Saxon Switzerland, Meissen and Moritzburg tickets: day trips and buying advice

Guided tours leave from Dresden's main station or Neustadt, run six to nine hours and include a Bastei walk, a stop in Meissen and often Moritzburg Palace. The schedule is tight.

By regional train and bus you are more flexible and cheaper, but need to know the timetables – reaching the Bastei means a train, a ferry across the Elbe and an uphill walk.

The Bastei is famous for its dramatic rock formations and the Bastei Bridge; the national park itself is free to enter and the view from the bridge is open to everyone.

Meissen is known for the Albrechtsburg castle and the porcelain manufactory; Moritzburg is the quiet counterpoint with its baroque palace and pheasant lodge in the forest, worth an extra hour.

Start early: from late morning both the Bastei viewpoints and Meissen's old town fill up. Realistically all three destinations in one day need eight to nine hours.

The porcelain manufactory includes a craftsmen's demonstration. There is no obligation to buy; if you want to skip a long pitch, choose a tour that explicitly keeps the visit short.