Hi, this forum has been so helpful in formulating our itinerary. If we do an excursion to Saxon Switzerland from Dresden, can it comfortably be done in a day, or should we stay overnight somewhere such as Rathen or Bad Schandau? Our rough plan is to catch the train from Dresden to Pirna or Wehlen and then a bus to Bastei Bridge (we are not strong hikers). We'll walk down to Rathen then travel to Bad Schandau and catch the Kirnitzsch Valley tram. We'll return to Dresden by train. Does that sound like too much for one day? We don't want to rush it, so is Bad Schandau a nice place to stay? Thanks again for all the excellent advice.
1
jadem
This can easily be done as a day trip from Dresden. It doesn't take long to travel to Rathen (where most people start the walk to the Bastei) and the trains are pretty regular. If you do want to stay overnight, it's best to stay in Pirna or Bad Schandau (there are more accommodation options and places to eat, as these are decent sized towns). Both are nice and not overly touristy. One night would do, two max.
2
mike9
Firstly, local buses in the area are run by http://www.ovps.de/ which you may find useful - it includes details of the Kirnitschtalbahn. In particular I would draw your attention to bus timetable http://www.ovps.de/downloads/237.pdf which is the only local service bus to go to the main entrance / visitor area at Bastei, and you will see it is not very frequent.
I would also recommend you to check out bus services run by http://www.frank-nuhn-freizeit-und-tourismus.de/de/Saechsische-Schweiz/Fahrplan-Saechsische-Schweiz which are aimed totally at the tourist market. Note that your VVO day ticket is not valid on Frank Nuhn's buses, but it does fill in some of the missing links and is the only bus service to cross the border into the Czech side of the Saxon Switzerland National Park.
If you want a personal recommendation, your outline plan is fine, but consider using Frank Nuhn's bus to get from Bastei to Bad Schandau, so an early start for the train to Pirna, cross over the road to the bus station for the 0910 bus to Bastei, on to Bad Schandau, walk through the town to the old tram up to Lichtenhain Waterfall, return to Bad Schandau, cross the river on the ferry and back to Dresden by train. I've done that as a day trip, but an early start and a late finish.
Incidentally, Pirna is worth a few hours if you have a spare morning / afernoon, but you should find Goerlitz a more rewarding day - in fact if you wanted to spend a night away from Dresden, I would suggest go to Bautzen in the morning, onto Goerlitz for the afternoon and overnight, then perhaps the next morning, return via Zittau, or if you want a long day include a double run from Zittau to Liberec (in Czech republic) and back.
3
Thorn Tree
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