The morning we left Lubben we managed to have a bit more of a leisurely start- having breakfast, getting ready and packing up the bike relatively smoothly. That was until I realised I needed my bike earplugs that were in the depths of my pannier, which was already strapped to the bike. Once that was resolved and everything was back in we set off on our journey that would take us through Germany and into the Czech Republic.
The journey itself took a good few hours but it was a lovely trip. We stopped in Raddusch to see an old Slavic castle, at McDonald's to refuel with coffee and a smoothie for some fruit injection and at a lovely lake with an interesting metal viewpoint structure. By the time we had climbed to the top of that in our full gear and helmets, we were baking!
Back on the road through the forest and then as we continued in the sunshine towards the Saxony area more hills and mountains came into view. The scenery was picturesque as we travelled down the valley at the start of the Bohemian Swiss National park to Bad Schandau- the German side of the park. We went through steep twisting roads surrounded by thick forest, with streams running alongside. There were lots of people out hiking various trails and we also saw loads of other bikes out- clearly this is a place to be enjoyed on a bike on a gorgeous sunny Saturday. We stopped at a local Penny by the river to pick up provisions for breakfast and a couple of cheap beers to have at the end of our hike.
Just down the road from here in Bad Schandau we stopped at the Historic Elevator. This prominent structure was apparently used in some scenes in the Grand Budapest Hotel. It was an interesting looking structure and we rode the thankfully modern elevator enclosed in the old structure up to enjoy the views of the river and town below. The views it provided were well worth the couple of euros to ride it. At the top was also a small lynx enclosure, not sure why it was there as all signs were in German and Czech but it was just chilling in the sunshine. As it was getting later in the day we didn’t stay long and made the half an hour journey across the border, through the national park and to our hotel at the top of the park. The Garden Hotel Menza was a nice hotel offering great views of the rock formations of the park. The gravel driveway for it though was a bit sketchy for Dave to manoeuvre the bike into but he managed it!
The main reason we had come here though was to enjoy the scenery of the national park and to see the natural archway formation- Pravčická Archway. With it being 4pm, sunsetting at 6.30pm and the walk 1 and a half hours to the arch and then back again, we quickly changed, packed a bag and headed off on the hike.
We took the yellow route from Menza village near our hotel. This took us through the forest up high, with great views of all the different rock formations towering above, before taking us down to the main road.
From here we took the main entrance up to the archway. Unfortunately the archway closed at 4pm but we thought we would see how far we could get and at least see if we could see the arch. The path climbed upwards steadily surrounded by big cliffs of rock until it got to a forest where it then wound around the cliff face. A lot of people were coming down from the arch but we were the only people going up at this time. After what felt like ages we made it to the top of the cliffs, still not yet to see the arch. Another 5 minutes later though and we were rewarded with the site of the archway and the old red house structure next to it towering over us. We also were able to walk basically all the way up to the arch. The only bit that had closed was the gateway to the path directly under and around the arch, which I don’t think we would have paid for anyway. At the top we were greeted by fantastic views over the park as the sun was setting. Being here at this time also meant we were some of the only people up here and we got to enjoy it in peace and quiet.
We cracked open our celebratory beers, however as we were now fighting the light and had another 1 and a half hours left it ended up being a walking beer. We decided to do the red route back down which carried on from the bottom of the arch. It was well worth going this way as it kept us up high, winding around the cliff face and giving us spectacular views of the park until we eventually lost the light and donned our head torches. Thankfully by the time it was really dark we had mostly come down and just had to walk the road back up to our hotel. We did get to see lots of the local toads out enjoying the dark though.
Finally back at our hotel we were exhausted and went for a well earned dinner there. Dave tried a local venison goulash and bread dumplings dish which came out very interesting- a slice of venish, with almost a thick vegetable puree/soup, topped with a compote, a slice of orange and whipped cream- not what we had been expecting but not bad. We treated ourselves to a beer and a glass of wine with dinner before heading to the bar for our local complimentary spirit. I tried a pear one and Dave had plum- very unique, tasting and potent, rounding off the day nicely.
After some much needed sleep in the morning we were heading on to Prague.
Thanks
Alex
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