We have spared no effort to tell you about our new and varied hiking route recommendation: Away from the usual tourist trails, we have put together a beautiful, relatively short hiking route for you, which you can walk not only alone, but also with your friends or family and children. This is particularly suitable if you are not yet very experienced in hiking or are just getting back into it after a rather sluggish winter.
Short hike on the Malerweg trail to kick off the hiking season in the Saxon Switzerland National Park
Wehlen- kleiner Bärenstein- Thürmsdorf- Königstein
recommended hiking app: mapy.cz
Duration: approx. 3 hours/ approx. 12 km/ altitude 437 m to 242 m
Difficulty: easy
Recommended equipment: water bottle, sturdy shoes,
Hiking map as from mapy.cz
The long winter finally seems to be over and now the sun is venturing out more and more often, bringing us new energy for a new season - in this case, the 2025 hiking season!
Directions:
We take the S1 from Neustadt station or from Bischofsplatz S-Bahn station (both stops are about 10 minutes' walk from the hostel) to Stadt Wehlen station. The direct journey takes only 40 minutes and the S1 runs every half hour.
Hiking tour:
Once we arrive at Wehlen station, we first have to get out of the Elbe valley to discover the beautiful views. This is quite easy at the front end of the national park, as the ascent is not as steep and high as at the back end of Saxon Switzerland. From Wehlen, we follow the red dotted path markings, so we stay on the south side of the Elbe and don't take the ferry like many other tourists! Via the Damengrund path, which leads across a wonderfully lush meadow, we first approach the large front Bärenstein towards the village of Naundorf. However, we leave it to the left because we head directly to the kleiner Bärenstein (little bear stones), which lies directly behind the großer Bärenstein (big bear stones). From the fork in the path, we follow the red dot trail. We pass a few interesting sandstone formations and climb up the sandstone steps to the summit of the kleiner Bärenstein.
There is a wonderful and very rewarding view: to the north we can see the Bastei rocks with the famous bridge, in front of us the Three Bears rock formations spread out, you can count the brothers here and recognize the bears quite well from here. Towards the south-east, you can see another tourist highlight, the medieval Königstein Fortress. You can take your first break up here and have a small picnic, as there are hardly any tourists here. There used to be a mountain hut here, the remains of the foundations can still be seen.
We finish our picnic and have to briefly go back down the same path we have already taken. We can now take the path over the Thürmsdorf walls Thürmsdorfer Wände along the Bärensteinwächter (bear stone guard) and along the Diebskeller (thief cellar) or take a shortcut east of the small Bärenstein via a small iron ladder down towards the Bärensteinstrasse. If you take the shortcut, there is a small hiking trail to the side of the road that you can follow, which will take you back to the Red Dot Trail in the direction of the Thürmsdorf parks. Here there are a few informative information boards about the creation of this romantic park with its small wood and the small watercourse that is dammed into an artificial lake.
You can linger here again or continue on to the estate park and the impressive Thürmsdorf Castle. Admission is free, so it's a good idea to wander through and enjoy the romantic view, listen to the birds and watch the bees and butterflies. In summer there is a pub where you can enjoy a coffee or a beer in the sun. Many information boards explain the origins and development of the former Thürmsdorf manor.
A few information boards further on, we take a detour from here to the mausoleum (yellow line hiking trail), which is located not far to the east of Thürmsdorf. After a few hundred meters across pastures and past cows and horses, you can see an old round building under trees in the distance, the so-called Biedermann Mausoleum.
Here you have a very rare view of the course of the river Elbe and you can take spectacular photos again. The fantastic Königstein Fortress looms in the background - we still want to go there! So on we go!
We go back a bit, because we want to continue to Königstein, and now follow the red dot trail again for a few minutes.
Now we can either walk directly to the town of Königstein via the Kanonenweg (yellow trail markings) or directly back up to Königstein fortress (red trail markings). For those who have had enough, the Kanonenweg is recommended; we walk straight back down towards the Elbe valley past Königstein Fortress, which rises majestically beside us. The path here is not quite so picturesque, but we save ourselves another ascent and walk along a historic old path, which in the Middle Ages was safely secured by the fortress's cannons.
And for those who still have the capacity, we can of course climb the majestic fortress again from here (this takes about another hour or so), from where we can easily get back to the town of Königstein (the path markings here are clear and easy to find).
After a few steps, we reach the town of Königstein, where caution is advised as the main road is not very pedestrian-friendly. In the old town center at the market, however, it is quieter and we can take another look at the very old houses and eat a cake (Alte Königstein Bäckerei) before heading back home.
All in all, this is a very varied and interesting hiking tour along the famous Malerweg, which not only offers breathtaking views of the tourist hotspots, but also the opportunity to immerse yourself in the medieval and romantic history of Saxon Switzerland and its locals. During the warmer months, you will always find a cozy place to stop for a bite to eat in Thürmsdorf and Königstein itself, and the park and its castle in Thürmsdorf offer truly romantic photo backdrops for daydreaming and unwinding.
17.03.2025, 16:33 @ Jule
Categories: travel · surroundings · activities // Tags: Elbe River in Dresden · Malerweg · Sächsische Schweiz · National Park Saxony · small hiking route at national park in Germany · hiking · beginners route hiking in Germany · easy route hiking · Wehlen · sand stone mountains · Baerensteine