With the #1 we initiate a tradition, under the category Roadtrips we want to share not only our long trips, but also pitches and “Must Sees”, in our opinion.
When we got our Grand California, we said from the beginning that before we set out into the world and explore abroad, we had to finally get to know our home country properly. In the past ten months, we have covered almost 20,000 kilometers in Germany. We always make a point of not driving to or visiting the usual places. And with these 20,000 kilometers, we haven’t seen everything, not by a long shot.
But of course, the “standard” sights are also on our list. We start with the impressive Saxon Switzerland in the east of Germany. Last summer we made the journey of almost 1800 kilometers for a weekend.
Before we now come up with a self-formulated explanation about the bastion at this point…
The bastion (305 m above sea level) is a rock formation with a viewing platform in Saxon Switzerland on the right bank of the Elbe River in the area of the municipality of Lohmen between the spa town of Rathen and Stadt Wehlen. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Saxon Switzerland.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastei_(Fels)
The Bastei is incredibly beautiful scenically, when you are at this place, you can hardly imagine that something so beautiful is really in the middle of Germany just behind Dresden.
After a short walk from the parking lot, you reach the Bastei Bridge and can look down on the Elbe River from there. Pictures simply describe this place better than any words you could write about it.
But we do not want to leave you all alone with the pictures, because there are certainly a few tips 🥰. There is a parking lot directly in the national park and about 500 meters from the bastion, there is strictly forbidden to spend the night and is controlled and punished by park rangers. Moreover, it is incredibly crowded there. Fortunately, just outside the gates of the national park there is an RV park run by a nice couple. Please don’t let the bad reviews on Google stop you from going there. The operators are a bit special, but really nice and the saying definitely applies here, “As you shout into the forest, so it resounds out!”
The place offers everything you need, there is a bread service, toilets, washrooms and of course supply and disposal.
If you have your bike or an e-scooter with you, you can be at the Bastei within ten minutes from the parking lot, but even without a bike, nothing is lost. There is a shuttle bus to the national park directly at the campsite and this is also free 👍. Doesn’t sound bad, does it? But here’s a tip, it is always very crowded at and around the bastion, especially on weekends, be early on Fridays at the campsite and go to sleep just as early. Now, if you make your way to the national park in the summer, in the morning before sunrise, you will experience a magical sunrise and you will not be disappointed. Even at 4:30 in the morning there are already some people hanging around, who probably want to do exactly the same as you 😊.
From 09:00 at the latest it will be unbearably crowded! The Bastei experience depends very much on the time of day, so take the chance and get up early.
Enjoy this silence – and my short babble:
Take this one tip from us, timing is everything as far as the bastion is concerned. The experience is only worth it in the very early hours of the morning or if you like crowds at lunchtime.