G'Day,
today I have got something for the nature friends among us.
After a long time of spinning the Hamster wheel it was time for a vacation. Unfortunately, our planned vacation to Thailand was canceled due to the current situation and we decided to make holidays in our own country (Germany).
Hiking was the theme of this vacation. Maybe one of you can explain to me what hiking is, but for me it was just going for a long walk. It seems to me as if an action has only been rebranded so that it sounds better. 😅
I imagine it like this:
Scenario 1:
Me: I went for a walk last weekend.
Friend: Mmmm, ok.
Scenario 2:
Me: I was hiking last weekend.
Friend: Wow, nice. Where have you been and what distance have you covered?
So you see, basically the same thing said, but with different reactions. But teach me better when I'm wrong. ☺
Ok, let's go on with the vacation now. We were in Bad Schandau for eight days. This is a health resort, which is about half an hour from Dresden and about 20 km from the Czech border. What is special about this is that this place is directly surrounded by the "Sächsische Schweiz" (ENG: Saxon Switzerland) National Park. What also makes Bad Schandau special is that the Elbe (river) flows through it and shapes the landscape. The Elbe has its source in Poland and flows over the Czech Republic and through Germany to the North Sea. The landscape together with the river already offers a very nice picture and invites you to relax.
Since the weather forecast for the first two days wasn't that great, we used these days for indoor activities and exploring Bad Schandau. It is a quiet place with many old houses, which often lie on the hills between the trees. For someone who comes from the flat north of Germany, this is already a very beautiful sight.
We were also in a lynx enclosure. It was interesting to see a lynx in real live, but I'm not a fan of captive animals. Then we were in a museum in Bad Schandau, which provided very good information about the landscape, animals and history of Saxon Switzerland.
From the third day on, the weather forecast forecasted great weather and we hiked a route every day from then on. I took all the pictures here with my Samsung Galaxy S8. What I mean by that is that, first of all, it is not a top camera and that unfortunately you could not capture the real impression on pictures with it. You probably know that too. You want to capture a moment in a photo, but this photo does not reflect what you saw and felt at the moment with your own eyes. It's the same here. You have to see it with your own eyes. but now you have to get along with my photos. 😉
Saxon Switzerland offers a total hiking route of approx. 1200 km. There is something here for every hiker, whether beginner or experienced. But since we didn't have that much time and are noobs at hiking, we decided on some highlights, which were not too difficult either.
There is a so-called "Malerweg" (ENG: Painters Path) here. Many painters are said to have walked this path, which is about 112 km long, and the landscape was an inspiration for many of them and a lot of paintings about these landscapes were created here. This is how this path should have got its name. The Malerweg stretches across the entire national park and is divided into 8 stages and crosses pretty much all the highlights of Saxon Switzerland. At the end of each stage there is the possibility to return by bus / train / ferry.
In addition to the Malerweg, there are also many circular hiking trails as an alternative. These overlap in some parts with the Malerweg. The circular hiking trails take you back to where you started. So you can go there by car, take the hiking trail and drive back by car. This does not work if you do the Malerweg. The Malerweg is well signposted and so are the most important circular hiking trails. However, I would recommend everyone to take a map with them or to save offline maps on their smartphone, as there is often no or poor reception there.
Malerweg - 2nd Stage
We started with the 2nd stage of the Malerweg because we really wanted to see the "Bastei". This is a rock formation with viewing platforms and especially the Bastei-Bridge is very famous for this place. You can also drive directly to this place, as parking spaces have been expanded nearby. A visit is worth it, but there were too many tourists there for my taste.
Furthermore, we went up and down a lot on this stage, walked a lot through forest and rock formations and passed a lake "Amselsee" and ended up at a lonely restaurant, which was in the middle of the forest and rock formations. There we filled up our reserves with a black beer and rested on the loungers before we hiked the last bit.
When we reached the end of the 2nd stage of the Malerweg, we wanted to take the bus back to Bad Schandau. That was possibly 15-20 km. To our surprise we had to find out that we had just missed the bus and now had to wait an hour and the journey with the bus + ferry, etc. takes about two more hours. So we called a taxi and decided from now on only to do circular hiking trails so that we are not dependent on the buses and can therefore do better planning.
That day my wife and I also had our first wedding anniversary. Since we got back from our hike too late and we couldn't get a table, we celebrated our wedding day with a picnic at the Elbe. I admit, I missed reserving a table beforehand. xD We ordered pizza and drank wine that we took from home. It was not a wedding day as one would imagine, but it was still very nice and we will definitely remember that day.
Generally it was almost impossible to spontaneously get a table for dinner in Bad Schandau. It wasn't even the main season at this moment. So if you want to have dinner in Bad Schandau without any problems, then reserve tables at the restaurants days in advance.
Our remaining days ran into something like that. Breakfast, hiking / sightseeing, dinner, sleep and repeat.
Bike tour + "Festung Königstein"
The next day we borrowed bikes from our hotel and went on a bike tour to the Königstein Fortress. This is located in the village of the same name called Königstein.
It was a relaxed tour along the Elbe until we arrived in Königstein. Since I accidentally chose the car route on Google Maps, we rode our bikes down the street. At some point it was so steep that we had to jump off the bikes and push the them uphill while the cars and trucks drove past us. O.O At some point we turned into a path that was on the Malerweg and led to the fortress.
Unfortunately, the last part led up to the fortress via a lot of stairs, which is why we had to carry up the bikes. At the top we were so exhausted that it was actually enough exercise for the day. ☺
The fortress is very interesting and the history dates back to the 11th century. We took an exciting tour there and had lunch there. On the fortress there were cannons that fired 12 kg bullets and which could shoot about 800 m in a horizontal position. How far do you think the ball flies with a 45-degree setting?🤯
After about 3 hours we drove back. Then we went back downhill. For the same distance, which took us about an hour up, we rolled down in high speed on our bikes in about 5 minutes. 🤣
Marie-Louise-Stolln + Papstein (451 m) + Gohrisch (300 m)
On the fifth day we have planned to visit the Marie-Louise-Stolln. This is a mine in which mainly iron ore was mined. After that we hiked the two "mountains" "Papstein" and "Gohrisch".
When we arrived at the mine, there was a short introduction. Everyone put on a helmet and a guide then went into the tunnel with us. The history of the gallery goes back to the 11th century. The guide was very experienced and made the tour very fun. What we hadn't thought of was that it would be colder underground. In this mine it was constantly 10° Celsius, damp and the corridors were very narrow. Partly 160 cm high and 65 cm wide. This could be problematic for people with claustrophobia.
In the mine, the guide showed us the conditions under which the miners had to do their job. The main tools were a pickaxe, hammer and chisel.
Later in time, modern tools came into use.
I found it crazy when he said that sons from the age of 13 had to work full time in these mine. From Monday to Saturday at least 8 hours a day. And the fact is crazy when you imagine that a miner went about 3 cm a day in his tunnel.
Almost at the end of the tour we passed a place where the water that drips down through the rock was collected. The water was very clear and pure and also had a temperature of constant 10° C.
When we left this tunnel again, sunshine welcomed us and we warmed up a bit before we drove to the Papstein and Gohrisch by car.
Once we arrived there, we partly followed the Malerweg again up the Papstein. On this way we went again through scenic landscapes. In principle, the appearance of the landscape is similar in Saxon Switzerland, but it was always nice to enjoy the views.
Once at the top of the Papstein, there was a restaurant. Here we had our well-deserved black beer to fill up our energy. 👍
Then we hiked down the Papstein again and hiked up the Gohrisch at the opposite side of the street.
"Hohe Liebe" (ENG: High Love) & "Schrammsteine"
On the sixth day we made this circular walk of approx. 13 km. Here, as in the whole national park, we went through beautiful forests and rock formations with awesome viewing platforms.
"Lilienstein" & The ferry ride
On the seventh and last hiking day for us, we really wanted to go to the Lilienstein. In Bad Schandau you always have a view of the Lilienstein in the horizon.
That was also a very nice hiking trail with great views.
After the Lilienstein we took part in a farewell tour with the ferry across the Elbe in the evening. Here we could relax again and let the landscape work on us, as well as review the last few days.
Conclusion
For hiking fans or those interested in history, Saxon Switzerland is definitely worth a visit. We were able to relax very much even though we hiked and exercised every day. That was exactly the right thing for us, as we dont have physically demanding jobs, but more psychological stress. I've rarely felt as balanced as I did here. I really grounded myself here.
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Cheers. I love blogs about nature. +1 sub