Saxon Wine Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Pirna

   Pirna is the front door of Saxon Switzerland, the sandstone country of the upper Elbe, and the town has a long memory of being looked at. In the 1750s the Venetian painter Bernardo Bellotto, nephew of Canaletto and working under his uncle's name, painted Pirna in a series of sharp, luminous views, and you can still recognise the town hall and the market square from his canvases. The old centre is compact, with a steep-roofed Rathaus, a Gothic hall church above the roofs and rows of pastel houses, and the whole place feels pleasantly unhurried. It has about forty thousand people, so fuel and food are easy.

   Read the complete Pirna write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Pirna is where the day begins. Next is Dresden.

2. 2. Dresden

   Dresden sits in a wide, gentle bend of the Elbe, with the hills of Saxon Switzerland to the south-east and the vineyards of the Elbe valley to the north-west. For two centuries it was the showpiece of the Saxon electors, above all Augustus the Strong, who turned it into a Baroque capital of palaces, galleries and festivals, so that the city was known as Florence on the Elbe. The Zwinger, the Semper Opera and the Frauenkirche were its crown, and the skyline painted by Canaletto in the eighteenth century was among the most celebrated in Europe.

   Read the complete Dresden write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dresden comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Radebeul.

3. 3. Radebeul

   Radebeul is where Dresden's suburbs turn into vineyards. The town spreads along the right bank of the Elbe, northwest of the Saxon capital, and its hillsides are terraced with vines running up from villas and cottages to little summerhouses on the ridge. It is one of the northernmost wine regions in Germany, and Saxony's vintners are fiercely proud of their small production, most of which never leaves the state. Dry Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Weissburgunder are the usual suspects, and a glass of Federweisser in autumn is almost a local duty.

   Read the complete Radebeul write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Radebeul. Next is Meissen.

4. 4. Meissen

   Meissen is where Saxony began. The Albrechtsburg castle, a late Gothic masterpiece, stands on a rock above the Elbe, next to the cathedral with its tall spires, and together they form a skyline that looks straight out of a medieval manuscript. In the tenth century, a fortress was founded here by German kings to guard against the Slavs to the east, and from it grew the margraviate that eventually became Saxony. Walking up the cobbled alleys from the market square to the castle gate is one of the better ways to spend an hour in Germany.

   Read the complete Meissen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Meissen, late in the day. Next is Diesbar Seusslitz.

5. 5. Diesbar Seusslitz

   Diesbar-Seußlitz is a very small place at the far northern end of the Saxon Wine Route, in a bend of the Elbe where the hills soften and the valley widens. The village, made of two older villages joined together, sits between the river and a slope of vineyards, and above the roofs stands the baroque palace of Seußlitz, once a convent for noble ladies and later a country estate, with a terraced garden stepping down toward the water. The population is only a few hundred, so do not expect much beyond the essentials, and plan your supplies in advance.

   Read the complete Diesbar Seusslitz write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Diesbar Seusslitz. That is the ride.