The beauty of Bohemian Switzerland doesn’t have to cost a fortune: 7 tips for budget-friendly activities

Although Bohemian Switzerland has become an increasingly popular destination in recent years, it still offers plenty of ways to spend your vacation in beautiful places without breaking the bank. How can you do that?

1. Stay at a campground

The first factor to consider in this regard is your choice of accommodations. You can trade the comforts of a hotel for a slightly more adventurous—but often just as comfortable—camping experience. It’s been a long time since you had to sleep in a puddle in a canvas A-frame tent and stand in line three times a day to wash your mess kits in the washrooms.

Když se podíváte na webové stránky Kempu Děčín, you’ll find that you have a choice of all levels, from luxury to comfortable to budget-friendly. But lower accommodation costs aren’t the only perk of camping. A good campground is like a close-knit village. There are probably kids around the same age as yours living across the way, so they’ll drag them out to the trampoline first thing in the morning while you can sleep in. Services are usually available here, and often they’re actually quite high-quality. Good food and drinks, from morning until night. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to lift a finger—and you don’t even have to go out every day for sports and entertainment. At the campground in Děčín, they take a generous approach. At the local Active Parku You can rent equipment for both well-known and lesser-known sports and games; here, you can try archery, badminton, or pétanque, as well as Mölkky, Kanjam, or Crossnet. You can walk on a slackline, ride hover scooters or hoverboards, play table soccer or soccer, or build giant Jenga towers…

And when the campground also has a swimming area, like the one in Jetřichovice, you can comfortably and peacefully get through even the hottest days, especially when there are good facilities, including newly renovated restrooms, access to drinking water, and electrical hookups.

Some campgrounds cater to a specific clientele, such as Kemp pod Císařem in Ostrov, which is traditionally frequented by climbers drawn to the Ostrov Rocks. But that doesn’t mean you can’t stay there if climbing isn’t exactly your thing. Lying on an air mattress by the Ostrov pond while watching the climbing action unfold on the rock peaks above you—it may be a passive sport, but it might still get your adrenaline pumping.

In a picturesque little valley surrounded by rock formations created by selective erosion of sediments at the bottom of a Mesozoic sea, there is yet another new and exciting camping option. Park Ostrov Campground It has been developed in recent years under the supervision of the nearby four-star Hotel Ostrov, so it’s no wonder that the services here are top-notch. Within the enclosed 9,000 m² grounds, you can choose from sites for trailers and RVs or a variety of tent sites. The grounds—or parts of them—and additional services, including catering and furnishings, can also be rented for private events such as weddings, family gatherings, corporate events, or simply anything else you can think of. What’s more, reservations can be made entirely online, and the park is completely self-service, so there’s no need to arrive at a specific time or wait in line at the front desk.

2. Travel around Bohemian Switzerland for free

No matter where you’re heading in the Czech Republic, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the comprehensive public transportation network. Few places in the world offer such a dense and user-friendly network of buses and trains that connect seamlessly, run on time, and take you even to more remote locations. Train stations nestled in the middle of forests are a luxury that we enjoy as one of the few countries in Europe, and the green buses of the Ústí Region Transport Authority offer an even more flexible way to reach the best spots in Bohemian Switzerland.

If you’re staying in Bohemian Switzerland for two or more nights, don’t forget that you have the option to use free public transportation within the Ústí nad Labem Region. The so-called DÚKpass—or free travel pass—is a voucher with a generated QR code issued to you by an accommodation provider participating in the free transportation system. Simply scan this QR code into the DÚKapka app, and you’ll have a full-day network pass for every day of your stay—including the day of arrival—right in your pocket!

And don’t forget that both trains and buses will transport your bikes as well.

Learn more about transportation in our blog post HERE.

3. Take a walking tour of Bohemian Switzerland

No one has ever gotten poor from walking—unless, of course, we borrow the term “weight loss” from our Slovak neighbors, which is just another pleasant side effect for some of us that walking through the beautiful landscapes of Bohemian Switzerland can bring. And although the Bohemian Switzerland National Park is significant in its own right, its relatively small size and the high density of interesting spots per square kilometer make it ideal for trips where you can avoid transportation entirely. What’s more, if you stay at one of the campsites mentioned above, surrounded by nature, all you have to do is crawl out of your sleeping bag, put on your shoes, and head off in any direction. Along a marked trail, of course :).

And that’s another thing that makes hiking in the Czech Republic such a unique and luxurious experience. The network of marked trails is reliable, constantly updated, and very extensive, so there’s essentially no risk of getting lost or misjudging your stamina, as can happen on some trails in other countries.

You can even try your hand at long-distance routes. After You can hike the restored Hřebenovce trail through Bohemian Switzerland walk for several days straight—it’s entirely up to you how you plan your routeand where you’ll take detours to various local attractions and where you’ll stop for swimming, cultural activities, or enjoy good food and drink.

4. Don’t be afraid to get lost: explore the lesser-known spots in Bohemian Switzerland!

Whether you’re hiking the Hřebenovka Trail or just exploring the Czech Republic’s newest national park, don’t hesitate to devote some of your time—however precious it may be—to lesser-known spots, where you’ll often have not only the nature and views all to yourself, but also the person walking right beside you.

It’s not just Pravčická Gate or Gorge. Transportation, dining, culture, and marked trails—all of these are reliable and sometimes even more exceptional in places you may not hear about as often.

We all know from geography that our country has two cute little “ears” at its northern edge. But few people realize that ” The promontory“He went there himself. That’s why you might be surprised to learn that we locals actually head out to the Šluknov Hook—the part that concerns us—quite often. We know we can avoid the crowds there, and we also know places where good people take care of nature and their surroundings and offer great services.”

In Rumburk, you can enjoy delicious, artisan-roasted coffee and homemade pancakes from Bohemian Coffee House, and visit the northernmost Loreto, and take a walk through the entire neighborhoods of unique half-timbered houses , and when you head from there to the Dymník, you’ll get to with sports, which you may not have heard of yet. What’s more, even here in Dymník Resort .

In Šluknov, you’ll be dazzled by the castle, which is a gem of the Saxon Renaissance; in Varnsdorf, you can climb the Hrádek observation tower or sample one of the first Czech craft beers , and then, in high spirits, perhaps go for a walk with a goat; from Lipová, you can rollerblade along a nice paved road all the way to the German border and admire rare birds at Sohland Pond. In Mikulášovice, feel free to get off at observation tower The Dancer, which for 120 years has offered some of the most beautiful views of the North Bohemian countryside.

5. Try something new!

When you type “Czech Switzerland” into a search engine, the results no longer show only its most famous sights— Pravčická Gate and Gorges in Hřensko, where you can go boating. Don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper when exploring the attractions and uncover some hidden gems, such as the Rumburk Museum, where you’ll learn all about the geological history of the Šluknov Hook, and try to catch one of the special tours of otherwise inaccessible areas of Loreta Rumburk, and climb the the Děčín via ferrata on one of its 16 routes, and instead of heading to the Tisá Cliffs, visit the Rájecké Cliffs, which are just a short distance away and, at least in terms of their unspoiled atmosphere, are perhaps even more beautiful…

We’ve already written about the lesser-known sports at Active Park in Kemp Děčín, so at this point let’s mention Děčín’s Active Point, where you can rent equipment and guides for outdoor sports—from canoes and paddleboards to bikes, scooters, and via ferrata sets—at reasonable prices.

6. Geht ins (idealerweise natürliche) Schwimmbad!

Děčín Water Park It’s well-known and popular, but why not explore other swimming destinations as well? Head to Česká Kamenice, for example, where you can combine swimming with a short trip to The tiny villages of Mlýnky Brand. At Českokamenice swimming pool , you’ll always find a spot—on the grass, on the paved deck, on a lounge chair under the trees or on the wooden sunbathing platforms, or under the awning of a stand stocked with good food and drinks.

In Mikulášovice, there is a pleasant and recently renovated natural swimming area, where you can even spend the night in wooden cabins or pitch a tent for 200 CZK —which is probably the cheapest place to stay in the region. You can also come here with a trailer or RV.

The swimming pool in Velký Šenov, which was newly renovated this year swimming pool in Velký Šenov It’s great for divers of all ages, as it’s one of the few municipal swimming pools in the region to feature a diving tower! And it’s filled with clean water from the forest!

Don’t forget about the Kyjov Dam, which is even more natural than the aforementioned municipal swimming pools, or the the Nový Svět biotope near Arnoltice, where admission and parking are free, the water is purified in a series of cascades planted with “naturally filtering plants,” and you’ll also find a snack stand with friendly staff.

7. Hop on your bike!

And of course, we’re not talking about a horse saddle here—because, as we all know, that would cost you a fortune—but rather the saddle on your own or a rented bike. If you don’t have your own bike or want to make your trip easier, you’ll find the largest e-bike rental shop in Vysoká Lípa Rent your ebike, where you can choose a bike tailored exactly to your planned route. And you definitely don’t have to limit yourself to just along the flat bike path by the Elbe River. Bohemian Switzerland offers plenty of trails that have been adapted and designed specifically for cyclists, including, for example, extending into Saxon Switzerland or the Lusatian Mountains. If you’re not afraid of a little climb, set out on a loop from Jetřichovice through Vysoká Lípa, Tokáň, and Rynartice, and back to Jetřichovice.

You can find more information about cycling trips in Bohemian Switzerland HERE.