As Czech is around the corner from Bad Schandau, we decided to do one hike in the area. Luckily many European borders are open again, including the one to Czech. It is interesting that as a European we do not even think about crossing borders anymore in Europe. It is just a given for years that we can just go from Germany to Czech, or to another European country. Seeing during the Covid19 crises that every country was closing their border, was painful to watch.
As I was looking for an easy hike – for all parts of the family – I found the hike in the Edmundova soutěska (Edmundsklamm). The hike starts in Hrensko, a purely tourist town only consist of accommodations, shops and restaurants. It can be reached from Bad Schandau by train/bus. As we went with the car, we had some trouble finding a parking lot but after 15 minutes of circling around we been lucky. As the weather was not on our side today, we decided to do the shortest round possible. Badly we had to skip out the Pravčická brána (Prebischtor), which is the largest rock gate in the area. But just another reason to come back.
Let me give you some hiking overview in the area, all starting from the entry point in the gorge:
- Edmundova soutěska (Edmundsklamm) hike 20 minutes to the first boot
- The first boot ride take around 20 minutes
- Another 10 minutes hike leads to a junction: Mezna or Janov or deeper in the gorge
- Mezna: 15 minutes uphill to Mezna, 40 minutes on the Mühlweg to Tri prameny (Drei Königsquellen) – entry point to the Pravčická brána (Prebischtor), 45 min uphill -, 1 km on the road back to the entry point of the gorge
- Janov: also around 1 1/2 hours back to the entry point of the gorge
- Gorge: 10 more minutes hike to the second boot
- The second boot ride takes around 15 minutes
- Divoká souteska (Wild Klamm) 20 minutes hike in the second gorge
- another 20 minutes hike to Mezní
- here are 3 options: bus ride back to the entry point of the gorge, 5 km hike back to the entry point of the gorge, hike 75 minutes up to the Pravčická brána (Prebischtor) – hike 45 minutes down and another 1 km back to the entry point of the gorge
The hike in the gorge itself is really easy and pictures. It can be done with children. It is all flat, along the Kamenice river. As we had rain all day, the gorge had a lot of water and everything even looked greener and more natural. Due to the weather we only hike the first part of the gorge and toke the round over Mezna back to the entry. Once in the area bohemian food should not be missed. Just choose one of the many restaurants in town and check for local specialties. Mainly dumplings with meat. So yummy.
