schloss Wackerbarth presses its own sparkling wine and shows its cellars on guided tours, while Schloss Proschwitz near Meißen, with 67 hectares, is one of Saxony's larger wine estates, reacquired and run by the von Lippe family since reunification. Culturally, the Elbe Valley ranges from the Semperoper and the Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen in Dresden to the Albrechtsburg castle and the porcelain manufactory in Meißen, both just a short S-Bahn ride from Radebeul.

The Saxon Elbe Valley.