Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [148]
To reach the museum, take the S1 from Dresden’s Hauptbahnhof to Pirna (€3.50, 22 minutes), then change onto local bus N to the ‘Geibeltbad/Freizeitzentrum’ stop.
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SAXON SWITZERLAND
Also known as Elbsandsteingebirge (the Elbe Sandstone Mountains), the Saxon Switzerland (Sächsische Schweiz) embraces one of Germany’s most unique and evocative landscapes within its 275-sq-km boundaries. This is wonderfully rugged country where Nature has chiselled porous rock into bizarre columns, battered cliffs, tabletop mountains and deep valleys and gorges. The Elbe courses through thick forest, past villages and mighty hilltop castles. No wonder such fabled beauty was a big hit with artists of the Romantic movement, including the painter Caspar David Friedrich and fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen. In 1990, about a third of the area became Saxony’s first and only national park. The fun continues on the Czech side of the border in the Czech Switzerland National Park.
You could tick off the area’s highlights on a long day trip from Dresden, but to truly ‘get’ the magic of Saxon Switzerland, consider spending a couple of days here. In addition to hiking, the area is also among the country’s premier rock-climbing meccas, offering over 15,000 routes, while cyclists can follow the lovely Elberadweg.
ACTIVITIES
As local hikers and climbers will tell you, the Saxon Switzerland is about much more than the prescribed tourist haunts. For guided nature walks, hikes and climbs, contact Hobbit Hikes ( 0173 6971 090; www.hobbit-hikes.de) run by two park guides, Daphna and Claudia. Dresden-based Knotpunkt ( 0177 3478 639; www.knotenpunkt.org) is another small-scale outfit organising climbing courses, nature walks and other outdoor experiences, all with an eco-twist.
GETTING THERE & AROUND
There are only three bridges across the Elbe: two in Pirna and one in Bad Schandau. Passenger ferries (bicycles allowed) cross the Elbe in several other villages.
Boat
From April to October, steamers operated by Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt ( 0351-866 090) plough up the Elbe several times daily between Dresden and Bad Schandau, stopping in Rathen, Königstein and other towns.
Bus
From mid-April to October, a bus service operated by Frank Nuhn Freizeit und Tourismus ( 035021-676 14; www.frank-nuhn-freizeit-und-tourismus.de) shuttles between Königstein, Bad Schandau and the Bastei four times daily. The same company also operates the so-called Bastei-Kraxler, which makes hourly runs between 10am and 5pm from the town of Wehlen up to the Bastei. Buy tickets from the driver.
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WHAT’S IN A NAME?
With its highest peak rising to just 723m, the Saxon Switzerland ain’t exactly the Alps. So how did the region get its name? Credit belongs to the Swiss, actually. During the 18th century, the area’s romantic scenery, with its needle-nose pinnacles and craggy cliffs, lured countless artists from around the world. Among them was the Swiss landscape artist Adrian Zingg and his friend, the portraitist Anton Graff, who had been hired to teach at Dresden’s prestigious art academy. Both felt that the landscape very much resembled their homeland (the Swiss Jura) and voila, the phrase ‘Saxon Switzerland’ was born. Travel writers picked it up and so it remains to this day.
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Car & Motorcycle
Towns are linked to Dresden and each other by the B172; coming from Dresden, it’s faster to take the A17 and pick up the B172 in Pirna.
Train
The handy S1 connects Bad Schandau, Königstein, Rathen and other Saxon Switzerland towns with Dresden, Radebeul and Meissen every 30 minutes.