🏞️ Saxon Switzerland: a natural wonder of Germany
Among the endless variety of attractions in Germany, there is one very special one. It is not as famous as Neuschwanstein and not as well attended as Oktoberfest. But she is a living personification that Germany is gifted with miracles not only man-made, but also natural. It is one of the most beautiful national parks in Europe. We are talking about Saxon Switzerland.
What is Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland is 93 km2 of unique mountain landscape. Its basis is made up of sandstone mountains, which have provided building material for Dresden for centuries. There are no snow-capped peaks hiding in the clouds. But the bizarre outlines of the local stone blocks resemble a gallery of sculptures left in disarray by a hasty master.
The endless green carpet of vegetation framing these giant sculptural compositions will remind you of Hansel and Gretel lost in the forests from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm . And of course, the picture would be incomplete without the waterway – the legendary Elbe. Despite its environmental status, there is plenty to do in Saxon Switzerland: 755 climbing spots, 400 km of hiking trails and 50 km of cycling trails.
How to get there
The Saxon Switzerland National Park is located on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic: 125 km from Prague and 30 km from Dresden. The park is often included in organized sightseeing tours. But even an individual traveler can easily reach it.
From Prague
The closest locations to Prague in Saxon Switzerland are the resort villages of Rathen and Bad Schandau. Trains run from Prague there; the journey takes 2-3 hours. Tickets can be purchased both at the station and online using the website of the national railway carrier of the Czech Republic – Ceske drahy. Ticket prices from Tartu start from 460 Czech crowns ($22).
From the village of Rathen you can start your journey on foot to Saxon Switzerland, while from Bad Schandau you will have to take the local bus or the historical Kirnichtalbahn tram. Choosing the tram will give you an atmospheric, albeit short ride past the beauty of the park and, especially, the Lichtenhain Falls.
From Dresden
The route from the capital of Saxony to the national park is easier and cheaper. There is an option to travel by train from Dresden main station, after checking the schedule on the Deutsche Bahn website. Trains to Bad Schandau station run every half hour and the journey takes only 45 minutes. But be careful when choosing tickets to purchase. Deutsche Bahn offers a variety of fares, both regional and national, with different validity periods – from 4 to 49 euros. If in doubt, wait to purchase your ticket until you go to the station.
The second option is to take the bus. From Dresden Central Bus Station you need to take bus number 160. You can get to Bad Schandau in 45 minutes, and the cost will be 5-7 euros.
You can also get to the resort village of Rathen. The train runs there with no less frequency than to Bad Schandau, the journey takes only half an hour. And from Rathen to the national park you just have to cross the Elbe by ferry.
And finally, you can rent a car in one of the rental offices in Dresden, for example, Europcar. The most expensive of all transport options (the price of a car per day usually starts from 100 euros), however, is ideal for family travelers.
What to see
In the national park you will find an excellent selection of places for lovers of a wide variety of recreation. There are walking trails for the most active, and natural views for photo lovers, and a medieval castle for fans of antiquity. Let's talk about everything a little bit.
Lichtenhain Falls
One of the first points on your route if you are moving from Bad Spandau. Not Niagara, of course, but where else in our latitudes can you see waterfalls?
A retro tram will take you to the murmuring streams. However, it combines retro with innovation: it moves along a narrow-gauge railway from the late 19th century, but is powered partially by solar panels.
As for the waterfall itself, it also represents a symbiosis of natural and human forces. To make the waterfall look more impressive, a century and a half ago, the cunning owners added a small dam, which periodically filled the waterfall with additional volume of water. The dam opened and the modest waterfall turned into a roaring torrent.
The tradition has been preserved: every two hours, accompanied by music, you can see how the Lichtenhain Falls demonstrates strength and power with the help of a person.
Bastei
This is the most recognizable and popular landmark of Saxon Switzerland. It is quite possible to look at it every day, because it is included in the basic wallpaper package for the Windows desktop.
The Bastei consists of cliffs rising 194 meters above the Elbe. Once upon a time, this natural wall was part of the complex of defensive structures of Neurathen Castle, which gave Bastei its proud name (translated from German Bastei – bastion).
Like many things in the park, Bastei has become famous for the beneficial collaboration between man and nature. Two centuries ago, a stone seven-arch bridge was built in this beautiful but remote area. It blended perfectly organically into the natural panorama.
Lifehack. To extend the pleasure of contemplating the bridge and the natural panorama, stay at the Berghotel Bastei or at least treat yourself to lunch in a restaurant near Bastei. Well, for short-term but powerful impressions, go up to the observation deck located at an altitude of 200 meters.
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Königstein Fortress
The impregnable beauty of the Königstein fortress is the largest inclusion of human labor on the pristine land of the national park. Its 40-meter walls defy natural rocks with their inaccessibility. Over the course of eight centuries of history, it was possible to take it only by starvation.
The most unusual war involving Königstein broke out in the 18th century. This war was called… a barrel war. The Saxon elector (also the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) Augustus II argued with his Palatinate “colleague” which of them could build the largest wine barrel. The Saxons won a victory, completing in 1725 a gigantic tank with a capacity of 238 thousand liters. Whether they celebrated the victory with the contents of this barrel or not – history is silent. Unfortunately, the original barrel did not survive to this day. But the “losing” barrel still stands in Heidelberg.
And in Königstein in the 18th century the alchemist Böttger languished. While passing the time in melancholy, he was the first in Europe to invent a method for producing white porcelain. Thus the legendary Meissen porcelain was born.
The cost of visiting the fortress is 15 euros.
Kushtal
Quite a romance! Welcome to… the barn! In truth, nature has provided another purpose for this place. The 11-meter-long excavation is nothing more than a rocky gateway to the sandstone mountains. But they seemed too suitable for economic use.
According to legend, peasants hid their animals here during the Thirty Years' War of the 17th century. Another version says that the cattle were hidden here not from the soldiers, but from their real robbed owners.
Rathen Rock Theater
The beautiful views gave rise to the creative enthusiasm of the Germans. And the open-air rock theater has existed for 90 years. From May to September there are performances almost every day. Stone “curtains” serve as ideal decorations for productions.
Among the performances you can find fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm Hauff and Indian Westerns. Adult tickets are quite affordable, starting from 10 euros. The production schedule is here.
Artists' Trail
All of the above delights can be combined into a single route. Which will require patience, endurance and a decent amount of strength and time. In 2006, the 115 km long “Artists' Trail” trail, consisting of eight stages, opened across Saxon Switzerland.
The route received such a romantic name not for pathos, but for the sake of, but in memory of the artists who worked in the park and depicted it in their paintings. By the way, Saxon Switzerland owes its name to several of them, the 18th century Swiss masters of the brush Adrian Tsing and Anton Graff. If you are ready to take on the challenge of the artist's path, look for the black letter “M” (Malerweg) on a white background. It’s better to start the trail from the town of Pirna, but you can get in (as well as get out) from the trail in a lot of other locations. All the necessary information about the Artists' Trail, stages and tips can be found on its official website.