Bohemian Saxon Switzerland is a national park in the Czech Republic. Czech Switzerland, Hrensko - by boat through the canyon National Park of the Czech Republic Czech Switzerland

When on weekends good weather, many residents of the Czech Republic, especially residents major cities, rush to nature. Moreover, they go there not to drink and eat, but to walk or ride along beautiful places. We also try to maintain this tradition and go for walks in parks or forests. The recent weekend was no exception, and we went for a walk around Czech and Saxon Switzerland.

Czech Switzerland is one of four national parks in the Czech Republic, which is located directly on the border with Germany. Crossing the border, you immediately find yourself in German national park Saxon Switzerland. The main objects of protection of the park are the unique sandstone formations. Here you can find massive stone towers, arches, labyrinths that were formed due to centuries of erosion. The most famous rock formation is the Pravčická brána, which is the main goal of our walk.

Leaving Prague early in the morning, passing and crossing the bridge over the Elbe, we find ourselves in the town of Hřensko, where we leave the car in the parking lot between the rocks. Grzensko is a village with a population of only 200 people, which is located on the banks of the Elbe, and from which it is closest to the Pravcicka Gate. The distance from Hřensko to Prague is 130 km.

Parking costs CZK 120 per day. There are a catastrophic shortage of parking spaces; if someone abandons a car right in the middle of the road, he is given a fine and a wheel blocker is installed.

In addition to the car, you can get from Decin to Grzensko by bus; the travel time is approximately 30 minutes. In the summer months there is still a boat from Decin, which also reaches German city Bad Schandau. It is most convenient to get to these places from Prague.

If you want to stay overnight in Czech Switzerland, there are approximately 10 hotels and guesthouses in this area alone. The Forest Garden Hotel is the most decent hotel nearby due to its cleanliness, modern design and its quiet location, it is very popular.

Not far from the parking lot there is a fork in the paths, along one of which we go up to the Pravčicka Gate, along the other we can reach the departure point for boats on the Kamenica River. During the boat ride, you will see the waterfall and enjoy the local beauty without straining your legs.

We meet the dawn in the forest. Forests cover 97% of the park's area, which is 79.23 km². Forests helped these places develop, since wood processing became the main activity of the indigenous population. After all, wood produced at local sawmills was supplied to shipyards and used to build sailboat masts.

Initially, the territory of the current park was dominated by beech forests, now spruce trees mainly grow here.

During our walk, we came across signs reminding us that it is prohibited to fly drones throughout the park. The fine for launching a drone can reach up to 200 thousand Euros.

And now we have reached our goal - the Pravchitsky Gate. Travel time from the parking lot uphill at an average pace is a little more than 1 hour.

A small castle was added to the rock formations in 1881, called the Falcon's Nest (Sokolí hnízdo).

Entrance fee to the territory of the Pravčicka Gate and the castle: 75 CZK. Entrance fee for children, students and pensioners: 25 CZK.

On the observation deck there is a restaurant and separate tables where you can have a picnic from your own food or buy sausages, soup, beer or any other hot and cold drinks in the tent. If you don’t want to eat here, then in the town of Grzensko there are at least 5-7 restaurants at guesthouses serving Czech cuisine.

The views from the observation deck are quite nice.

Some take selfies on the observation deck, while others hone their climbing skills; fortunately, the local rocks are suitable for this.

The park is home to 62 species of mammals. Wolves, bears, and moose have been exterminated here a long time ago. Now the park is home to beavers, various rodents, roe deer and wild boars. Also in the park there are 227 species of birds, 1000 species of butterflies, but the number of fish species is very low, and the park administration is working to revive the fish population in local rivers. For example, in just one year more than 1,200 salmon fry were released.

It is worth mentioning that Czech Switzerland is largest place nesting places for black storks and falcons.

The Pravčicka Gate, with a width of 26.5 and a height of 16, is the largest arched rock formation in Europe. The gate became a symbol of the park.

After a busy walk and a small picnic, we went to Saxon Switzerland, and we decided not to waste time on the rest of the sights of Czech Switzerland, since they are not very picturesque.

On the border with Germany, I just want to write, in the dense forests there is the Czech Switzerland National Park. It seems like in Europe all the places where beautiful nature bears the name Switzerland only the adjectives change. So in the north of the Czech Republic they did not deviate from traditions. National Park“České Švýcarsko” (as it looks like in Czech) is famous for its extraordinary beauty of high steep cliffs and babbling streams. Against the background of such beauty, one stands out natural monument, which is the calling card of this area. We are talking about the Pravchitsa Gate. This is a rock hole, as we would call it, the largest natural gate made of rock on our continent. Hundreds of thousands of tourists come here for their sake.

Of course, when so many people gather in one place, it would be a sin not to organize walking routes and attractions with which you can earn money.
Boating along the gorge with pilots using poles is another entertainment that attracts tourists.
According to those who have passed this route, it is better to start it from the village of Mezni Louka. Along the route marked in blue (marks on the trees are blue) we descend to the Divoká Soutěska canyon. The markers start right behind the Mezní Louka Hotel. This option is convenient because most of the road will go downhill. We took the more difficult route.
It began for us in the village of Hrensko. Before he even had time to park the car at the entrance to the settlement, his mouth opened randomly from the beauty he saw. High cliffs hung directly above the road. At their foot, houses with restaurants have been built wherever possible. There was a parking lot under one of these rocks, where the car was left.
Before starting the route, let's look around and enjoy the moment. Next we will have a walk along the Kamenice River. To get your bearings correctly, let’s remember the film The Diamond Arm. The action will take place near the toilet. On the map marked with the letters M and ZO. Everything is very similar here. Near a huge rock there is a low building with the same letters. If you go to the left of the rock, then you will meet the Pravchitsa Gate, and if you go to the right along the river, then you will sail on a boat with a guy who has a big pole.
Since the guys swim only until six, and we arrived after lunch, we decided to start with them.
The first part of the gorge is pedestrian. About twenty minutes along the path, sometimes just above the river, sometimes going down straight to it. The rocks are so close that your hands are reaching out to them. Pedestrian tunnels have been made somewhere for convenience. Children enjoy such a neighborhood. Together with adults, they play echo, screaming loudly inside. So, with jokes and jokes, they didn’t notice how they plowed two kilometers. As soon as a dam appears ahead, you can relax and slowly walk to board the boat. This part of the rides is called Edmund's Gorge (Edmundova soutěska). The riding session will last approximately 15-20 minutes. A lot of interesting features made for tourists can fit into this short period. It’s a pity that fluent Czech is not entirely, or rather completely incomprehensible to the Russian ear. Based on the stories of linguists, the boatman leads his unhurried story about the route and history of this place. In the most unexpected places, a dragon's head comes out, a boletus man sits on a rubble, a rock in the shape of an open mouth, and much more. For convenience, the places where you need to look at the strange rocks are painted yellow. And the crown of this story is a waterfall that suddenly turns on “by itself” (for this purpose, a wire is stretched at the top).
The freebie ended quickly and I need to work with my legs again. First, in light mode along the river to the bridge. On the way, right after the boat landing, there is a small cafe where you can have a snack. I really don’t recommend doing this, as the hardest part lies ahead. It starts immediately after the bridge.
Before I continue I will small retreat. The difficult section after the bridge begins for those who want to shorten the route. If you go as far as possible to the end, then after the bridge you need to move further along the river until the next boat boarding. The boat trip will take you through the Wild Gorge (Divoká Soutěska). Then you will need to climb up the mountain from the gorge and reach the village of Mezni Louka. Then on yellow tourist road with the name Gabriela's path, you need to climb the road along the rocks to see the rock massifs: Great Pravcicka cone, Homole Sahara, Křidelní wall. Ultimately, this trail will lead us to the Pravchitsa Gate.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have that much time and from the bridge we started the most difficult part of our journey. From the very bottom of the gorge, a steep climb uphill awaited us. For those who are not physically fit, the trail is made in the form of a serpentine. We went ahead. The twenty-minute climb ends at the hotel-restaurant. Here you can take a break and drink a cup (of beer). This small settlement is called Mezna.
Then you need to strictly follow a straight line to the road leading down to highway 25861. This part of the route is marked in yellow. The road will first go through a field and you can see a rocky ridge along which a longer route goes. If you got there correctly, you will go straight to the bus stop, from which another ascent to the Pravchitsa Gate begins.
The climb itself is initially not very interesting until you reach the section along the rocks. The giants soaring up to a height of 30-40 meters hang over you. You are so small compared to them, you move further and further. When they end, you think everyone has arrived. However, no, this is only half, because after going around the stone you begin to move in the opposite direction. How long is it short, but after about ten minutes there’s a final push and there’s a huge rock ahead with a hole inside. This is not just a gate, this is a whole overpass across the gorge, but no, it will be cooler than the bridge across the Bosphorus Strait. Of course, taking into account the fact that nature did it itself.
Next to the gate is the Falcon's Nest castle, built in 1881 in the Alpine style. Previously, local hosts accommodated their guests here. Now there is a restaurant on the first floor, and a national park museum on the second. To get to the gate you need to bypass the castle and pay money. We didn't have time. The gate slammed in our faces. All that remains is to admire the gate and take a few pictures.
The way back was no longer pleasant. By this time, fatigue from the route and the morning race distance had taken its toll. The route ended in a cozy restaurant near a water mill in the village of Grzhensko.

This reserve, which has no analogues in Europe, stretches from the town of Tisa in the Ustetsky district to the Shluknovsky ledge in the Decinsky district. The park was founded on January 1, 2000, and became the Czech continuation of the German National Park Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland), founded 10 years earlier (1990). The Bohemian Switzerland Park is part of a vast natural complex Labske Piskovce, and the main subject of protection in it is the characteristic sandstone phenomenon - the “rocky sandstone city” of Jetřichovice and Decinske Stena, and the associated biological diversity. Tourists love to visit observation decks with unique views of sandy cliffs, bridges and castles created by nature. The park is popular with fans active species sports: climbers, cyclists, rafting and hiking enthusiasts.

Millions of years ago the sea stretched here. Having subsided, it left behind a unique region of high sandstone cliffs and towers, rock arches, ravines and mountains with truncated peaks.

The wild nature, which developed for a long time without human intervention, was discovered at the end of the 18th century by two Swiss artists of the Romantic era - Adrian Zingg and Anton Graf. Depicting this region in engravings and describing it in poetry, they quickly spread its fame throughout Europe. Places along the Elbe River Canyon have become a cradle modern tourism, becoming one of the first actively visited tourist attractions in Europe.

One of the most famous landscape painters of all time, Caspar David Friedrich, came here to get the motives for his paintings. The owners of the local estates quickly realized the attractiveness of the local dense forests and romantic contours of the cliffs, and they made a lot of efforts to make these places more accessible by building roads and bridges. On Mariana Rock, Welhelm's Wall and Rudolf's Stone, steps were made, benches were placed, and gazebos were placed on the tops. New taverns and places to stay overnight were opened for tourists along the roads, walking paths appeared, and the wild Kamenice River began to be used for movement between gorges.

Not only artists came here for inspiration. The fortresses of the robber knights, rock cities, legends about gnomes and fairies influenced the storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, the poet R. M. Rilke, composers K.M. von Weber, Richard Wagner and others.

And today the Pravcicka Gate, a symbol of “Czech Switzerland”, captivates artists, for example, the snow-covered Quiet Cliffs became the backdrop for the film “The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” It was here that Lucy visited the cave of the faun Tumnus, and all four siblings crossed the rock bridge for the first time and looked at the endless forests of Narnia.

One of the main attractions of Czech Switzerland, along with the Pravcicka Gate, is a romantic boat trip along the Quiet and Wild canyons on the Kamenice River. It's a short but spectacular boat ride with a gondolier between two sheer cliffs - so deep in places that there is almost no direct sunlight.

This was once a major obstacle for local villagers. Once in 1877, in the tavern “At the Green Tree” (U Zeleného stromu) in the town of Hřensko, five daredevils made a bet that they would sail on rafts from the Dolskaya mill to the place that was then called “the end of the world.” On rafts 4 meters long, they actually reached Grzhensk safely, essentially becoming the founders of the tourist water route. The local prince Clari-Aldringen invited specialists from Italy, under whose leadership, with the work of over two hundred workers, these areas became accessible to the public. Suspended bridges were thrown here, and tunnels were built with the help of explosives. On May 4, 1890, the grand opening of the “Quiet” (“Edmond”) canyon took place. Since then, “at the very end of the world,” in fact, nothing much has changed, the beauty of nature remains untouched, and the carriers, as more than 130 years ago, push and guide their boats with poles.

The Czech Republic is not offended by mountains. The Czech mountains, of course, are not high, but picturesque. And one mountainous region even got the name "" ( České Švýcarsko). What a miracle, you say, the labels “Switzerland” and “Venice” are the most common. Just a city in the canals - right there is “Venice”. And if the area is hilly - “Switzerland”, of course.

As for Czech Switzerland, in this case the Swiss themselves likened this corner of the Ore Mountains to their Switzerland. Swiss artists arrived in Dresden to restore paintings in the Dresden Gallery - and in the vicinity of the Elbe they discovered an extremely attractive place: sharp sandstone cliffs, deep canyons, hills covered with forest. “Well, like here in Switzerland,” said the artists. And so it happened.

On the Czech side, the Czech Switzerland National Park was formed. And on the other bank of the Elbe is “Saxon Switzerland”. We visited both there and there. In this article I will talk about our walk through Czech Switzerland, and in the next one about Saxon Switzerland.

We left Prague around 8 am and two hours later we were approaching the Czech-German border. The river (Laba in Czech), along which the border of the countries passes, looks very romantic in this place: neither narrow nor wide, it flows among wooded mountains, houses are visible here and there along its banks, but overall the place seems secluded and quiet .

Town of Grzensko

Our goal is town of Grzhensko, which stands at the confluence of the Kamenitsa River into the Laba. Start from Hřensko walking routes in the Czech Switzerland National Park.

Pier near Grzhensko

Along the edges of the gorge, like entrance towers, there are two hotels. The Labe Hotel looks especially impressive - it seems that it is resting on a rock.

The hotel opposite is more modest

We turn right and move along the Kamenitsa River.

The town of Grzensko begins with long shopping arcades. The Vietnamese trade here.

The rows end in front of the main city square, as miniature as the whole city, with a small church.

The city stretches along the river. Houses stand on both sides of the river, and behind them rise the mountain slopes.

There are many hotels and private guesthouses. There are cafes, shops, in short, the entire infrastructure of the resort town. The houses are nice. Let's say this one, overgrown with ivy.

And the most charming villa is hidden a little away from the road, behind a rocky outcrop.

The line of houses along Kamenica ends with the Praha Hotel, one of the best in the city. And the entire Hřensko from “Labe” to “Praha” can be walked in 15 minutes.

Then the paths diverge. Goes along the river walking trail(We used it to return to the city about three hours later). Moves away to the right highway to the village of Janow, turn left to Mezne Louka and further to Jetřichovice, an ancient Saxon village.

Hiking routes in Czech Switzerland

Most tourists (including us) go to the town of Mezne Louka, where hiking routes begin in the Czech Switzerland National Park in the Hřensko district.

Scheme walking routes Grzhensko

Most popular route leads to Pravcicka Braná, a unique natural arch bridge. From Mezni Louka to Pravcicka Bran it takes 70 minutes to walk along the trail (as indicated on the park map) and then another 45 minutes to get to Hrensko.

We are heading along a different route. First we walk 2 km along an asphalt road. The road goes among the fields.

In the distance, rocks can be seen above the treetops.

We reach the guesthouse “Na Vyhlidce”.

Behind the house there begins a path that leads to the Kamenitsa River.

The descent to the river is steep and winding, the path winds among rocks and trees.

The mountain serpentine ends with an exit to the bridge.

We have reached the bottom of the gorge. From the bridge the canyon looks impressive: vertical rock walls stand opposite each other. How long did the water cut through the rocks to make its way!

After the bridge, the trail turns and goes along the shore along the rocks (and sometimes under overhanging rocks or in a broken tunnel).

In one place the gorge makes sharp turn and is expanding. At the site of the expansion there is a house in which a small museum is located, dedicated to the nature of this region.

Rafting on the Kamenitsa River

And here is the pier. Along the walkways there are punts painted bright green. The boat is designed for 26 people.

We wait for those lagging behind

We load into the boat and set sail downstream.

This section of Kamenitsa is called.

The boat is controlled by a boatman with a pole. He stands at the stern, steers the boat and jokes around. And in one place he slowed down, pulled the taut cable with his hand, and a waterfall fell from the rocks above. Fortunately, not on us. The waterfall did not last long, I managed to photograph the last streams.

Here and there among the rocks there were funny wooden figures.

And around the next turn these rocky fingers appeared.

That's how we sailed and sailed along Edmund's Gorge. The place is very quiet, secluded, filled with mysterious, gloomy beauty. Everything is like something out of a fairy tale: silently flowing dark water, mossy stones in the riverbed, soaring gorge walls, knotty tree roots clinging to the rocks, dark green crowns reflected in the water.

The only time our privacy was violated was when a boat passed us, upstream. Yes, pushing a boat against the current with a pole is not an easy task.

Finally the pier appeared. We disembarked and continued along the path along the river.

I thought that our walk through the protected forest had come to an end, but the journey to Grzhensko took another 30-40 minutes. The gorge went on and on, we all stretched out along the path, there were few people, only closer to Grzhensko people began to meet.

Hello friends. Czech Switzerland. Enough strange name, whatever is hidden behind it, right? And hidden behind it is a Czech nature reserve, located on the border with Germany. On the other side of the border it passes into Saxon Switzerland. But the park is famous not only for its strange name. What else? Now we'll tell you.

It is believed that in the 19th century two Swiss were invited to undertake the restoration. They were very surprised when they discovered sandstone mountains nearby, which strongly reminded them of their native land.

Artists, peering at the rocks of a foreign country, painted Swiss landscapes familiar from childhood.

Thanks to these paintings, the place was called Saxon Switzerland. There is another version: the artists themselves gave the place this name.

Centuries passed and the border between Germany and the Czech Republic passed here. Some of the magnificent places remained in the territory of Saxony, and some in the Czech Republic.

The Czechs slightly changed the name and Czech Switzerland (České Švýcarsko) appeared. The name stuck.

Since 2000, this area has received the status of a national park.

Bohemian Switzerland National Park- its official name.

Attractions and entertainment of the park

• The symbol of the park can be called the Pravčická brána - this is the largest natural mountain arch in Europe.

It cannot be reached due to the possibility of collapse, but you can admire it from one of several observation platforms.

The most famous of them is called Belvedere. It hangs over the Elbe Canyon.

• Near the Gate there is a hunting castle “Falcon's Nest” or Zámek Sokolí hnízdo.

It was built in the 19th century. Now it houses a museum, as well as a restaurant with original interior decor.

From the large gate you can reach the small one. They are called the Small Pravchitsky Gate.

Near the Small Gate you will see a sign leading to Schaunstein Castle.

• Move on. There you will see the Dolsky Mlin mill.

Now all that remains is mostly ruins.

And next to it is the Ferdinand Gorge, which received its name in honor of Archduke Ferdinand.

Elsewhere in the Czech Republic, the castle of Archduke Ferdinand has been preserved, where everything is still maintained as during the life of the owner, and in the beer hall you can try the “7 Bullets” beer, based on the number of bullets that killed the Archduke and his family. The humor is black and bitter, and many people praise the beer.

• Another attraction of this area is the village of Khrzhensko.

It is famous for the fact that it was on its territory that a glass workshop previously functioned, where Bohemian glass was made since the 15th century.

You can visit it now to get acquainted with the accounting books of those times, see how glass is blown, or even buy something for yourself.

• Another offer for adventure lovers is an excursion to abandoned silver mines.

Here you can go down to find out how the miners worked, or climb higher into the mountains and get acquainted with Falkenstein Castle, located right in the middle of the rocks.

But all that remains of Tolštejn Castle are ruins. But from its walls there is a stunning view of the park.

• Another castle that still impresses with its size is Decin Castle.

It was a military fortress and residence for local aristocrats. European artists and even monarchs often visited here.

• If during the tour you miss the legends, go to the Wolf Board.

This is a stone slab with a story carved on it about a hunter who killed two wolves at once.

The mountains here may be small, but they are still mountains. Here you can go mountaineering, trekking, and rafting.

Unprepared tourists can feel like real rock climbers, although only with special equipment and an instructor.

The entire park is intertwined with many equipped walking paths. They vary in complexity and length.

There are special routes for bicycle fans.

Even though you are in Czech Switzerland, there are gondola excursions here.

They pass along the Kamenitsa river and two gorges: Quiet and Wild.

Another way to test your physical fitness is to walk along the Mouse Hole.

Despite the name, this place has nothing in common with mice. This is a narrow staircase leading to the top of the cliff. It was built on the initiative of Prince Ferdinand Kinski.

This video is longer, but also more beautiful:

Where to Stay in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park

Now many housing options have appeared on the service AirBnb. We have written how to use this service. If you do not find a free hotel room, then look for accommodation through this booking site.

We offer good hotel options in Czech Switzerland

How to get there

Best rent a car and do not use trains or buses. Driving around the Czech Republic is pleasant, plus you are not tied to schedules.

• From Prague

To get to this corner of the Czech Republic and explore the romantic ruins among the mountains and mines, you need to get to Děčín, the city closest to the park, from Prague Mosarikov Station.

From Decin it’s another 20-25 minutes by bus to Grzensko. You can also rent a bike there.

You can take a taxi - this is the most beautiful way. You will need to drive along the Elbe riverbed.

Don't be afraid to come here in winter. The waterfalls in the ice are simply amazing, as are all sorts of bizarre rocks, rare plants and other riches of this region, which we have already talked about.

• From Dresden

It's even faster to get there from Dresden. By car on route 172, after the castle, you need to get to the other side near the city of Bad Spandau. When you cross the border and enter the Czech Republic, highway No. 172 will turn into highway No. 62. Drive a couple of kilometers and turn left. Everything, in Czech Switzerland.