Press release ·
Only in Saxony can you travel back in time to bygone railway eras every day and in every season on narrow-gauge steam trains running on 750 mm gauge track in various regions. There are also major railway festivals on railways of all gauges, as well as fascinating museums. As a holiday route, the STEAM RAILWAY ROUTE Saxony is a network linking railways with accommodation, fine food and drink, and activities for the whole family.
In steam every day, the Zittau Narrow-Gauge Railway takes passengers from Zittau to Kurort Oybin and Kurort Jonsdorf in the nature park region of the Zittau Mountains. At weekends, “time-travel trains” recall long-gone eras of railway history. Themed trips such as the “Castle and Monastery Trains” bring the history and culture of the region to life. Popular offers from the railway include overnight stays in the FerienWaggons holiday carriages and the holiday flat am Wasserhäuschen, as well as the Kinderbahnhof “Zwergenreich” adventure playground in Kurort Oybin. The “Historik Mobil” festival in the Zittau Mountains is particularly popular. This year it takes place from 4 to 6 August, offering a varied programme of historic railways and vintage road vehicles.
On the outskirts of the former royal residence city of Dresden, the Lößnitzgrundbahn runs steam trains daily from Radebeul via Moritzburg to Radeburg, puffing through the romantic Lößnitzgrund valley. Once in Moritzburg, you can visit Augustus the Strong’s famous Moritzburg hunting lodge. Themed trips on the line are particularly popular, such as “Weingenuss auf schmaler Spur”. The narrow-gauge railway festival on the Lößnitzgrundbahn on 16 and 17 September is an experience for the whole family. South of Dresden, the Weißeritztalbahn steams daily through the wildly romantic Rabenauer Grund gorge and past the Malter reservoir into the eastern Ore Mountains to Kurort Kipsdorf! The traditional narrow-gauge railway festival is celebrated here on 15 and 16 July 2023. Another daily steam railway is the Fichtelbergbahn from Cranzahl to Kurort Oberwiesenthal in the Ore Mountains, Germany’s highest town. Various themed trips and group offers such as the Dampf- und Räuchertour or moonlight trips combine the steam train ride with experiences along the line. The Döllnitzbahn between Oschatz, Mügeln and Glossen in northern Saxony runs daily and is in steam on selected weekends. This line also hosts themed trips and events throughout the year. A highlight is the station festival in Mügeln, one of Europe’s largest narrow-gauge stations, on 9 and 10 September 2023.
Other museum railways with steam operation on seasonal operating days and at weekends are the Preßnitztalbahn and the Museumsbahn Schönheide in the Ore Mountains and the 600 mm gauge Muskau Forest Railway in north-eastern Saxony. A trip on the Preßnitztalbahn from Steinbach to Jöhstadt combines idyllic scenery with particularly authentic museum railway operation – an ideal change from the often stressful daily routine. The annual highlight is the Preßnitztalbahn station festival at Whitsun from 27 to 29 May 2023. At the same time, the Muskau Forest Railway also has a highlight in store with the Park- und Blütenfest in Kromlau.
Along the STEAM RAILWAY ROUTE Saxony you will also find railway experiences on standard-gauge lines and other tourist modes of transport, from mountain railways to the Sächsische Dampfschifffahrt paddle steamers. In particular, the major railway festivals such as the Dresdner Dampfloktreffen on 15 and 16 April and the Heizhausfest at Schauplatz Eisenbahn in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf from 25 to 27 August attract railway enthusiasts from all over the world to Saxony.
In addition, various partners of the STEAM RAILWAY ROUTE Saxony offer you tailor-made accommodation packages, and not only for railway fans – how about a “Dampfzauberwoche” in the Zittau Mountains, for example, or a night in the Lok-Hotel V180 in the western Ore Mountains? You can delve into the history of the railway and of mobility as a whole in an exciting way at the Dresden Transport Museum, housed in the historic Johanneum exhibition building on the Neumarkt.
Set off on a voyage of discovery in the land of steam railways!
Further information, dates and travel tips at: www.dampfbahn-route.de
