While Prague had endless things to occupy our short visit, we decided to head out of the city for a day trip wander through the wildly beautiful national parks in northern Czechia and southern Germany.
Stop 1: The enchanting arches of Bohemia Swizerland National Park
Our first stop was the enchanting Bohemia Switzerland National Park, located 1.5 hours north of Prague.
We hiked to see the Pravčická gate, a spectacular rock bridge that is 16 meters high and more than 25 meters wide. We got to hike along the cliffside to see stunning views of the surrounding valleys and hills.
Stop 2: Ferried back in time along the Kamenice river gorge
We took a short hike down to the rocky basin surrounding the Kamenice river to take a leisurely float through the gorge, propelled by a ferryman using a long pole (think traditional gondola-style). The cliff walls surrounding the river reached 150 meters and the mist on the water added to a calm and timeless vibe.
Stop 3: Popping over to Germany to look at rocks (Saxon Switzerland National Park)
Saxon Switzerland National Park (Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz) is located beside Bohemian Switzerland National Park, but just over the border into Germany.
This park is filled with peculiar sandstone rock formations, creating a unique, cinematic landscape.
You can join tourists from the past two centuries (!) to marvel at the rocks at the Bastei bridge (Basteibrücke). The current bridge was built in 1851, replacing an earlier wooden bridge over the Elbe River.
You may recognise the vista from Grand Budapest Hotel, and a nearby sandstone rock labyrinth (Tisa Rocks/Tiské stěny) was used as a filming location for the Chronicles of Narnia.
A few days later, I would notice some familiar looking rocks in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, only to learn that Rocky Landscape in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains (1822–1823) by Caspar David Friedrich was of this spot!
It is a full day, but well-worth a visit. We had the best tour guide, Michael. Not only was he a great guide, he had some sort of magical sixth sense about the rain and was able to wrangle all his ducklings into the van / under shelter moments before the sky opened.
Book the Bohemian-Switzerland National Park small group tour here (Prague): https://www.viator.com/partner-shop/lovelyoutliers/?medium=link&medium_version=shop&campaign=gothere
More pics in my flickr album:
Lovely Outliers 