Overall:
This tour offers a week of gentle cycling through a region with a great deal to offer the visitor. In large measure, where cycling might require extra energy, the organisers provide an alternative, often something possesing an old-world charm, ensuring that this tour need never be more than gentle exercise, for this is a tour to be savoured, not rushed.

Dresden is an outstanding city of historic and cultural significance and is an excellent base for this tour. Obviously, it shines bright on the list of its attractions, but there are many other wonders — architectural, artistic, technological and scenic — to satisfy more than one visit.

Thanks
A special word of thanks from me to Rad & Reisen’s Daniela E-B for her support a few weeks before my departure, verifying that attractions were all open and services running; and during my week in Dresden, producing speedy responses to my queries.

Highlights

• Steam train ride from Radebeul to Moritzburg.
• Paddle Steamer ride from Dresden to Meißen (or Meißen to Dresden — the choice is yours).
• The Bastei, in Saxon Switzerland.
• Pirna.
• Dresden.
• Meißen.
• Excellent meals at the Hotel Elbflorenz.

Niggles:

• Initial problem over my half-board option, which was resolved the morning after I arrived.
• Some of the instructions in the route book rather meaningless.

Regrets:

• Did not visit Schloss Pillnitz.
• Not being able to visit the Richard Wagner Museum in Graupa.
• Leaving it too late in the day for a proper visit to Festung Königstein.

Rad & Reisen’s local agent: Rückenwind Reisen GmbH

Options Chosen:

• Category B Hotel (Hotel Elbflorence).
• Single Room.
• Half Board
• Travel documents in English.
• 21-speed unisex bike without a coaster (“back-pedal”) brake.

Date of the Tour: 2020-07-05/11 (6 nights / 7 days: Sunday to Saturday)

Preparation
Useful information can be found on the Elberadweg web site. In addition to the information on the site itself, you can download maps, brochures and GPX tracks, though many of these resources are in German only. Note the blue “e” symbol used on signposts to indicate the cycle path. This tour covers sections N (north of Dresden) and O (south of Dresden) of the entire Elbe Cycle Path.

Materials Supplied
The materials came in two main tranches:

• About a week prior to the tour, I received a substantial package of documents from Rad & Reisen:
  • Coronovirus information (for Austria!)
  • Travel Information Booklet.
  • 1:100 000 scale map of Dresden and the surrounding area.
  • Town Plans of Dresden, in different scales on each side.
  • Brochure about the hotel (ie its marketing material).
  • The Guide Book: “Bicycle tour around Dresden” in English.
  • Receipts and vouchers. Mainly, these confirmed receipt/provided proof of payment for the tour, for the bike hire and for the hotel booking. Unusually, the hotel asked for the hotel booking voucher and kept it.
• Handed to me at the hotel at the Welcome meeting given by the Rückenwind Reisen agent:
  • Voucher for the guided city tour in Pirna (day 2).
  • Tickets (passenger and bike) for the preserved steam railway journey from Radebeul Ost (East) station to Moritzburg (day 3).
  • Voucher for the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus service round Dresden, apparently valid for the entire week, but most useful for the day exploring Dresden (day 4).
  • Voucher (passenger and bike) for a paddle-steamer boat journey between Dresden and Meißen (or reverse) (day 5).
  • Tickets (passenger and bike) for the Dresden S-Bahn train network, valid for one day from the time of activating them, for use exploring Saxon Switzerland (day 6).
  • Street plans for Pirna and Meißen.

Transfers
My usual airline does not fly to Dresden Airport (DRS), so I looked at alternatives not too far away. One option was Prague (PRG), but I didn’t want the complication of Czech currency, so I opted for Berlin, the main airport there still being Tegel (TXL) (due to be replaced by the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER) from October 2020, at least for some airlines).

From Berlin-Tegel airport, I took the airport bus TXL to Berlin’s main railway station (Berlin Hauptbahnhof). From here, Deutsche Bahn operates services to Dresden Hauptbahnhof (also stopping at Dresden Neustadt, which may be more convenient for the Best Western Hotel and, possibly, the Maritim Hotel), both direct and indirect, via Leipzig or Halle (Saale).

From Dresden Hauptbahnhof, the Rad & Reisen information was that it was a 6-minute walk to the Hotel Elbflorenz, so I took that advice.

At the end of the tour, I basically took the same route in reverse, but, being in posession of a daily tram ticket, I saved myself the walk and took the tram from just across the road from the hotel, two stops to the Hauptbahnhof.

Hotel: Elbflorenz (Category B option)
I chose this hotel because I considered it to be optimal based on price and location, being on the left bank, close to both the main station (Dresden Hauptbahnhof), at which I would be arriving, and equally close to the old town centre. It’s in the same block as Dresden’s World Trade Center, separated from it by a small shopping arcade. Tram and S-Bahn stations (Freiberger Straße) are literally just across the street, so the hotel is well-served (from here, too, there’s a direct S-Bahn train service to Dresden Airport). The more expensive Maritim Hotel is closer to the Elbe Cycle Path (virtually next door to it), but, I thought, much less convenient for the Hauptbahnhof. The Category C hotel is on the other bank of the river, in the new town, so I ruled it out on that basis.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, my room had none of the magazines, brochures and hotel information which are usually provided. There was plenty of storage space for my stuff, a fridge, safe and a good number of power sockets for charging my various devices. The hotel has a little quirk in the card you hang over the door handle: one side is the usual “Please do not disturb”, but the other side, unusually, says “For the sake of the environment, please do not clean the room today.” It caught me out the first day, but I made use of it on alternate days.

Breakfasts are excellent, with a complete selection of foodstuffs available, although sometimes not placed where you might expect to find them. The hotel’s built on a quadrangle, with trees and a water feature in the middle, so you have a choice of indoor or outdoor dining.

Evening meals are served in a different Bistro area, adjacent to Reception, again with access to the quadrangle. It is not open on Sunday evenings.The “Elbflorenz” name of the hotel comes to the fore here, for it’s an Italian restaurant. With my half-board option, I didn’t find this restrictive: for two of my five evening meals, I chose options from the standard menu; for other days I think the chef had a choice of specials available. I enjoyed all my meals immensely.

The hotel offers free Wi-Fi, but limits it to 5 Mbps. If you want a faster service (20 Mbps), you pay either EUR 3.00 per day or EUR 10.00 per week. I stuck to the free service.

Bike
My booking had included an option for a standard bicycle without a coaster brake (“back-pedal” brake) and this was honoured; the two hand-operated brakes were excellent.

Rather than 21-speed, the bike I was provided had a 24-speed derailleur system, though the number of gears is of little relevance, for ascents are few and not strenuous (unless you decide to cycle up to the Bastei in Saxon Switzerland).

The bike had a generator hub for the lighting system, supplying both front and back lights. I switched this to the “on” position and left it there. A sturdy propstand was fitted and a suspension seat post reduced the impact of bumps. Bosses for a water bottle cage were present, so I attached the cage I’d brought with me. Hans told me they used to fit brackets as standard until someone claimed to have had an accident (obviously, a complete fluke) because of it; from then on, they were all removed.

Additionally, I was supplied with a small pump, a tool kit, a pannier bag and a handlebar bag, both of good quality, completely waterproof. The handlebar bracket was the Klickfix type, to which handlebar bags from numerous manufacturers will fit (if you bring your own).

Navigating the Daily Routes

• Along the Elbe Cycle Path, you don’t really need much guidance, as it’s difficult to go wrong. The guide book, wisely, stays silent, apart from recommending which side of the river to cycle (as the path is on both sides). However, the Elberadweg (Elbe Cycle Path) is signposted with the blue “e” symbol mentioned earlier and/or with the symbol for German cycle route D10 (on signposts, the “D” is usually depicted as the right-hand half of a bicycle wheel, with the number “10” inside the “D”).
• By following the directions provided in the guide book.
• GPS tracks. Some people have mentioned they were provided with GPS tracks, but Rad & Reisen doesn’t indicate them for this tour. I created some for myself and have added to them after my return home. (Nerdiness!)

Cycle Clothing
Previous experience of cycling in the region in summer months meant my general expectation is for hot weather, but this cannot be relied upon, meaning the majority of cycle clothing should be for warmer weather (short-sleeve, short leg, sunglasses, sun hat, sun lotion), but a number of items catering for unseasonably cold weather should also be available (long sleeve, long leg, or arm/leg warmers that can be used/layered with other clothing). Also, rain is always a possibility, so it’s sensible to have rainwear (waterproof jacket, trousers, headwear) available in your pannier bag. Having seen locals making skillful use of rain capes in previous years, I had bought one, which I had with me). There were a couple of brief showers on my journey from Meißen to Dresden which I waited-out under trees. During my stay, I found a short-sleeved cycle jersey and cycle shorts were what was needed.

The Tour Guide
Welcome briefings and bike handover take place at Maritim and Elbflorenz hotels at 16:00 on the day of arrival and at the Best Western between 16:00 and 19:00. Unfortunately, my travel arrangements meant I did not arrive at the hotel until 17:00, so I contacted Rad & Reisen and they (Daniela E-B) arranged for mine to be at 08:30 the following morning.

I found my time with Hans useful and he was helpful in setting up the bike ready for my first ride. He had a lot of knowledge of the points of interest on the various trips and offered advice based on things I mentioned to him. His final words showed the emphasis of this tour: ride slowly and enjoy it!

Photographs
As always, it’s very difficult to select just two photographs from a whole week’s touring, so I’ve decided to depict places which Rad & Reisen hasn’t shown on its web site.

My first photograph is of Pirna, taken in the market square during the city tour. The building on the left with the flags in front of it is the Rathaus and the white building at the opposte end of the square is the Tourist Information office (the Caneletto House as far as I can make out). Behind it is the Stadtkirche St. Marien.

My second photo is a panorama view taken from the Bastei. On the left can be seen some of the Bastei rock outcrop, then, to the right of the River Elbe (actually, on its left bank, as we’re looking upstream) is the village of Rathen. Behind this, is the flat-topped Lilienstein mountain and across to the right, I think, is Festung Königstein.