Rathen health resort: via the Bastei to Wehlen

On the other side of the Elbe, follow the signs to the Bastei. Halfway along the Basteiweg, you meet the Malerweg, which you follow uphill via numerous steps. Along the way, short branches always lead left to the Kanapee and Tiedge views.

You soon reach the Bastei bridge between high rocks. It was built from sandstone in 1851, is 76.5 meters long and replaced a previous wooden bridge from 1826. The view back to the rock towers is reminiscent of the views that Caspar David Friedrich sketched here - only without today's bridge. An inscription in the bridge area also commemorates Hermann Krone, who took some of the earliest landscape photographs in Germany here in 1853.

At the end of the bridge, the short path to Ferdinand's View (Ferdinandstein) branches off to the right. This is probably the best-known view of the Bastei Bridge, often in rare tranquillity during the cold season.

Back at the start of the bridge, climb up a few meters and take the steps on the left to the Basteiaussicht. The platform was renovated in 2023 and offers sweeping views across the Elbe valley.

The path continues past the Berghotel Bastei. Behind the hotel, another short path branches off to the right to the Wehlstein viewpoint before following the Malerweg trail to the left into the forest. This is a leisurely walk to the Stone Table. This historic resting place with sandstone furniture was built in 1710 for an electoral hunt under Augustus the Strong.

From here you could follow the Malerweg to Wehlen, but in winter the steep descent is sometimes icy. It is safer to descend via the Steinrückenweg and the Wehlener Grund, which leads leisurely to Stadt Wehlen.

In the town, you reach the Elbe, take the ferry across and follow the signs to the right to Stadt Wehlen station.

• Onion-skin clothing and winter hiking boots
• Backpack with hiking map, snacks, thermos flask with a warm drink, smartphone, flashlight, first aid kit
• Hiking poles, ice goggles

Also plan enough time for the views!