Saxon Switzerland and Dresden — sandstone cliffs just around the corner
Sandstone towers, a rock bridge above the Elbe valley and baroque Dresden — a three-day motorhome trip that works with kids too. Saxon Switzerland is the nearest rock town abroad, within reach of Prague by late morning, and the hops between the individual places are so short that you barely sit behind the wheel. The programme rests on two days in the rocks — the Bastei, Rathen, Königstein Fortress and the Schrammsteine ridge — and on half a day in Dresden, which you reach comfortably from the campsite by train. It works best from April to October, when the Festungsexpress shuttle and the panoramic lift at the fortress are running.
You set off from Prague in the morning, cross the border at Petrovice and leave the A17 at Pirna, dropping down into the Elbe valley. The car park right at the Bastei has limited capacity and tends to be full in high season, so with a motorhome the calmer option is to stay in Lohmen and take the bus up. The reward is a sandstone bridge of seven arches, which in 1851 replaced its wooden predecessor, and the view down onto the bend of the Elbe far below; there is no admission charge. In the afternoon you can follow the waymarked path down to Rathen and the Amselsee, a small lake created by damming a gorge in 1934, where rowing boats are still hired out today.
The morning belongs to Königstein Fortress — a rock plateau covering nine and a half hectares roughly 240 metres above the Elbe, with a castle well 152.5 metres deep. Motorhomes use the reserved caravan pitches in the fortress car park — do not drive into the multi-storey car park next to it, that one is for cars and motorbikes only. From April to October the Festungsexpress shuttle runs from the car park up to the gate; in high season it is open daily from nine to six, with last admission an hour before closing. In the afternoon you move on towards Bad Schandau and the Schrammsteine, where the final stretch of the climb to the viewpoint at 417 metres leads up iron ladders and runs one way only — you come down by a different path. With smaller children, do not overload the day and pick just one of the two places.
On the last day leave the motorhome at the campsite and take the S1 train into Dresden; it runs along the left bank of the Elbe through Königstein, Rathen and Pirna to the main station, which spares you hunting for a space in the centre as well as the low headroom of underground car parks. For a half-day loop of the old town the Zwinger is more than enough — August the Strong had it built between 1711 and 1728 to a design by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann — together with the Semper Gallery added on to it and the Frauenkirche a short walk further on. In the afternoon you collect the motorhome and head back via the A17; you are home before evening.
Up to 3.5 t: Germany has no motorway vignette and no toll for cars and motorhomes up to 3.5 t — you use the motorways and federal roads free of charge, so there is nothing to buy for the whole route from Prague. Over 3.5 t: the German toll applies to vehicles over 3.5 t intended for the carriage of goods; a motorhome recorded in the vehicle documents as a motor caravan and used privately is exempt according to Toll Collect, but that exemption rests precisely on the entry, so carry the full registration document with you. The main paid item of the trip is Königstein Fortress: the reserved caravan pitch in the fortress car park costs a motorhome roughly €13 for up to four hours, €18 for up to six hours and €26 for the whole day, while admission in high season is around €17 per adult and €42 for a family with two adults. Add parking and the bus at the Bastei, the ferry in Rathen and the train tickets into Dresden on top of that.
Camping Königstein, Königstein (Am Alten Sägewerk 1) — right on the Elbe below the fortress, facing the Lilienstein, open all year; bookings are taken online only · Camping und Pension Ostrauer Mühle, Bad Schandau (Kirnitzschtal) — open year-round, comfort pitches with a water and waste-water connection · Camping am Thorwaldblick, Hinterhermsdorf — a campsite on the eastern edge of the national park, a quieter option away from the main route
Wild camping is prohibited in the Saxon Switzerland National Park, so do not plan a night outside a campsite here, not even a single one. Kurort Rathen is on top of that a traffic-calmed village — you cannot reach the lower part by the Amselsee by car or motorhome at all; the vehicle stays in the car park in Oberrathen or in Stadt Wehlen and you cross the Elbe on the historic Bergland ferry.
The best-equipped service point on the route is Camping Königstein: one drain channel for motorhomes plus four more spots with a rinse point and water, disposal free for guests, and drinking water from two dispensers by the entrance and at the end of the terrace at about one euro per hundred litres. If you want to take on water without staying the night, call ahead — it is not a given in this region that a site lets passing motorhomes in. In the rocks themselves do not count on topping up; there are no public drinking water sources in the national park.
Adria Compact
The valley roads to Lohmen, into Oberrathen and up to Königstein are narrow and the car parks full in season, so every metre of length you save pays off here. The Adria Compact sits at the shorter end of the semi-integrated range — easier to maceuvre on the narrow valley roads and onto the caravan pitch at the fortress than a big motorhome, yet with berths for the whole family for three days.
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