![\"German](\"https:\/\/ourtourmedia.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DSC04534.jpg\")
<\/a>German posties get electric bikes and all the post boxes together in one place – nice job if you can get it.<\/p><\/div>\n
Satnav led us a merry dance to get here, although admittedly she did manage to reroute us around a few sets of roadworks. We arrived at the main car park and pulled in to speak to a man dressed in a high vis jacket and hat. Yes we can sleep here, it’s \u20ac5 for day and night as opposed to \u20ac3 for day only. We paid our \u20ac5 and parked up. Not really sure what was here, we’d seen one photo of some rock formations and read a little bit about the place in our guidebook, we set off to walk to Bastei. The Park and Ride bus was sat there waiting for us and because we didn’t have a clue how much walking or climbing would be involved once we were in Bastei we coughed up \u20ac3 for two return tickets.<\/p>\n
<\/a>They wouldn’t accept 500 or 200 Euro notes at the petrol station today, good job we’ve spent all of ours – ahem!!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Dave in a very nice park and ride car park!<\/p><\/div>\n
The bus immediately set off, a small counter on the driver’s ticket machine counted down the metres to the next stop; it was only about one and half kilometres. As we arrived I was surprised at just how many people were there, the car park hadn’t seemed that full. Car park 1 (where the bus dropped us off) was more expensive, and didn’t allow overnight parking, and wasn’t all that full either. We followed the crowds walking down the road away from the bus stop. Then I spotted that to our left through the trees the land dropped away; we were walking along the top of a cliff. We nipped down a path which took us to a view point on top of the sheer cliff.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Our first sight of Saxon Switzerland, shrouded in mist from the sudden rain.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Charlie stops for a drink – Germany knows how to treat its dogs; he’s allowed into shopping centres and even has dedicated drinks stations like this at tourist attractions<\/p><\/div>\n
As we looked out across the valley at the strange rock formations, it started to rain. There was no lightning, or at least none that we could see, but huge guttural roars of thunder around us. The rain got heavier and as the seconds passed a stream formed down the steps to our viewpoint. We huddled under our umbrella, lucky that we were one of just a few who had brought one. Charlie whimpered as he was getting soaked – he refused to stand under the umbrella – so we treated him to an early lunch which was strategically placed by our feet. Eventually the rain passed and we were able to pick our way through the stream back up to the main path. The little caf\u00e9 a few paces away was doing a roaring trade as it had an undercover section.<\/p>\n
<\/a>It’s just a little bit of rain!<\/p><\/div>\n
We followed the throng of people and found ourselves at another viewpoint, this one even more impressive than the last as it had sheer cliffs on three sides. It looked out over the River Elbe and the expanse of flat land which made where we were stood seem even more special. Of course Charlie doesn’t do heights, so we took it in turns to admire the view while he whimpered non-stop like a cricket at dusk. People stopped and cooed at him, ‘Ihr haben angst’ (he is afraid) I would tell them, they would smile, laugh and coo some more, and that is pretty much how the rest of our walk around the place went.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Heebeegeebee view point<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Jay gets the prime position on the bridge<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Saxon Switzerland, a bit like Meteora in Greece but without the monasteries<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The view point you need to pay for!<\/p><\/div>\n
Our guidebook wasn’t wrong when it said that this is one of the most breathtaking spots in Germany. The tall fluted rocks (up to 305m high) provide panoramic views of the surrounding forests, cliffs and mountains as well as a great view along the River Elbe. We could see the busy car parks on the other side of the river and queues of people catching the foot passenger ferries over to the side we were on. The red faces of people at the top of the steps gave away the fact that it’s a decent climb from the river to the viewpoints, I’m glad we opted to head for the northern shore of the river. Jay told me earlier that Dresden is planning to build a bridge but UNESCO has threatened to revoke the sites listing if they do as it would spoil the area – I think I’m on UNESCO’s side, if you really want to be on the north bank of the river, just drive across it a few miles closer to Dresden like we did.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Glad we avoided the ferry, they were queueing back into the car park<\/p><\/div>\n