Freital/Hainsberg – Dippoldiswalde
– Spa Kipsdorf/Eastern Ore Mountains

120 years of service interrupted by flooding

When the guard blew his whistle at Freital/Hainsberg Station, just in front of the gates of Dresden, this was the signal for the oldest serviceable narrow-gauge railroad in Germany to set off. The Weisseritz Valley Railroad first went into operation in 1882 but on August 12, 2002, flooding of the little Weisseritz River put a sad end to this service, destroying the rails. However, the railroad will remain a magnet for tourists, for what is arguably the most romantic line in the whole of Saxony, with its 40 bridges, will be rebuilt starting in 2005. The Weisseritz Valley Railroad will then again be able to whistle its way along some 16 miles of track from Freital via Dippoldiswalde to the spa town of Kipsdorf.

Sideline attractions

• Malter Dam

• Fairy Tale Gardens, Reinhardtsgrimma

• Botanical Garden, Schellerhau

• excursions to the Eastern Ore Mountains Gallery in the Castle of Dippoldiswalde

• extensive hiking tours among the peaks of the Eastern Ore Mountains

• excursion to the Forest Botanical Gardens in Tharandt

• guided tour of the Saxon Porcelain Factory Dresden in Freital

• 'Zum Wanderer' – historical tourist café by the railroad tracks in the Rabenau Valley

• Legends Walk in the Rabenau Valley

• Rabenau Mill - a historic hotel and restaurant with a splendid view of the Weisseritz Valley Railroad

• winter sport resort of Altenberg with its famous bob and toboggan runs