In the city of Dresden, the capital city of the German state of Saxony, Germany

 (in Dresden, Germany) There are few city silhouettes more striking than Dresden’s. The classic view from the Elbe’s northern bank takes in spires, towers and domes belonging to palaces, churches and stately buildings, and indeed it's hard to believe that the city was all but wiped off the map by Allied bombings in 1945.

+ Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, copious amounts of mulled wine and some of the best hot chocolate you've ever had. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas across Europe, with hundreds of festive markets glittering brilliantly as soon as the first Advent door is opened. While Germany is the real fairy-tale deal, Christmas markets sparkle across the continent, come snow or shine, with crafts, choirs, light displays, and local grub.

+ The ultimate Christmas market in Germany is Dresden’s Striezelmarkt, which has enraptured folk since 1434. It is big, with 240 chalets welcoming nearly three million visitors each year. But it’s not just for tourists. The backdrop is spellbinding, with thousands of lights and, on the Altmarkt, the world’s biggest Christmas pyramid adorned with life-sized figures. The city on the Elbe fizzes festively with carousels and carollers, ice skating and stalls, doing a brisk trade in everything from beautifully handmade nutcrackers, Räuchermännchen (smoking men) and Erzgebirge crib figures, to Germany’s tastiest Christstollen, dense, buttery fruitcake sprinkled with icing sugar.

+ The Dresden Zwinger (shown here) still shapes the city’s image to this day, reminding us of the glamorous baroque period like no other building. A courtly work of art was created between the city’s inner and outer fortifications at the behest of Augustus the Strong. The architectural project, favored over a simple orangery, was carried out by Matthaeus Daniel Poeppelmann und Balthasar Permoser. The planned extension to the palace was replaced by the Picture Gallery and Semper Opera House. The museums of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden are now waiting to be discovered at the Zwinger: the Porcelain Collection, Old Masters Picture Gallery and the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments. From spring 2021, visitors will be able to discover the multimedia Zwinger Xperience, which will immerse them in a world of festivals, parades and drama with an exciting range of panoramic projections and virtual reality stations. What’s more, little orange trees give the Zwinger an extra Mediterranean charm from May to October.

+ The Frauenkirche, Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany, that has long been the symbolic heart of the city. It showed the beauty and power of Dresden and its dedication to Lutheranism, then later recalled the horrors of World War II, and now stands for the city’s resilience and the reconciliation between former enemies. Dresden’s city council commissioned the new church in 1722. Built between 1726 and 1743 to a design by George Bähr, the Frauenkirche was a masterpiece of Baroque architecture.