Malerweg Elbe Sandstone Mountains

The multi-day hiking tour through one of the most beautiful landscapes in Europe

Bastei? Check. Königstein Fortress? Check. Schrammsteine? Check. Pfaffenstein? Check. Anyone who has hiked the entire Malerweg can claim to have seen these and countless other highlights of Saxon Switzerland. This makes the trail unique. No other tour through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains offers this abundance of sights! The hiking trail, located near Dresden, is 116 kilometers long. From Liebethal, it leads through the wild rocky world of the Saxon Switzerland National Park to the Bohemian border and, on the left side of the Elbe, through the realm of table mountains into the heart of Pirna. Narrow gorges and endless expanses, enchanted valleys and sunny heights, dreamy villages and lively tourist towns: the trail wants to show its hikers all of this.

Schriftzug "Malerweg" mit Bild von Felsen und Nebel im Hintergrund.

Karte mit der Malerweg-Wegführung und orangefarbenen Markierungen entlang der Elbe und umliegender Landschaft. — © TVSSW

Facts

Distance - The total length of the Malerweg Elbe Sandstone Mountains without detours is approximately 116 kilometers. Due to different measurement methods, there may be deviations. The figure is therefore only a guideline.

Walking time - You should not underestimate the total hiking time for the Malerweg in terms of stamina. The specified time is based on an average empirical value.

Altitude difference - The hiking trail leads constantly up and down over many steps and ladders through the rock world of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains.

Planning

How demanding is a hike on the Malerweg? What equipment do I need for the tour? When is the best time to travel for a stage hike on the Malerweg? Can the route be hiked from a fixed accommodation? Is the trail also suitable for children? Can I bring my dog? Detailed answers to these questions and other questions can be found here:

Worth knowing for preparation

MALERWEG BROCHURE

Our free Malerweg brochure is an ideal basis for organizing a tour on the Malerweg hiking trail in Saxon Switzerland. You will find clear maps for the stages with route descriptions as well as addresses of hiker-friendly accommodations and restaurants. A special extra is the Malerweg hiking pass: Simply stamp each stage and take home a certificate and a small souvenir at the end of the tour.

Order

Hosts on the Malerweg

All hosts on the Malerweg website bear the title "Hiker-friendly on the Malerweg". They know what makes Malerweg hikers happy and offer, among other things, single overnight stays, packed lunches for a healthy picnic in nature, support with luggage transfer, or drying rooms for wet clothing. Hiker-friendly restaurants have warm and light meals as well as drinks ready to take away.

Plan Malerweg hike

PACKAGE DEALS

Are you planning a tour on the Malerweg hiking trail in Saxon Switzerland as a couple, with good friends, or as a small or large group? The Malerweg experience, including hotel reservations and luggage transport from accommodation to accommodation, will be perfectly prepared for you.
The booking service of the Saxon Switzerland Tourism Association will be happy to advise you to find the right offer.

Phone: +49 3501 470147 or Email: info@saechsische-schweiz.de

Book hiking without luggage

PURE ROMANCE

Sometimes a hiking trail gets under your skin. Then the landscape touches us in a way that we can neither understand nor explain. Then the tour becomes an experience that resonates long after.
The Malerweg Elbe Sandstone Mountains is such a trail. Whoever follows it walks in the footsteps of the artists whom we count among the inventors of Romanticism today. They came back again and again because they had discovered something here that existed nowhere else in Europe – and still doesn't.

Art & History

All Malerweg Stages