Czech Republic & Germany - Prague to Dresden

We meet in Prague and drive to our hotel in Jitrava for our Welcome Drink and Introductory Talk.

This morning's walk takes us across hills and through forests to the former mining village of Krystofovo údolí (Christopher's Valley) where we visit a unique painted wooden church and timber framed houses. After lunch we drive to the top of Jeschke mountain, symbol of the whole region, with its unusual, futuristic building at the summit. We continue downhill to a nearby village to take a train and then return to our hotel.

From our hotel we walk to the Czech-German border and across to the romantic little spa town Kurort Oybin, with a medieval ruin of a monastery on the rocky mountain.  We catch a charming narrow-gauge train to reach Zittau, an interesting town with an idyllic medieval centre. After a brief look around, we transfer to our hotel in nearby Lueckendorf.

We walk out of our hotel to Hain, a mountain with a stone tower with a lovely view around the whole region. We cross back into the Czech Republic and continue along the border in a westerly direction to climb the highest hill in the area, Luz (Lausche), which reaches 793 meters.  From the middle of the forest we take a train to Chribska, a gateway to Czech Switzerland, an area of picturesque stone rocks, where the rest of our walk takes place. We transfer to our next hotel, a small chateau in Rynartice.

Today, we enter a unique landscape of numerous sandstone rocks and towers, accessible by ancient stone staircases. We visit some of the most interesting places in the mysterious forests and our walk route takes us along small rivers, meandering through the rocky valleys toward the River Elbe.

We take a trail to Prebischtor, the longest natural stone bridge in Europe, to a striking gorge, passable only by boat; our boatman relates the history. We continue to Bad Schandau on the German side of the border, to our hotel on the banks of the mighty Elbe.

We walk along the river to Bastei, one of the most famous sites in Saxon Switzerland, located 300 meters above the river with a breathtaking view. Our route is then down to Stadt Wehlen for lunch and a cruise to the baroque heart of the capital of Saxony, Dresden. At our final hotel, there may be time for a swim in the indoor pool before our Farewell dinner.

Departure at leisure.