Bohemian Rhapsody

Tour Code: 25710 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Grade 6 Holiday Duration: 15 days The beautiful Elbe Valley from Prague to HOLIDAY DATES 3th Jun 2018 - 17th Jun 2018, 17th Jun 2018 - 1st Jul 2018 Dresden. 1st Jul 2018 - 15th Jul 2018, 15th Jul 2018 - 29th Jul 2018 12th Aug 2018 - 26th Aug 2018, 9th Sept 2018 - 23rd Sept 2018 Since the 1790s travellers have been fascinated by the beauty, the unique and intriguing landscape, the cultural heritage of Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland. HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS Walk the 70 mile romantic Malerweg (Painters Trail). Visit Europe’s largest freestanding rock arch. Experience a glorious display of contrasting and breathtaking landscapes. Visiting two wonderful contrasting cities. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Through woods rich in ferns and mosses, across meadows, up fissures between pillars of eroded sandstone, the Malerweg, or Painters' Way, winds its way through Germany's Saxon Switzerland. From rocky viewpoints the meandering Elbe is often visible. You first see the river beneath Prague's Charles Bridge, where it is known as the Vltava. At the end of our journey you meet it once again in the neo-classical and Baroque splendour of Dresden. We follow the Malerweg in its entirety from our riverside base in Krippen adjacent to the resort of Bad Schandau. Throughout the trail's seventy miles, which we follow in eight stages, it is easy to see why great painters and musicians have found inspiration here. The unique jumble of rocks, the sweeping panoramas, the dampness of the forest floor, mists rising from the valleys; these are the very essence of the Romantic Movement. The Malerweg links towns on the Elbe such as Pirna, with its squares and gabled roofs, with hamlets and villages such as Hohnstein, where a castle rises above half-timbered buildings and neat gardens. And of course it is always easy to find a cafÉ serving coffee and cake or a Gasthaus for beer and pretzels. Our holiday starts with two nights in the enchanting fairytale city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. We enjoy a full day to explore the city with a local guide. We'll wander through the narrow cobbled streets, visiting such city gems as the Old Town Hall with its remarkable 15th century astrological clock. Our holiday ends with two nights in Dresden where a local guide will introduce us to the rich cultural heritage including the famous sights of the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), Preidenkirche and Fürstenzug (Procession of the Princes), Old Masters Picture Gallery and Zwinger just to name a few. WHATS INCLUDED Return flights from Heathrow to Prague (British Airways) Airport transfers Half board en suite accommodation All local transport costs. HOLIDAY GRADE This is a Grade 6 moderate holiday which includes full day walks with appreciable amounts of ascent and descent with walks in some remote areas. Paths are mostly good, but there may be some steep and rough ground. Walks will last up to 6 hours and could involve as much as 750m of ascent and descent and are likely to be at the upper level of ascent, descent, walking time and distance. See the Walks & Excursions section for more information. Day: 6 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from Proposed Itinerary Hohnstein to Altendorf. Starting in Hohnstein the trail takes us along a delightful pine forest trail Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the below sandstone cliffs to reach the Brand viewpoint, outlined itinerary and advertised programme, local the ‘Balcony of Saxon Switzerland’. We then take conditions can change due to weather or other 800 steps down to the valley floor of the Polenztal, unforeseen circumstances. This may mean that then back up to the village of Waitzdorf. We finish in routes and timings need to be amended or the order Altendorf, and get views of tomorrow’s rocky area, of days may change, sometimes at short notice. the Schrammsteine. Key to Meals: Total ascent 9½ miles (15km) 573m ascent / 664m B - Breakfast, L - Lunch, D - Dinner. descent; 6 hrs In flight meals, if appropriate, will be advised in your final travel documents Day: 7 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from Altendorf to Neumannmühle. We start by Day: 1 - Prague (D) We fly from London walking down through a gorge to Kirnitzschtal and Heathrow to Prague. On arrival we transfer by bus cross the historic tram line from Bad Schandau. to our hotel in Prague From here the route becomes slightly challenging as we climb through the rocks with the help of a Day: 2 - Prague (B,D) Sightseeing in Prague with collection of steps and a short ladder in the crevices a local guide. of the rock face; this section is quite steep so we take it nice and slow. We soon find ourselves on top Day: 3 - Bad Schandau (B,D) Today we travel by of the jagged sandstone rock formations of the road to Bad Schandau (Krippen) where we stay for Schrammsteine, and continue along the ridge which the following 10 nights. offers excellent views. And what goes up must come down as we take a steep path with more steps. Day: 4 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We start the first of After crossing the tram line again we climb to the our walks on the Malerweg trail. We walk from spectacular rock archway, the Kuhstall, before Liebenthal to Stadt Wehlen. finishing in the valley. A relatively easy first day walk, with a trail that 12½ miles (20km) 668m ascent / 753m descent; 7 meanders along the Wesenitz stream, alongside hrs. beautiful rape covered fields and through the forest of the Sächsiche Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland) Day: 8 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from National Park and ends in the Riverside town of Neumannmühle to Schmilka. We walk through Wehlen. mainly wooded paths, which will be steep in some cases and rough underfoot. The views at the top 9 miles (13.7km); 213m ascent / 251m descent; 4 from the Grosses Pohlshorn and the hrs Goldsteinaussicht make it all worth the effort. At the highest point of the whole walk, the Grosses Day: 5 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from Winterberg (556m high), a tower can be climbed to Stadt Wehlen to Hohnstein. This is a more give a 360 degree view of the surrounding hills and challenging day than the previous one. We walk forests. After another descent with many steps, we along the Elbe, then the trail climbs steeply uphill, end in the attractive and sleepy riverside town of high above the Elbe River, before we come to the Schmilka, a few hundred metres from the Czech unique sandstone rock formation of the Bastei area. border. We end the walk at the delightful town of Hohnstein. 9½ miles (15km); 628m ascent 688m descent; 6 8½ miles (13.1km) ; 502m ascent / 321m descent; hrs. 5-6 hrs Day: 9 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from Schmilka to Kurort Gohrisch. Now on the south We will walk the Malerweg trail in eight sections. We side of the Elbe, we walk along some wooded paths expect to complete one section per day with a rest but the terrain is more open today and not so many day part way through. We will use the excellent steep paths to tackle. We walk through the village of local transport system or minibuses to get to the Reinhardtsdorf, with its impressive baroque style start and return from the end of the walk each day. church. We also walk amongst open farm fields. The length of the sections varies from 8½ to 13 There are some steps to tackle to reach the summit miles (12 to 21 km), with an average length of 10½ of the Papstdorf, which rewards us with spectacular (17 km). The paths are well-made and maintained views. but most of the sections include relatively steep ascents and descents, some of which involve flights 12½ miles (19km) 520m ascent / 330m descent); of steps, metal staircases and metal step-ladders. 6-7 hrs. However, the presence of hand rails along the more difficult stretches means that there are no exposed Day: 10 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from paths anywhere along the route. Kurort Gohrisch to Kurort Rathen. We walk across fields which offer fine views towards Konigstein Castle. We then climb to the top of the During our time in Prague and Dresden we will Pfaffenstein, a flat top mountain, which entails a explore the highlights of these cities mainly on foot. rather strenuous ascent up numerous wooden and iron steps. We enjoy more walking in the forest around, but not up, the Quirl rocks, before Optional Excursions descending into Konigstein for lunch. After lunch a A range of local excursions and activities may be steep climb takes us around the outside of available to book in your destination through a local Konigstein Castle, before we continue on to Weissig operator. We have no involvement in such activities and then descend to Kurort Rathen on the River or excursions which are not run, supervised or Elbe. 13 miles (21km); 554m ascent / 654m controlled in any way by us. Your contract will be descent; 6 hrs. with the local activity supplier and we accept no responsibility for their actions or omissions. Day: 11 - Bad Schandau (B,D) We walk from Kurort Rathen to Pirna. Today will involve us climbing yet another flat top mountain, the Leaders Evening Briefing Rauenstein, although not as high as the previous Each evening, your tour leader will discuss with you one, therefore the climb is less demanding, but with the programme for the following day.

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