Day 1 of Malerweg: Liebethal – Altendorf

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~ 35 km 9 hours Online with GPX
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The Malerweg starts in the small town of Liebethal. It lies about 5 kms north of Pirna where the trail finishes. Coming by a train from Prague we naturally wanted to make a loop so we started to walk from the Pirna train station. From the beginning, the trail leads through fields and small settlements like Jessen, Liebethal or Mühlsdorf.

After about 2 hours of easy-going walking we entered the national park Sächsische Sweiz. We gradually started spotting taller and taller sandstone towers. There is something about sandstone rocks. Something very warm and welcoming like they were created just to make you feel good.

After passing Stadt Wehlen we continued up towards Basteihotel. It’s an amazing place with breathtaking views of towers town but it can get very busy. We were there on Saturday lunchtime and man, I felt like I was in a supermarket for the first day that ketchup was on sale.

There were many other ups and downs that day (literally – Anna’s knees were suffering by the end) but I have to admit that the views we were getting were very impressive. At least we know now why Malerweg is often called the most beautiful trail in Germany.

In the late afternoon we finally reached Kohlmühle, a cute town with an even cuter train station. We asked for water in a local pub and pitched our bivy a little further along the river on a hill Pinsenberg.

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About the Author

Michal
I lived a pretty ordinary life for a while. I did my studies, my second studies, my third studies, my first job, my second job, and my third job. I wasn’t really sure what’s going on so, in 2014, I left my home country (Czechia) to learn about the world. I’m still not sure what’s going on but I enjoy it much more. I lived in a few countries before settling in New Zealand.

2 Comments on "Day 1 of Malerweg: Liebethal – Altendorf"

  1. trine christiansen | 13.7.2018 at 13:58 | Reply

    Hi, i just wanted to know how you found out where to wildcamp on the Malerweg trail? i want to wildcamp as much as possible, but its difficult for me to see where its allowed to wildcamp.

    Thanks for your help

    • Michal Klajban | 13.7.2018 at 16:41 | Reply

      Hi Trine!

      I don’t think it’s officially allowed to wildcamp in Germany, see http://bit.ly/2Dyxm2p for more information. However, people often say that “overnight stay” is possible so I’m not completely sure. It’s definitely not legal to wild camp in the national park but you can avoid it. Just plan carefully.

      I can only recommend to stealth camp further from the river as it gets cold and moist there. Further from the marked trail is a good idea too as it can get busy there. As usual, please keep your camping ethincs extra high and go even further than LNT (see https://lnt.org/).

      Good luck, I’m sure you’ll love the trail! I hope to get to Germany again this year to try some other trail there!

      Cheers,
      Michal

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