Bohemian Switzerland National Park, also known as the Czech Switzerland Mountains, is a mountainous region in the north of the Czech Republic, not far from Decín. It is a rock national park consisting of the impressive Elbe Sandstone Mountains with forests climbing up the rocky hillsides, a beautiful gorge landscape, waterfalls, and green, soft rolling hills scattered around the Bohemian Switzerland rocky landscape. That is the Czech counterpart to Saxon Switzerland, located on the other side of the Czech-German border.

 
There are loads of hiking routes in the region, and you can easily spend some days in Bohemian Switzerland continuously exploring new sides of the varied Bohemian Switzerland landscape.

One of the absolute highlights of the national park is the Gorges of Kamenice, created by the Kamenice River cutting through the sandstone mountains of Bohemian Switzerland.

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Hřensko at the German-Czech border is the gateway to the stunningly beautiful Bohemian Switzerland Mountains – a unique national park in the Czech Republic and Europe, featuring gorgeous rocky mountains, a lush river gorge, and the largest natural sandstone bridge in Europe. The access road to Hřensko from Decín follows the Elbe River, which marks the border with Germany. In Hřensko, you will notice the fascinating Elbe Sandstone Mountains, rising right next to or inside the town.

Hřensko is today the focal point of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park sights in the northern Czech Republic mountains. Moreover, it has become an attractive town for border trade, where the Germans throng to buy cheap Czech goods.

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Seemingly, Hřensko was known as a named site already in 1475. Later, the river and Hřensko were used for timber rafting and wood storing, and the first sawmill was established. From 1530, settlers began to arrive, and from that time, grain and salt were stockpiled in the local storages. In its trading heydays in the 18th and 19th centuries, Hřensko had no less than four sawmills (and one of these even served as a hospital during the cholera epidemic), and timber was transported on the river to places further away, where it was used in naval shipyards. Likewise, three mills ground grain into flour for the grain trade. One of them is still preserved in Hřensko today.

Other industries that became significant in Hřensko included mining and processing of sandstone. When the steamboats arrived at Hřensko, trading of wool and silk dyes also saw the light of day.

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Another chapter of the trading history was the clandestine trade, where products like salt and tobacco, were smuggled.

Hřensko is today a popular site to visit in the Bohemian Switzerland mountainous landscape. Having its intricate history in mind adds a bit extra to the experience when visiting the surrounding mountains of scenic beauty, including the spectacular gorges.

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An 18 km hike will cover the border town Hřensko, the remarkable canyon, and the enormous sandstone gate atop the Bohemian mountains. The hike can be a little strenuous and requires good physical condition.

There are two natural starting points for this round trip. Park your car and begin your hike in Hřensko, or drive to Mezní Louka, where you set off on foot. It is the same itinerary. The only difference is where you leave your car and start/end the hike.

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An advantage of beginning at Mezní Louka is that the car park is probably less busy than in the more touristy Hřensko. Moreover, there may be a shorter wait for the boats through the gorge (and maybe no wait at all!).

From Mezní Louka, you will take the road and path past Mezná and walk down the stairway to the Kamenice Gorges (quite a few steps down!) and the Kamenice River. Once at the bottom, you will have to make up your mind whether to include a shorter boat ride in the Wild Gorge (Divoká Gorge) or ‘only’ do the flat-bottom boat trip through Edmund’s Gorge (also known as the Quiet or Lower Gorge). Edmund Gorge opened to the public in 1890.

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The local boat guide entertains along the way with stories, such as smuggling anecdotes and interesting facts about the rock formations you pass.

The boat takes you 960 metres through the part of the canyon that is the narrowest stretch of gorge with steep or even vertical rocky ‘walls’. The rest of the gorge is accessible via a footpath on either the left or right river bank, sometimes under overhanging rocks and sometimes through shorter tunnels.

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Inside the valley, you will notice mountain plants that are unusual at this altitude – owing to the low temperatures and humid climate between the steep rocks in the Kamenice Gorges.

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When leaving the gorge, you will find yourself in Hřensko, where there are many options for having a meal in one of the restaurants and doing some souvenir shopping.

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The hike continues on the other side of the canyon up to the famous sandstone bridge. The sandstone arch is indeed an impressive monument with a span of 26.5 metres and an inside height of 16 metres. In 1826, an inn was built next to it, and in 1881, Prince Edmund of Clary-Aldringen built the hotel Falcon’s Nest up here. The impressive nearby gorge, Edmund’s Gorge, is also named after him.

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Finally, you will continue the route back to Mezní Louka if this is where you parked your car.

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If you want to visit another small town on the border of the Bohemian Switzerland mountains in the Ústí nad Labem Region, Česká Kamenice, a bit east of Děčín, is a good option. Although small, with only 5,000 inhabitants, it features some pretty, well-preserved buildings around the historic main square, Míru Square. The Renaissance fountain on the square dates from 1574 and is surrounded by remarkable house façades in the architectural styles used in previous centuries.

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The town landmarks include the Church of Saint James the Great, the Pilgrimage Chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and the Salhausen Chateau.

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Česká Kamenice was founded at the crossroads of two well-known paths, the Bohemian Road and the Lusatian Road, probably in the 1270s, when settlers arrived in droves from Saxony to colonise the region. From the 1500s onwards, beautiful buildings were erected in the town centre in Renaissance, neoclassical, and Art Nouveau styles.

Centuries later, Česká Kamenice experienced, though, a darker chapter of the town’s history since the concentration camp Rabstein, which was part of Flossenbürg concentration camp, was established here. The concentration camp prisoners had to work in the nearby underground aircraft factory. There are remains of these sites.

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Around Česká Kamenice, there is a spectacular landscape with remarkable rocky lookouts. On the highest peak, Studenec (737 metres), you will find an iron observation tower from 1888. You have gorgeous views of the Bohemian Switzerland mountains and national park landscape from up here and can even see far across the border to Germany.

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When you visit the more rural areas, the typical building style of the log houses, with white stripes between the logs, is also noticeable. Almost everywhere, there are hiking routes across the varied landscape – whether through hay fields, rocky terrain, or lush forests. When you least expect it, you come across hidden gems such as the Czech Brother altar (Bratrský oltář) just off Česká Kamenice.

Czech Brother altar near Česká Kamenice | Photo: Travel In Culture

Bohemian Switzerland is much more than the scenic landscape. It is also picturesque small Czech villages where you are woken up by the roosters crowing. You can enjoy the local culture: trying regional food specialities and meeting the locals. One of the local inns with a very authentic ambience is Penzion U Cempu.

Local country inn ‘Penzion U Cempu’ | Photo: Travel In Culture

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