On the 3rd of April 2011, a beautiful sunny day in Saxony, the AKSW members decided to visit the beautiful Sächsische Schweiz along with their respective children and spouses ! In all, we were 14 adults plus 7 kids, out of which 3 were in prams (Strollers or Kinderwagons). We decided to explore the peak “Rauensteine”, which (from reviews) seemed to be the best option for us since it was ‘recommended’ to be a suitable trek for children ! Besides, it was only 6km long and offered multiple spots where we could catch a panoramic view of the breathtaking scenery around us.
At 7:30am, a few of us gathered at the Leipzig Hbf and bought the Sachsen-Ticket, which is reasonably priced and allows five people to travel in one ticket by the Regional Express. A few others joined at Engelsdorf, while the rest joined us directly at Dresden Hbf. From Dresden Hbf, we hurried to catch our next train, the S-Bahn, which would take us to Stadt Wehlen, where we would start treking from. At 10:31, our train reached Stadt Wehlen and thats where the adventure began!
The beginning of the route was a steep and rocky surface which made it difficult for the prams to be dragged along. However, we slowly made our way up while the kids in the pram enjoyed the “bumpy” ride ;-). The sunny weather did add to the adventure but it was more than welcome after a very cold winter. Within an hour we reached our first picnic spot – a rocky plateau in front of the first staircase. We were rewarded for our hard-work by a beautiful view of not only the Bastei on one side but also the fortress Königstein on the other. Everyone rested for a while, shared some snacks and some of us even lay down in the shade for a bit.
And we sure did need that bit of rest because the next part of our trek was even more challenging ! We not only had to make ourselves through the most narrowest of crevices and wobbly staircases, but also had to carry the prams along, which therefore had to be actually picked up rather than being dragged along. Since it was wise not to keep the babies in the pram, two of the babies, Nika and Sophia, found themselves sitting on the shoulders of one of their parent while the youngest, Mathilda, was strapped up with her mother. Two of the prams were even dismantled so that it would be easier to carried by one person.
Slowly but steadily the parents, the children, the prams (carried by two people) and the rest of us made ourselves up and down the dangerously constructed staircases, the small pathways through two boulders of rocks and sometimes along man-made bridges to pass along, what would be a very high fall ! The adventure ended as we reached a restaurant called “Bergrestaurant Fels Rauenstein”, where all of us enjoyed the comfort of the shade and some awesome ice-cream and pancakes. The rest of the trek seemed to be easier as we were mainly descending and the surface seemed to be rather smooth. We made a final stop at a vast green meadow which faced the Bastei, for a quick food, water and rest break. Thereafter, we slowly made our way down to the train stop. Since we had some time before the train would arrive, we went to the River Elbe where some of us, including the kids, dipped our feet into the extremely cold water !
The journey back home was fun but not as adventurous of course and most of us were tired. But, while only some of us agree it was a difficult trek, we all think it was a great adventure and totally worth visiting – but maybe not with prams ;-).
