Here the tour begins on the banks of the Elbe where Dresden was first permanently settled. We will pause to consider the history, culture, language, and eventual displacement of the people who first lived here.
Here we will explore the fascinating history of this site, beginning in the 15th century as a fabulously wealthy Augustinian monastery before being demolished and turned into a royal hunting lodge in the 16th century after Luther's Reformation. Please note we will not be entering the building and its museums, but participants are free to do so at their own leisure. Ticket prices can be found here: https://volkskunst.skd.museum/besuch/
At this now beautiful Baroque church we will explore the unseen history of this crucial site in the former Altendresden., beginning in the early 15th century. Please note we will not be entering the building or climbing the tower, but participants are free to do so at their own leisure. Prices to climb the tower can be found here: https://www.hdk-dkk.de/dreikoenigskirche/der-turm/
From Altendresden we then cross the famous Augustus Bridge to enter the Altstadt, to continue our explorations of the deep medieval history of Dresden
Here you will learn of the 700 year history of the Frauenkirche before it was constructed in the Baroque period and the various structural and religious changes it witnessed during this time. Please note we will not be entering the building and its museums, but participants are free to do so at their own leisure.
Listen to the story of how this famous church was originally built in the 13th century, destroyed multiple times in its history, and also bore witness to crucial moments in the Reformation.
Listen to the amazing story of the first Franciscan monastery in Dresden, originally constructed in the 13th century, including its demise and later resurrection as the iconic yet sadly lost Sophienkirche. This church, perhaps more than any other in Dresden, is a window on to the changing political and religious currents in the city's history.
The magnificent Residenzschloss is our final stop on the tour and here we examine how Dresden went from being a small, largely insignificant city to one of the most important in the entire Holy Roman Empire. This royal residence was built to house the Electors and Kings of Saxony, and we will learn about the incredible transformations this palace represents. Please note we will not be entering the building and its museums, but participants are free to do so at their own leisure. Ticket prices can be found here: https://www.skd.museum/en/visit/royal-palace/
Fraser led an in-depth historical overview of Dresden that I would recommend to all interested in the history of the city. I was taken to all the highlights of the city and more, which I would've never found on my own or via a Google search.
Fraser was a great guide with a wealth of knowledge and information. He was patient while pictures were being taken and happy to answer question s. Highly recommend
Had a great time learning about Dresden’s history, Fraser is very well prepared and provides a fun, insightful experience, highly recommended!
Dr. Macdonald is very knowledgeable and presents the sights and history of Dresden in a most interesting way. He was very gracious answering my many questions as we went along. Thank you!
Dr. Fraser Macdonald tailored our delightful walking tour to our special interests in history and design. He took us to special parts of Dresden that we don't believe we would have seen without him. His knowledge and insight was in-depth and unique. Tidbits and facts that you would never learn from a book! He also gave us tips about where to eat and enjoy a jazz show. Fraser greatly enriched our Dresden visit.
Fraser made the city come alive for us! We had a wonderful experience and really enjoyed all of his knowledge and stories.
Fraser is extremely professional and informative. He is friendly and willing to converse on any requested topic. We would gladly recommend this tour to anyone!
Our guide Fraser was a kind young gentleman with full knowledge on both Dresden and east german history. He was easy to understand for non-native speakers, relaxed and fun. We enjoyed the tour a lot.
Fraser explained the history with modern context. Focus on dresden origin and it's part during worl war 2 and to current.
An in depth look at the history of Dresden and the surrounding area. Walking through the city and learning about the buildings, the culture, both past and present.
This is a great tour! I loved starting in Neuesdadt and learning about that part of the city. I felt we got a great overview of Dresden and its incredible history. Fraser was a wonderful guide and I appreciated his openness to questions from the group. I especially enjoyed learning about Dresden's history through viewing the different art and architecture. I was surprised by what was older and what was newer - I wouldn't have known without the tour! Definitely worth doing this tour if you're visiting Dresden!
Dr. Fraser MacDonald was spectacular. Very knowledgeable about the origin story of Dresden, the time up until the 1930’s, the war period (I thought more of the buildings had been destroyed versus mostly the interior), the Socialist era and the post DDR era. He was well spoken and kept us at a reasonable pace. Nothing was rushed or forced. I highly recommend this tour with Fraser.
We had a marvelous tour with our delightful guide. So much information; fascinating conversations! He has a great knowledge base!! We felt so lucky to be on this walking tour!
Excellent overview of Dresden with a knowledgeable tour guide.
We took the Dresden walking tour with Dr. Fraser Macdonald. We found Fraser to be very informative, friendly and knowledgeable. Our time in Dresden was quite limited and his tour allowed us to see the major sites in a relaxed fashion. I would highly recommend booking this walking tour with Fraser! Eva
We had such a great experience on this historical walking tour of Dresden! It was a wonderful way to explore the city while learning about its fascinating history, beautiful architecture, and how Dresden has changed and rebuilt over the years. Our guide Dr Fraser Macdonald was knowledgeable, engaging, and made the stories behind the landmarks really interesting and easy to follow. The tour was well-paced and gave us a much deeper appreciation for the city than we would have gotten just walking around on our own. A perfect mix of history, sightseeing, and local insight. Definitely one of the highlights of our time in Dresden and highly recommend it to anyone visiting!
Wonderful experience, Fraser was very knowledgeable of the area and incredibly friendly. Highly recommend for personal tour of Dresden.
Fraser provided an excellent english language walking tour of Dresden. He encompassed both old and recent history by taking a nice leisurely stroll from Neustadt to the Altstadt. Our group consisted of three native english speakers and eight german speakers ranging in age from 17 to 75. He spoke very clearly and made an extra effort to get to know each individual in our group and made sure everyone understood the information. The (East) German part of our group were particularly impressed by his non biased factual based interpretation of the history of Dresden, encompassing the Kingdom of Saxony, the inter war years, the GDR and post reunification era and they learned new things about the history of their home state.
This experience was very informative in such an enjoyable way. Fraser, our guide, was perfect for the tour and provided the right number of viewings for the allotted time with clear explanations of what the time period might have been like. He showed us the sights and answered our questions without us ever feeling like we were running out of time. The tour truly brought more understanding of the history of this interesting city. I would recommend this tour early in your stay as it will pique your interest to learn more.
Excellent tour, highly recommended. A very helpful combination of historical information and modern context.
Nice historical overview of Dresden. It was thorough and a reasonable pace. Very enjoyable and worthwhile tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and took the time to provide the right amount of details. I would highly recommend. Another couple took our recommendation to take this tour and also had a nice experience.
Whenever we tour an older city, my husband and I enjoy learning about the city's history, culture and architecture. This was our first time using Viator to find a guide and we felt lucky to find Fraser. It ended up being a tour for just the two of us and Fraser did a fantastic job adapting the tour to our interests. As an academic he has really taken time to get to learn all about Dresden. He is incredibly knowledgeable and an easy conversationalist. His tour hit all the significant buildings and he had fascinating stories to share. It was a fabulous way to kick off our visit to Dresden and we highly recommend you spend time with Fraser.
It was my very first time doing a solo trip which made me a bit nervous, I didn’t have too much knowledge on what to do first, which is when I decided to book a tour. I’m so glad I did because not only was it super informative but our tour guide Fraser was a very kind and knowledgeable man who also enjoyed talking and getting to know the group as a whole. Not once did I think the tour was ‘boring’ or ‘unwelcoming’ if anything it was 100% worth every dollar. The tour groups are a bit smaller then what I’ve been accustomed too but I find it all the more easier to learn and converse with others along with our tour guide. The view were breathtaking and if I had the chance to redo my day I would’ve picked this tour all over again. I’d like to thank the tour guide and wish others who may enjoying learning of the roots and history of Dresden to pick this tour and see for themselves.
Marcus took a group of us across the old and new parts of Dresden covering ancient history to modern history, religion, royalty, first inhabitants of Dresden, WWII desecrations, Cold War and Stasi police. We were so inspired afterwards we went to the Stasi Museum. A small gift to everyone on the tour was a lovely surprise and nice touch. A valuable tour by a knowledgeable guide.
Fraser’s an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable, warm and attentive and we loved spending time with him and diving into the city’s past and present. Thank you Fraser!
What a wonderful tour of an incredibly fascinating and beautiful city! Fraser is deeply knowledgeable about the history, culture, and life in Dresden, and is a lovely, easy going guide. And I lucked out by being the only person on the tour so we really had a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening conversation. And he topped it off with a thoughtful little gift! I’d highly recommend this tour!
The guide was a very nice guy with very good English, and I was lucky to be the only customer, so it was like a private tour. Still, it was meant as a group tour, and for that, I think, it was a bit overpriced - the only reason why I gave it 4 stars rather than 5.
Great guide. Very relaxed and informative. Perfect way to explore Dresden for my first time. Fraser was an excellent guide.
Fraser was friendly, kind and very knowledgeable about Dresden! We enjoyed our private walking tour so much! I highly recommend him.
Frazier is an amiable young man with impressive academic knowledge of Dresden’s history and the ability to present it in an entertaining, easy-going way. Ready and willing to answer questions and provide advice !
If you're visiting Dresden, this tour is a must-do! Dr. Fraser Macdonald was a wonderful, knowledgeable guide who held our attention the entire time -- and was among the best guides we had during our two-week visit to Europe.
Fraser was great. He was knowledgeable and eager to answer any questions we had. We were thrilled to find that there was an English language tour option in Dresden.
Fraser MacDonald was an excellent guide. Pleasant, knowledgeable, interested. He brought the city alive. I would highly recommend him.
Highly recommend Dresden history and stories walking tour with Dr. Macdonald. We felt comfortable asking questions and appreciated the authentic experience. Dr. Macdonald is knowledgeable, completely approachable, and kind. He actually gave me his bottle of water after I coughed from dust. The tour piqued our curiosity and enthusiasm to learn more. Thank you again!
We throughly enjoyed our time touring the City of Dresden with Frances. He provided an excellent overview of the complex and layered history of Dresden, showing us lesser known sites and monuments as well as the most common. Very kind and conscientious and open to answering our smattering of questions.
Definitely recommend this walking tour. Frasier personalised it to our small group, providing architectural insights from pre/post WWII and post-reunification.
We really enjoyed our tour with Fraser. He is very friendly and happy to chat about the history of Dresden and the area, answering any questions along the way. We felt very lucky to be the only participants so it felt more like strolling through the city with a friend.
Fraser was an excellent tour guide. Great experience to learn the history of Dresden. I learned a lot and highly recommend this tour.
Great way to learn about Dresden! Fraser is a personable & knowledgeable tour guide. He left us with a good understanding of the city’s history and important sites. Highly recommend!
Great experience learning about Dresden and it's history! Frasier kept it interesting and fun with time for dialogue, not just one-way story telling. Plus, we had the opportunity to see and learn about some of the lesser known, but very interesting, sites that other tours miss. I highly recommend Frasier and this tour!
I highly recommend this tour. Dr. McDonald was extremely knowledgeable and answered all my questions. A very enjoyable tour.
We really enjoyed the tour with Fraser. We were able to ask lots of questions and tailor the tour to our own pace. We'd recommend it to anyone!
A very interesting insight into Dresden - from pre war to the post war communist era. It was interesting comparing the pre war Dresden buildings, with the the post war communism ones. Also, how Dresden rose from the rubble from one of the most intense bombings by the Allies, during the last stages of the war. A very relaxed & informative walking tour, along with information about the main landmarks that makes Dresden what it is today.
Excellent tour that gave us a great all round experience of Dresden places and history. Enjoyed it immensely. Wish we had more time to explore the city this time.
Fraser was a fabulous tour guide. He was so well informed about Dresden’s history.. loved how he took us to several sites that definitely wouldn’t have been on your usual city tours. He had a lovely, easy going and professional way about him. I learned so much on the tour.
Fraser was an excellent tour guide, really enjoyed his knowledge and information on the city of Dresden. It was a great first thing to do when arriving in Dresden to get a bearing on the city. He was also just a super cool guy and fun to talk to.
Fraser was an incredibly knowledgeable and considerate tour guide. We hire guides in almost every city we visit, and we would rate this tour as one of the best we have ever taken. After a minor communication glitch regarding our starting time, Fraser quickly regrouped providing outstanding insights into the unique history and politics of the Dresden area. Fraser has an advanced academic degree in Anthropology which we believe gave him the ability to discuss thorny issues in an objective and non-judgmental way. We were most interested in learning about the impact of WWII and the Cold War. Fraser skillfully tailored our tour to diplomatically address these issues. Fraser even suggested a few fun things to do after our tour that many visitors don't learn about... such as taking the Suspension Railway (a suspended funicular) up the high hill to a lookout spot for a great view of the city. We loved it!
We had an amazing time exploring Dresden with Fraser. His background (he’s a PhD guide!) really shines through in how informative the tour is, yet he remains so down-to-earth and keeps things relaxed and relatable …so easy to talk to. A good honest Kiwi. I really value small group tours where you can interact with the guide, and this delivered exactly that. It allowed for great conversation and a much more personal experience. I walked away with such a deeper understanding of Dresden’s past and present. This walk is must-do for any history lover who can learn the facts while having a lovely walk through a beautiful city. Thanks so much Fraser.
Very knowledgeable guide . Very friendly. Well worth the money. Took us to both sides of River. Very satisfied.
This was a fantastic walking tour around Dresden! Dr. Fraser was very knowledgeable about different landmarks in the city and he was a fun tour guide. He also gave lots of good recommendations around the city. Would highly recommend this walking tour to learn a bit more about the history of Dresden.
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