Saxony, Germany

For this long weekend in the beautiful German national park of Saechsische Schweiz, we took the train from Berlin to Dresden and then a regional train. We arrived in the national park early on Thursday morning and left on Sunday night, so we had four full days of hiking in the most beautiful nature.

If you’re looking for a little bit of adventure on your vacation, this national park serves it all. Stunning rock formations, a medieval fortress on top of the mountains, freshwater creeks and waterfalls, kilometers of stunning hiking tracks through thick, fascinating nature, and charming little towns in between.

We stayed on the camping ground near Ostrauer Muehle, which is located in a valley right between two major hills covered in dense forest. One of the tracks ends right by the entrance of the campsite so entering the national park was super convenient from here. Signs guide you to all different kinds of attractions all through the park. My personal highlights were the Carolafelsen, the Frienstein, and the Bastei bridge in Rathen.

Keep aware that some of the tracks include climbing in stages, so it’s best to plan your routes beforehand. Make sure to bring some equipment to secure yourselves if you’re an amateur. We did so for our dog whom we carried up most of the more ‘difficult’ parts of the routes. Also, be aware that you will have to say goodbye to phone service for the duration of your stay here - cellular is widely unavailable so make sure to download an offline map or hiking app with a GPS function to orientate yourselves. See this as the amazing opportunity it is and disconnect for a while. Take in the intense calmness nature offers up freely.