Travel report: Cycle Tour from Prague to Dresden

We spent two days in Dresden before the planned cycle route. Then we parked our car cheaply (45 euros/week) in the parking garage at the main train station and took the train from Dresden to Prague with our bike and luggage. The train staff even helped us board the train. Prague Holešovice was our final stop and from there it was only a few hundred meters to the hotel, very doable. Alternatively, you can also take a van from Dresden.

Prague is easy and inexpensive to explore by public transport, and the trip up to Prague Castle is included in the 24-hour ticket. Prague was very busy, we were two of tens of thousands of people on the Charles Bridge. We had a very tasty and cheap meal just outside the old town. Prague is a beautiful, old city that you should see at least once.

It was already very quiet shortly after Prague and we started the cycle route through a beautiful landscape with a rural character to Mělník. The castle offers a fantastic view of the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava rivers. The hotel is a little out of the way, but that's no problem with a bike. Bikes can be parked safely and dry inside the hotel. In the evening, we went to the Na Hradbách restaurant on recommendation, which we can pass on without reservation, we had a very good meal there.

The next day, we continued on the very well signposted Elbe cycle path. In Roudnice nad Labem, we tried typical Czech cakes in a café before continuing on to Theresienstadt, where we were allowed to spontaneously join a guided tour of a school class. The guided tours of the concentration camp are included in the price after booking and are very interesting. At today's destination in Litoměřice, there is a large market square with many restaurants, where we also followed the recommendation and dined two floors below ground in the Radniční sklípek restaurant.

In late summer weather, we enjoyed the rest of the ride on our cycle path. Unfortunately, we hadn't packed any swimming gear, otherwise we would have taken an hour to visit the thermal baths on the Elbe in Brna, which looked very inviting in the bright sunshine. So we continued on and after a steep climb we visited Schreckenstein Castle, a well-preserved castle ruin. We took a lunch break there with a great view of the Elbe. In the late afternoon we reached Děčín, where we were given a huge new apartment for the night in the Armex LifeCentrum, the bikes were given an extra room on the second floor for the night, a little awkward but safe. The breakfast there was very unusual, but delicious. Very significant here is the huge fitness center, all very new, only opened three years ago before Corona.

The next day offered so many highlights that we decided to leave some for the day after next. The first stop was Hřensko, where we first strolled around the Asian border market. Unfortunately, the onward journey to Edmundsklamm gorge was still closed after the fire last year, otherwise we would have liked to take a boat trip there. So we continued through Schmilka and Bad Schandau to Königstein Fortress, a huge fortress complex. The fortress express takes you up to the top, from where you can enjoy fantastic views of Saxon Switzerland and the Elbe valley. From there, the route continues through the most beautiful section of the Elbe cycle path: the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. From the cycle path, we limited ourselves to the view up to the Bastei Bridge, where we would be heading tomorrow. Our destination for the day was Pirna with its beautiful old town and many restaurants and cafés. We spent the night there at the Romantikhotel Deutsches Haus, a very cozy hotel with a delicious breakfast and stylish porcelain.

Today we went back a bit and followed the advice to cycle up to the Bastei from Wehlen, but unfortunately took a wrong turn and went up a dangerous hiking trail. Fortunately, we arrived at the top in one piece. It's better to follow the hiking trail up from Rathen, but on foot. The cycle path mentioned in the guidebook was also closed. No matter, we enjoyed the great view at the top, an absolutely worthwhile destination. Once back in Pirna, we treated ourselves to an ice cream in one of the cafés before taking the last short section to Dresden. If you want, you can take Pillnitz Castle with you, but we drove straight through to Dresden. The Semper Opera House, Frauenkirche etc. are all close together and within easy walking distance of the Maritim Hotel. We enjoyed our last evening in a restaurant on the Elbe at a summery 27 degrees. After a great breakfast at the Maritim Hotel, we headed back home. We didn't book an extension as we had already been to Dresden beforehand.