Where to stay in Zwickau

Zwickau is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants.

Zwickau's history dates back almost 900 years. It began as a settlement by the local Slavic tribes, called Šwikawa in Sorbian (a name referring to the pagan god Svarozič). It sits beside and gives its name to the river Zwickauer Mulde, a tributary of the larger Mulde which in turn flows into the Elbe. The centre and most districts of Zwickau are on the left (western) bank of the river. For many centuries, its economy has largely been based on coal and silver mining, predating the industrial revolution by centuries, which is why the city retained a very medieval type old town.

Getting in

The city's main railway station is the Zwickau Hauptbahnhof. Two separate regional trains go from Zwickau to Thuringen (via Gera, Jena, Erfurt and Weimar), as well as Lower Saxony (Göttingen) [RE 1] every two hours. To Leipzig there are S-Bahn-connections every hour with the S5X, which use the Leipzig city tunnel and therefore offer direct connection to the Leipzig city centre, the main station, and the airport. Local trains link Zwickau to smaller towns across the Saxon Ore Mountains.

Getting around

The Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Zwickau operates a network of tramways and bus lines in the city. There are only two tram lines in operation, confusingly numbered 3 and 4. None of them reaches the Bahnhof (train station). Line 4 goes from the city centre to Pölbitz, passing through the impressive 19th-century quarters and stopping reasonably close to the August Horch Museum. Zwickau has a very compact old town, which you will be able to navigate on foot easily.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.