Großer Garten

The Großer Garten is Dresden's largest park, a Baroque garden of about 180 hectares in the Südvorstadt and Johannstadt districts, in Saxony, Germany. Laid out from 1676 as a formal pleasure garden for the electors, it is organised around a long central avenue, the Hauptallee, which cuts straight through the park and is lined by lime trees, with side avenues forming a cross. At its heart stands the Palais, a Baroque summer palace now used for exhibitions and events, surrounded by flower beds, statues, vases and a formal parterre. Elsewhere visitors find a lake, an open-air stage, a restaurant, the botanical garden on the northern edge, the Dresden Zoo on its southern side and the glass Gläserne Manufaktur nearby. A miniature railway, the Parkeisenbahn, runs through the park from spring to autumn with children as the staff, a tradition from the Pioneer railway of East German times, and gives an easy way to cover the distance. Walking the Hauptallee takes about 40 minutes, and a complete visit takes two to three hours. Cyclists, joggers, picnickers and families fill the park, which is free to enter and open daily from early morning to late evening. The best photographs are taken along the Hauptallee at morning with low light through the lime trees, in front of the Palais, and by the lake in summer. The park is busiest on warm weekend afternoons, and quietest on weekday mornings and in the shoulder seasons. Autumn colours bring a second popular period. The park is reached by tram, and the Hauptbahnhof is a 20-minute walk away, so it fits easily into a day that also includes the Zoo or the Hygiene Museum on the nearby edge of the Altstadt.