Discover Bautzen: Culture and Cycling Tours

Bautzen offers clearly distinct highlights for a stay: city history, theater, and cycling tours. Its sights and routes provide a specific point of reference for each of these interests.

Getting to Bautzen and cycling

Bautzen is accessible by rail on the Dresden–Görlitz line. The journey takes 46 minutes by regional express or 54 minutes by regional train. There is a covered bicycle garage at the station for rail travelers arriving or departing by bike. If you combine a train journey with a cycling tour, you can plan to use this facility when arriving and departing.

The Spree Cycle Route passes through Bautzen along the Spree, past the old town, and onward to the Bautzen Reservoir. The Saxon Cities Route passes through Bautzen on a route of about 120 kilometers: it runs from Hermsdorf via Kamenz to Bautzen, then continues to Löbau and Görlitz. The two routes differ in their described paths and in the scale of the Cities Route. Cycling and hiking maps are available from the Tourist Information Office.

History along paths and at landmarks

You can follow the Bautzen History Trail through picturesque lanes and along medieval fortifications. It comprises 57 stops, with explanatory panels at buildings and squares guiding you along the way. This brings the city’s history to life at several points throughout the urban landscape. The Old Waterworks was built in its present form in 1558 and originally supplied Bautzen with drinking water from the Spree.

St. Peter’s Cathedral also offers a glimpse into the city’s religious history: since 1524, it has been used jointly by Catholic and Protestant Christians. It is considered Germany’s oldest and largest simultaneous church. Together with the History Trail and the Waterworks, it brings different historical themes into focus—from routes through lanes and past fortifications to the shared use of the cathedral.

Museum, theater, and guided tours

The Bautzen Museum presents regional history, city history, and art across three floors. Interactive features as well as audio and video stations complement the exhibition. The German-Sorbian People’s Theater is Germany’s only professional bilingual theater. It performs in German, Upper Sorbian, and Lower Sorbian—a distinctive feature for travelers interested in the region’s languages and stage culture.

Bautzen’s themed city tours take you underground, up the city towers, and into the historical everyday life of local trades. The Tourist Information Office books walking tours and sells combination tickets for tours, towers, museums, and city sightseeing trips. It also lends out an audio-video guide. This lets you choose between guided themed tours and finding your own way with the guide or a map when planning your visit.

Cycling tours in the wider Bautzen District destination

In the wider Bautzen District destination, the Bautzen North Tour is a 43.1-kilometer circular cycling route from Bautzen via Quatitz, Großdubrau, Milkel, Klix, and Malschwitz, returning to Bautzen. It crosses the heath and pond landscape and follows the nature trail in Crosta. The Krabat Cycle Route is also a regional circular route in Bautzen District; it follows in the footsteps of Krabat, the hero of Sorbian legend. These routes are regional additions for orientation, while the Spree Cycle Route specifically passes through Bautzen along the Spree.

More destinations

Discover more destinations: Schmochtitz, Löbau, Großröhrsdorf, Haselbachtal, Wittichenau, Nebelschütz, Cunewalde, Bretnig-Hauswalde.

Back to the wider travel overview: Bautzen District.