Bohemian Switzerland

Bohemian Switzerland covers 79 square kilometers of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, forming the Czech portion of a larger geological wonder that extends into Germany. The Elbe River cuts through the heart of the region, creating the dramatic Hřensko Gorge where most visitors start their adventure. The landscape reads like geological poetry. Sandstone towers called 'rock cities' rise from dense forests of spruce and beech. Some formations reach 400 meters high — that's taller than the Eiffel Tower, but these have been standing for 100 million years. The most famous is Pravčická brána, Europe's largest natural sandstone arch. But here's what the postcards don't show: this place gets moody. Fog rolls in without warning, turning familiar trails into something from a gothic novel. Rain makes the sandstone slippery as ice. And winter transforms the landscape into a black-and-white photograph that's beautiful but brutally cold. The region sits right on the German border, so don't be surprised to hear more German than Czech on the trails. Many visitors cross over to explore Saxon Switzerland National Park on the same trip — the rocks don't care about borders.