by The musty smell in the three-berth rail compartment was reminiscent of British Rail in the 1980s, the seats had seen better days, and the only plug socket was in a ceiling cabinet where the sink was.
It’s clear that the most luxurious European Sleeper compartment won’t be challenging the Orient Express anytime soon. The private train is not easy to find in Brussels either, where its details are only shown half an hour before departure, and where carriage number 19 could be found attached to carriage number 1.
And yet when I was settled in my seat, I felt something stir within me, a sense of excitement of going on a rail journey reminiscent of the student holidays at Interrailing across Europe.
It was Friday night, and I was embarking on a little adventure, leaving Brussels via European Sleeper (which has just extended its route from Brussels to Berlin as far as Prague) and heading to Dresden, before returning over Sunday night. And it was going to be fun.
As we wandered from city to country, we entered my picnic (there is no buffet car) and I read about the scarcity of sleeping carriages in the on-board literature. “That’s why we started with our comfortable but relatively old carriages,” wrote European Sleeper founders Chris Engelsman and Elmer van Buuren.
These carriages consist of six-seater compartments that have apparently time-traveled from my Interrail days, as well as six-way rests, and my more luxurious sleeping. All carriage classes had one thing in common: people were chatting with their neighbours, perhaps sharing a bottle of wine or playing cards. That’s the thing about trains.
I also got to know my neighbors, two brothers from Colorado. “We love overnight trains,” said Anthony Redlin. “You can easily cross countries without airports, it’s greener, and as a bonus to get from A to B, you don’t have to pay for a hotel room.”
Directly. As for my own room on the rails, it was very comfortable, when the train was chugging by lulling me to sleep under the duvet much easier than I expected. I woke up to breakfast-in-a-box, followed by Dresden, looking beautiful at 8.30am in the spring sunshine.
Seeing its spiers, domes and palaces rising above the Elbe, it was hard to believe that most of the old city – small enough to walk around easily – had been destroyed by allied bombing in 1945, and still going on again.
Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and elector of Saxony (1670-1733), was mainly responsible for making the city a cultural center, home to some of the best arts in Germany. Impressed by Versailles, he commissioned the construction of the Zwinger as his own baroque pleasure palace, with a huge fountain-filled courtyard (which should be completely renovated next year) surrounded by sculptural mountain walls.
He added to the royal palace large state apartments and a small ballroom that would have been approved by the Sun King himself; they opened in 2019. Right next door, Augustus commissioned the 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 a year-long renovation, and where my high-ceilinged room had great views of the historic center.
From this elegant base, I explored, taking in art from Raphael’s Sistine Madonna to the 24,000-tile Fürstenzug – Procession of the Princes – a wall mural depicting the rulers of England. There was music too – not at the impressive Semper Opera, but in the form of a classical concert at the domed Frauenkirche, Dresden’s beautiful baroque church rebuilt brick by brick from rubble.
If the old town feels a bit like a living museum, Neustadt across the river offered a brighter, graffiti alternative, with its attractive street art adorning the buildings of Kunsthofpassage, and inexpensive restaurants as well as the ornate cheese shop Pfunds Molkerei.
You can’t stay on the banks of the Elbe without going on to the river, so on Sunday, I took a paddleboat cruise along the river, marveling at how quickly we moved into rural Saxony, with its meadows and three castles on the banks of the river. .
That left time before my 8.30pm train to linger over dinner and pillows on the Balcony of Europe terrace, overlooking 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 a couple of Dutch guys and a Canadian family. That’s the thing about trains – they connect more than countries.
Fundamentals
Jane Knight was a guest of The Trainline, which returns to Brussels from £218 (trainline.com) and the German National Tourist Office (germany.travel).
European Sleeper (europeansleeper.eu) has returns from Brussels to Dresden from £118 for a seat, £170 for a couchette suite and £307 for 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 beautiful new reasons to visit Dresden this year
Das Palais Restaurant at the Kempinski
Outdoor tables at this newly reopened restaurant allow you to see the royal palace and the bridge over the street that connects it to the Kempinski hotel, while enjoying excellent yet simple international cuisine, including crayfish in lobster mousse and grilled salmon with crushed peas. Three courses €59 (kempinski.com).
Caspar David Friedrich at the Albertinum
Special exhibition starting August 24 marking the 250th commemorating the birth of the German landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich, who spent 40 years in Dresden. He will show his work together with pictures that inspired him from the Dresden Old Masters Picture Gallery (albertinum.skd.museum).
Royal Palace Courtyard
Still being completed but looking amazing with its newly restored colorful frescos in the bell tower galleries and monochrome graffiti around it, the courtyard in the Royal Palace is free to enter. Admire it from a table at Anna im Schloss, which specializes in handmade food and snacks (anna-dresden.de).
Opera Bar & Restaurant
Opening just in time for the warm weather, the Opera Bar is the perfect place to sit outside and sip a cool beer while looking out over the Royal Palace and the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Hotel. You can also eat everything from salad to steak (€39) in the minimalist interior (opera-dining.bar).
Puppet theater museum
From September 7, the Puppentheatersammlung will find larger premises in the former Mitte power plant, where it will display its collection of more than 100,000 puppets from Dr. Faust to Little Red Riding Hood (puppentheatersammlung.skd.museum).
