Moto tourism

Great border area circuit

– not available –
A ride from Zittau along the state border to one of the largest mountain fortresses in Europe, along the Elbe to Bohemia; through the heart of Bohemian Switzerland to the Šluknov bulge and through the Czech territory almost to the starting point.
Location
Address:Sasko
Contact
Phone:+420 485 101 709E-mail:info@visitliberec.euWeb:www.visitliberec.eu

Great border area circuit
 

Length of the route: 375 kilometres

Ride time: approximately 3.5 hours

 

A ride from Zittau along the state border to one of the largest mountain fortresses in Europe, along the Elbe to Bohemia; through the heart of Bohemian Switzerland to the Šluknov bulge and through the Czech territory almost to the starting point.

 

The start of today‘s ride will be very fast. We will ride from Zittau along No. 96 road to the northeast. A fast road with several interesting curved sections will take us through Oderwitz (point 1) to Oppach

(point 2), at the outskirts of the town at the Y-shaped crossroads turn left onto the No. 98 road and

follow the roadsign towards Steinigtwolmsdorf (point 3). If the day is quite hot, we recommend riding to the north of the town (towards Weifa) where you will find a popular swimming pool. If you

want to ride straight ahead, turn left around the evangelical church to the town centre to the left (to the Neustädter street) to get to Neustadt in Sachsen (point 4) near the German-Czech border. In Neustadt in Sachsen, keep the southern passage through the town and follow the roadsigns towards

Hohnstein. Turn left onto the No. S156 road beyond the train station, the road in between the fields will take you to the impressive Hohnstein castle sitting on the rock above the town of the same name. You will find there strong connections with Czech history, the castle originally served as a Czech border fortress against Markgrafschaft Meißen (the Margravate of Meissen).

Beyond the castle, you will see a serpentine road and a left turn on the No. S165 road; you will leave that road after a couple of pretty sharp turns by taking the left turn towards the No. S163 (point 5) and follow the roadsigns towards Porschdorf (point 6). It is a very popular tourist area, so you will ride past a number of guesthouses and restaurants; we recommend you to visit a fish farm located just off the road after you turn left in Porschdorf towards Rathmannsdorf and Bad Schandau. There you will come to the Elbe and at the first houses of the village you can not miss the bridge over it (point 7). Cross over the bridge and ride along the Elbe along the No. 172 road to Königstein, where you will find that large fortress mentioned above. The detour is of some 15 km, but we believe you will not regret it. The ride along the Elbe itself offers great views and the very fortress will take your breath away. It sits on a plateau 240 meters above the Elbe and it is really gigantic fortress with an area of 9.5 hectares. It is open to the public and there is a military history museum in there. Also, the local well is interesting, with its 152.5 meters depth being the second deepest well in Europe. And do not worry, you will not have to climb that steep hill in the biker‘s gear, the lift will take you there.

Once you have enough history, return back along the Elbe to Bad Schandau (point 7), cross over the

bridge and take the No. 172 road along the Elbe to the Czech border and continue your ride to Hřensko (point 8). Turn left right there and follow the roadsigns towards Jetřichovice. You will reach the narrow winding road leading to the heart of Bohemian Switzerland, so beware of the increased number of pedestrian tourists on the road, they are around everywhere in summer. If you want to join them, park your motorbike a bit beyond Hřensko in a marked parking lot, only 2 kilometres long walk could take you to the famous Pravčická brána rock gate. Anyway, enjoy a beautiful trip through Vysoká Lípa, Jetřichovice, Rynartice to Chřibská (point 9). Deep forests, rock formations and plateaus are here and there, it‘s a beautiful sight. At the central crossroads in Chřibská turn left onto the No. 263 road to Rybniště and then continue your ride along the No. 264 road to Jiřetín pod Jedlovou (point 10). It is definitely worthwhile to make a detour and follow the signs to the mountain hut and look-out tower at Jedlová hora; from there you will have great views of the entire Lusatian Mountains, both Czech and German parts. In Jiřetín pod Jedlovou you will come to the roundabout with No. 9 road, where you should turn right towards Cvikov. There are 10 kilometres of real biking nirvana with long fast turns on the road with a perfect surface. You will find the end of that

nice nirvana in the village of Svor (point 11), at the crossroads with the No. 13 road; turn left there and continue your ride towards Liberec. Ride through Cvikov and further up to Jablonné v Podještědí (point 12), turn left beyond the swimming pool in Jablonné and take the No. 270 road towards Petrovice. Take the narrow straight road, which will take you over the ridge to the border and

then continue your ride to Lückendorf (point 13). Turn right and ride on the No. S132 road to

Zittau; there are last few kilometres of a very nice ride along the famous uphill race track ahead of you of (you ride in the opposite direction, downhill, this time). The road takes you along the Czech

border back to Zittau.

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