2 countries in 1 day: Part 2 – Pravcicka brana

Welcome to Narnia!

If you have watched the first part of the Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, Witch and Old Wardrobe), you might have heard of Pravcicka brana. Several landscapes scenes were filmed here. I’m a big fan of this story, but I must admit that I discovered the place by accident. I was checking google map to see what’s around Leipzig. That’s how I got to know the Pravcicka brana! Then I went to Leipzig for an Erasmus program. Although it was quite difficult to get there without the car, we managed to visit this place! Pravcicka Brama is the largest natural rock bridge in Europe located in the Elbe Mountains in the Czech Republic. However, it is quite easy to get here from nearby Dresden. Wanna know how to get to Pravcicka brana? 🙂 Check my content!

How to get to Pravcicka Brana?

Who could expect that you can access Pravcicka Brana using only public transport?! Well, that’s a big convenience of course, particulary if you are a student and don’t want to waste too much money. 😀 We were traveling from Kurort Rathen, because that was our first stop. So don’t forget to read the first part! 🙂 However, our journey has started in Leipzig. We traveled by Deutsche Bahn train to Dresden. In Dresden we change to subway towards Schöna. We bought Sachsen ticket for two people. Here you can ready how those tickets works! 🙂

Schöna is a border town because the Czech Republic is on the other side of the river. To get there, you have to cross the river by boat, because as in Kurort Rathen, there is no bridge here. 😀 It will cost you approx. 2-3 euro for round way. After leaving the boat you will find yourself in Hrensko! From here, the Pravcicka Gate is just 5 km away. You can also take a bus to Pravcicka brana. Unfortunately, it drives rarely. However, the path to Pravcicka brana is quite comfortable. First part is along the road and the second part goes through the forest!

Hrensko

This is a small town through which we had to go to get to the Pravcicka brana. Interestingly, the town is dominated by Asians who trade here different things. Along the way there is a whole row of stalls, with the most kitschy things I’ve seen. 😀 I don’t know where they came from, because the place is not particularly crowded by tourists. During our visit there were really few people, even though we were during the long May weekend and the weather was great! In addition, Hrensko looks as abandoned town (at least a lil bit).  Nevertheless, there is a nice tourist information building (I guess is due the fact of nearby location of Pravcicka brana). 😀

The route to Pravcicka brana

Generally, we walked quite fast, it was already 2;30 PM, and we still had a lot of km to do. The route is quite pleasant. If you would go from Hrensko,expect the asphalt path in the beginning and then a gentle climb uphill in the forest. This is not a demanding route, so you will handle it without any problem. I recommend, to wear at least sneakers, due to the long way. 🙂

Pravcicka brana in full glory! 🙂

After an hour’s journey from Hrensko, we finally saw the largest natural rock bridge in Europe. The arch width of the gate at the base is 26.5 meters! The view is really beautiful and the pictures don’t fully reflect the size of the rock bridge. The entrance cost 1-2 euro (2016). You can admire the rock arch from under its foot or from the view point in front of the gate. Due to the progressive erosion and large numbers of tourists, in 1982 it was forbidden to walk on the rocky bridge. I don’t consider this as a huge loss, because the nearby viewpoint rewards everything! 🙂

Next to it is located a beautiful building, called the Falcon’s Nest. It is now a restaurant where you can cool down after a „hard” hike. 😀 Unfortunately, I don’t know how what’s their menu look like, because we weren’t hungry or thirsty. The building was built in the 19th century and it used to be a hotel.

Time to come back!

After a short rest, we headed back to Hrensko. We were lucky enough to caught a bus, so we didn’t have to walk all the way as before. We missed S-bahn to Dresden and we had to wait an hour for the next one. We came back to Leipzig at 10 PM … It was a really hard day, as evidenced by the fact that we did 22 km !! We were dying, but we still consider that day as one of our best! 🙂

Don’t forget to read the first part of this content!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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