Region guide

Days in the Eastern Ore Mountains

Forests, snow and regional food – ideas for your time around our places to stay, in summer and in winter.

Best Time to Visit the Eastern Ore Mountains: Weather, Snow and Highlights Month by Month

Altenberg sits on the mountain crest, Dippoldiswalde 400 metres lower – and you notice it every day of the year. We analysed 15 years of weather data and tell you what each month is good for.

Practical

Workers' accommodation in Altenberg and Dippoldiswalde: what we offer and what to check first

Eight rooms with their own bathroom up on the ridge, two apartments with kitchen and washing machine down in the valley: what your crew gets, what it costs per head and what to ask before you book.

Family

Eastern Ore Mountains in the rain: 12 ideas for bad-weather days

On the ridge of the Eastern Ore Mountains a day can start in fog and end in drizzle. These twelve places still work, and most are less than half an hour from our two houses.

Sights

Exploring Dippoldiswalde: Castle, MiBERZ Mining Museum, Tannery Museum and Old Town

A walk through Dipps, as locals call it: from an award-winning museum to a castle full of 800-year-old mining finds and a Romanesque cemetery church. Everything is so close together that half a day is enough.

Practical

Getting to the Eastern Ore Mountains: Train, Bus or Car to Altenberg and Dippoldiswalde

From Dresden it is about 20 kilometres to Dippoldiswalde and about 40 to Altenberg. The best way to get here depends on which of our two houses you are heading for – and whether there is snow on the ground.

Sights

Weißeritztalbahn: By Steam Train from Freital via Dippoldiswalde to Kipsdorf

Twice a day the Weißeritztalbahn steams through Dippoldiswalde, 250 metres from our apartments. Here is when it runs, what you see along the way and how to combine the ride with a walk.

Hiking

Mushroom and Berry Picking in the Eastern Ore Mountains: Rules, Season and Mushroom Checks

Porcini in the spruce woods, bilberries along the path: people in the Eastern Ore Mountains have always foraged. What's allowed, where to keep your hands off, and who checks your basket before it goes in the pan.

Sights

Altenberg in the Ore Mountains: The Sights That Are Actually Worth It

Altenberg has no old town to stroll through. What it does have is a mining crater at the edge of town, a 16th-century ore works with a working water wheel and a lookout mountain you can walk up. Here's what's worth your time and what to know first.

Sights

Things to Do in the Eastern Ore Mountains: 25 Day Trip Ideas, Sorted by Distance

From a mining crater at the edge of town to the Bastei Bridge: 25 places, sorted by how far they are from our two houses, with drive times and an honest note on what still works in the rain.

Winter

Altenberg Bobsleigh Track: World Cup, Guest Bobsleigh, Ice Tubing and Track Tours

The SachsenEnergie-Eiskanal in the Kohlgrund valley is regarded as one of the hardest artificial ice tracks in the world. You can watch World Cup races from the barrier, ride in a four-man bob, slide down in a rubber tube or take a guided walk along the track.

Winter

Christmas Markets in the Eastern Ore Mountains 2026: Altenberg, Geising, Dippoldiswalde and the Steam Train

Christmas markets in the Eastern Ore Mountains are small, and many last a single weekend. If you come in Advent, it helps to know which market is on which weekend. Here is what has been confirmed for 2026 so far.

Day trip

Day Trip to Seiffen: The Toy Village with Its Museum, Show Workshop and Hoop Turner

Seiffen is a little over 40 kilometres from Altenberg, and hardly any other place stands so firmly for Ore Mountains nutcrackers, smoking men and Christmas pyramids. This day plan gets you to the workshop, the museum and the hoop turner without wasted journeys.

Hiking

Hiking in Altenberg: Walks to Geisingberg, Kahleberg and the Georgenfeld Moor

Viewpoint summits, flowering mountain meadows, a 10,000-year-old moor and traces of tin mining: around Altenberg the trailheads are so close together that you can often leave the car parked.

Winter

Winter Holidays in Altenberg: Skiing, Cross-Country Trails, Bobsleigh and Sledging in the Eastern Ore Mountains

A floodlit ski slope, around 80 kilometres of cross-country trails, a World Cup ice track and sledging hills for children: in Altenberg, most of what makes a good winter day is only minutes apart.

Food

Ore Mountains Food: Traditional Erzgebirge Dishes, Neunerlei and Where to Try Them

Potatoes, forest mushrooms, wild blueberries and a Christmas Eve meal of nine parts: this is how the Ore Mountains taste – and where to find these dishes around Altenberg and Dippoldiswalde.

Rooms in Altenberg8 rooms with private bathroom · 1–3 guests · from 70 € / night

Apartments in Dippoldiswalde2 apartments with kitchen · up to 5 guests · from 70 € / night

Days in the Eastern Ore Mountains

Best Time to Visit the Eastern Ore Mountains: Weather, Snow and Highlights Month by Month

Workers' accommodation in Altenberg and Dippoldiswalde: what we offer and what to check first

Eastern Ore Mountains in the rain: 12 ideas for bad-weather days

Exploring Dippoldiswalde: Castle, MiBERZ Mining Museum, Tannery Museum and Old Town

Getting to the Eastern Ore Mountains: Train, Bus or Car to Altenberg and Dippoldiswalde

Weißeritztalbahn: By Steam Train from Freital via Dippoldiswalde to Kipsdorf

Mushroom and Berry Picking in the Eastern Ore Mountains: Rules, Season and Mushroom Checks

Altenberg in the Ore Mountains: The Sights That Are Actually Worth It

Things to Do in the Eastern Ore Mountains: 25 Day Trip Ideas, Sorted by Distance

Altenberg Bobsleigh Track: World Cup, Guest Bobsleigh, Ice Tubing and Track Tours

Christmas Markets in the Eastern Ore Mountains 2026: Altenberg, Geising, Dippoldiswalde and the Steam Train

Day Trip to Seiffen: The Toy Village with Its Museum, Show Workshop and Hoop Turner

Hiking in Altenberg: Walks to Geisingberg, Kahleberg and the Georgenfeld Moor

Winter Holidays in Altenberg: Skiing, Cross-Country Trails, Bobsleigh and Sledging in the Eastern Ore Mountains

Ore Mountains Food: Traditional Erzgebirge Dishes, Neunerlei and Where to Try Them

So where will you stay?