"On the bastei" Top 5 Page for this destination Bad Schandau Favorite Tip by iandsmith

Favorite thing: The anticipation of getting to those spectacular stone bridges that I had seen so often in photos was magnetic. It didn't matter how tired I felt I was going to make it. As it turns out, you can reach the top comfortably in half an hour.

Fondest memory: As the craggy rocks got closer and then I moved between them (pic 3) there were views over the Elbe (pics 1 & 2), one of Europe's great rivers, here seen to best advantage where the rocky outcrops either side make for an impressive landscape.
Then it's climbing ever higher until you reach the magical world of the stone bridges where a stone age settlement was probably in place and other people also lived there in later times.
Surrounded by a bizarre array of spires of sandstone this is a special place in Germany yet few English speaking tourists venture there.
At the very top there's a restaurant where those who don't want to do much walking can actually drive to but, for me, that would take more than half the enjoyment out of the trip.