Saxon Switzerland and the Bastei

Eroded Sandstone Towers Above The Elbe, Crossed By The Bastei Bridge Of 1851; Saxon Switzerland National Park And The Birthplace Of Free Climbing In Germany · Lohmen, Saxony

The Elbe Sandstone Mountains south-east of Dresden are a landscape of eroded sandstone towers, table mountains and deep ravines cut by the Elbe, protected since 1990 as Saxon Switzerland National Park and continuing across the Czech border as Bohemian Switzerland. The famous piece is the Bastei, a rock terrace roughly 194 m above the river, crossed by a slender sandstone bridge of 1851 that leaps a ravine between pinnacles and is one of the most photographed structures in Germany. Beside it are the stepped remains of the Neurathen rock castle, and below it the Schwedenloecher ravine, the Amselsee and the village of Kurort Rathen with its river ferry and open-air rock stage. Further out stand the Schrammsteine ridge, the Kuhstall arch, the Pfaffenstein with its Barbarine pinnacle and the enormous Koenigstein fortress. This is where free climbing began in the 1860s, under local rules still stricter than anywhere else. The one thing to know: the Bastei has a car park ten minutes away, and by mid-morning it shows.

The Bastei rocks above the Elbe at Rathen, in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains south-east of Dresden, Lohmen, Saxony, Germany

The Bastei, its bridge and the viewpoints are open at all hours, all year, and free; only the Neurathen rock castle enclosure, the car parks and the toilets charge. The national park paths are open year round, though some are closed or rerouted after storms, fire damage and falling dead spruce - confirm which are open before you plan a route. The Rathen reaction ferry runs frequently through the day in season with a thinner winter service, and the Koenigstein fortress opens daily with shorter winter hours and a lift that may not run. Paddle steamers and motor ships from Dresden are seasonal, roughly spring to October, and the Kirnitzschtal tram runs a reduced timetable in winter - confirm all current times.

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