Northern Czechia travel guide: Rock cities, forest trails, and Saxon Switzerland
Prague may be the main draw for first-time visitors to Czechia, but just beyond the capital lies a very different side of the country. Northern Czechia combines dramatic sandstone landscapes, forest trails, picturesque towns, family attractions, and thermal wellness, while across the border, Saxon Switzerland adds some of the region’s most spectacular viewpoints.
We spent our first two days exploring Prague before heading north, blending active outdoor adventures with time to slow down and unwind.
48 hours in Prague with the Prague visitor pass
Countless articles have been written about Prague, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Although you could easily spend an entire trip exploring the capital, it remains an essential stop for anyone visiting Czechia for the first time. With 48 hours to spare, we opted for the Prague Visitor Pass.
Available for various durations, the pass includes public transit, a ride on historic Tram 42, and admission to museums, towers, guided tours, and river cruises. Additionally, pass holders can access reserved admission to high-demand attractions, where regular tickets can sell out weeks in advance, such as the Clementinum.
Armed with our 48-hour passes, we set out to explore the city. We rode the historic tram, stopped at some of Prague’s key sights, and joined introductory tours of the Old Town and Jewish Quarter. One of the more unusual experiences was a medieval Prague tour, which took us beneath the present-day streets.
Parts of Prague were rebuilt at a higher level after repeated floods, leaving former ground-floor rooms beneath the modern city. Walking through these underground spaces offered a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in medieval Prague.
The Clementinum was another highlight, with its beautifully preserved Baroque Library Hall and Astronomical Tower. We timed our visit for sunset, when the city below began to light up, and the view from the tower was particularly striking.
Another standout experience was the guided tour of New City Hall, which includes a ride on Prague’s famous paternoster elevators. These doorless, continuously moving lifts have no buttons or stops between floors; passengers simply step in and out while the elevator keeps moving. The unusual system makes the ride itself one of the tour’s highlights.
Leaving Prague
While a car is unnecessary in Prague, where parking is both scarce and expensive, having your own wheels becomes essential once you leave the capital. We booked our car through Europcar Israel, which offers a broad selection of vehicles and locations, including major airports.
Driving in Czechia was relatively straightforward, although the narrow roads and frequent villages required close attention. This was where our high-end Czech-made Škoda Kodiaq proved its worth, particularly with features like adaptive cruise control, which adjusts to changing speed limits based on traffic signs, and Lane Assist.
Booking on the Israeli Europcar site also offers Israeli residents promotions and the option of “darkonit larechev,” an excess waiver that reimburses the deductible in the event of an accident or theft at a lower cost. A nice little bonus awaited us when we returned the car we had rented in Israel at the Europcar branch at Ben-Gurion Airport: a free library where travelers can pick up a book for their flight.
Czechia’s rock cities: From Prachov to Adršpach
Bohemian Paradise (Ceský ráj) is one of northern Czechia’s most striking landscapes, known for its dramatic sandstone formations, forests, castles, and natural viewpoints.
Among the area’s most popular routes are the Prachov Rocks (Prachovské skály). We chose a challenging 3.5-kilometer circular trail that took about two and a half hours, including an ascent of roughly 250 meters. The route winds through towering sandstone formations, narrow gorges, and panoramic viewpoints. On clear days, rock climbers can also be seen scaling the cliffs.
Not far away, Hrubá Skála Castle makes a great stop for lunch with a view and a quick tour. For an easier walk, the route to Mariánská vyhlídka offers a relatively flat 3 km. trail takes about an hour and a half, with views toward the castle and surrounding rock formations.
Another of the region’s best-known attractions is Adršpach Rock City, where scenes from The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed.
The reserve offers several routes. We followed the 3.5 km. green-marked trail, which passes a lake, the Gothic Gate, dramatic rock formations, a waterfall, a viewpoint, and narrow gorges. The walk takes around three hours at a relaxed pace, with plenty of opportunities to stop for photographs, and includes numerous stairs.
The towering sandstone formations have names like The Lovers, The Tooth, The Indian, and The Elephants. With its narrow passages, unusual rock shapes, and forested valleys, the landscape has an unmistakably otherworldly feel.
Reservations are recommended, particularly during busy periods, as visitor numbers are controlled and the reserve is extremely popular.
https://www.adrspasskeskaly.cz/
Treetop walk Krkonoše
The region also offers a wide range of accommodations and attractions, from family-friendly resorts to alpine coasters, rope parks, ziplines, museums and water parks. One of our highlights was the Treetop Walk Krkonoše.
The attraction offers a different perspective on the forests of Krkonoše National Park, taking visitors from the forest floor into the treetops along an elevated wooden walkway. The route winds through the forest before reaching a 43-meter observation tower offering views across the surrounding mountains and forests.
A newer family feature is the Bear Trail, an interactive path where visitors can learn about brown bears and observe two resident bears, Michal and Alica, from above in a large, forested enclosure designed with their needs in mind.
Despite arriving in rainy weather, we enjoyed wandering among the treetops, testing our courage on the high-altitude suspended net platforms and watching the surrounding landscape disappear into the mist. The informative displays along the way added another dimension to the experience, making it enjoyable for everyone in our group.
https://treetop-walks.com/krkonose/
Saxon Switzerland
We concluded our journey in Saxon Switzerland, a dramatic region straddling the border between Germany and Czechia. The area is home to two famous landmarks: the Bastei Bridge on the German side and Pravcická brána on the Czech side, which served as yet another filming location for The Chronicles of Narnia.
Originally built of wood in the early 19th century for pioneering travelers, the Bastei Bridge was rebuilt in sandstone in 1851. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the early days of European romantic tourism. Walking across the historic structure, surrounded by towering sandstone formations, is an impressive experience in itself.
Nearby viewing platforms offer spectacular panoramas of the Elbe Valley, stretching across the landscape below. Because of its breathtaking scenery and easy access, the site is a major tourist magnet that gets extremely crowded, especially on clear days.
In the picturesque town of Bad Schandau, we took the historic elevator up to a panoramic viewpoint and enjoyed a leisurely walk back down. For those seeking an extra surge of adrenaline, the Czech side also features an exciting via ferrata route.
Hotel Elbresidenz and Toskana Therme, Bad Schandau
After several days of hiking, we were more than ready for a hotel where wellness was part of the experience rather than an afterthought. We stayed at the elegant Hotel Elbresidenz in Bad Schandau, located in the heart of Saxon Switzerland.
The hotel sits beside the Elbe River, with gardens overlooking the water and surrounding cliffs. Its architecture combines preserved 19th-century structures with newer additions built following extensive restoration after severe flooding in the region over the past two decades. The property has its own wellness facilities, while hotel guests also receive unlimited access to the adjacent Toskana Therme.
Each morning began with a generous breakfast buffet, and we headed out on the trails. After several hours of walking, one of the most enjoyable parts of the day was returning to the hotel and heading straight to the wellness complex. Wearing our hotel robes, we simply walked next door to the Toskana Therme.
The complex features moderately heated indoor and outdoor pools overlooking the Elbe, a lazy river, a children’s pool with a small slide, a variety of saunas, and even an ice fountain. We also treated ourselves to a massage with sea salt scrub and velvety lotion from the extensive body treatment menu, which was particularly welcome after long days on the trails.
The centerpiece of the facility is the Liquid Sound® experience: a softly lit circular pool filled with warm saltwater, with music playing simultaneously above and under the water. Visual projections move across the domed ceiling as you float, creating an immersive and unusually peaceful experience.
After hours spent hiking, floating in the warm saltwater to the sound of music and watching the projections move across the dome was a memorable way to end the journey.
Hotel Elbresidenz: http://www.hotel-elbresidenz.de/, Toskana Therme: http://www.toskana-therme.de/
The writer was a guest of Prague Tourism and the businesses mentioned in this report.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.