Saxony is located in the southeastern corner of what was once East Germany. It borders two countries: Poland to the east and the Czech Republic to the south.
Saxony has a short border with Bavaria to the southwest and a longer one with Thuringia to the west. The northern part of Saxony borders the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg.
Dresden, the capital of the state, acts as an administrative and cultural hub, and has good links to the neighbouring countries and to the many tourist destinations around the city.
Leipzig, the bigger city, is an important road and rail travel hub for the northern part of the state and probably offers better connections to the rest of Germany.
Leipzig-Halle Airport is the larger of the two in Saxony. It offers a limited range of internal destinations and a selection of summer sun holiday flights as well as the occasional international city connection.
Website: www.leipzig-halle-airport.de
Dresden Airport has a more limited range of flights both within and outside Germany. At the time of writing, the only external connections were to Switzerland, the Netherlands and Russia.
Website: www.dresden-airport.de
Berlin-Brandenberg airport has finally been completed and immediately become the third busiest airport in Germany. It has a wide range of both regular and low-cost airlines, including destinations outside Europe.
Website: ber.berlin-airport.de
Copernicus (Wroclaw) Airport in nearby Poland and Vaclev Havel (Prague) Airport in the Czech Republic should also be options, especially for those looking to visit the Dresden area. Wroclaw is a hub for low-cost flights while the airport at Prague offers a wide range of destinations befitting a European capital city.
Website: airport.wroclaw.pl
Website: www.prg.aero
Leipzig and Dresden are the main InterCity connection points for long-distance travellers and the connections between the two cities, from Dresden to Chemnitz and from Leipzig to Erfurt have been upgraded in recent years.
Visitors interested in historic rail journeys should note that Saxony boasts a number of historic narrow-gauge railways located mostly in the southern part of the state.
The German rail system has limited special offers on longer-distance high-speed services if booked at least a number of days in advance.
One of the best rail bargains in any state is the day pass for the (slower) regional services. In Saxony's case this is called the Sachsen-Ticket and offers unlimited travel on local services from 09.00 to 03.00 the following day (or from midnight on weekends).
Importantly, in Saxony's case, this regional travel ticket also includes all local services in neighbouring Thuringia and Saxony Anhalt (and the equivalent tickets for those states also include Saxony).
The single price is low (24 Euros at the time of writing) but the real bargain is that extra people can be added to the ticket up to a maximum of five for only 7 Euros a person. Thus five people can have unlimited travel for a day in Saxony and two other neighbouring states for only 52 Euros. (Note that Intercity services are not included.)
Visitors to Dresden should also look at the S-Bahn regional train system and its day tickets, which cover popular destinations such as Saxon Switzerland and Meißen. Those wanting to travel to Görlitz and Bautzen should take advantage of the Trilex day ticket, which is slightly cheaper than the Sachsen Ticket.
Website: www.bahn.com
Saxony's road infrastructure has been upgraded in recent years, although the only substantial motorway link through the state is the west-east A4.
The following national motorway routes run through Saxony:
Saxony has some mountain roads and care should be taken driving on local roads in winter. Snow chains and winter tyres can be obligatory.
The German automobile club is called ADAC and it offers information on traffic and road conditions on its website (German only):
Website: www.adac.de
