Camping in Saxon Switzerland? Well, why not? We did just that last summer and brought back loads of great experiences, photos, videos, and information. We haven’t had such a wonderful time surrounded by nature for a long time; it was simply fantastic. We love sitting under the open sky in the evenings, sipping a glass of wine, and watching the sun go down. Afterwards, we always crawl into our small tent and snuggle into our sleeping bags.

A trip to Saxon Switzerland is generally worthwhile, as it’s teeming with highlights and sights, regardless of whether you travel with a tent or stay in a hotel. However, we highly recommend traveling with a tent and sleeping bag, as this way you’ll be much closer to nature and can truly unwind. In the following article, we’d like to share our experiences camping in Saxon Switzerland with you. Have fun browsing!

These articles might be of interest to you:

  • These articles might be of interest to you:
  • Saxon Switzerland
  • Saxon Switzerland – Camping & Campsites
  • Königstein Campsite
  • Our Camping Equipment
  • Camping in Saxon Switzerland – Costs & Budget
  • Camping in Saxon Switzerland – Our Conclusion

Saxon Switzerland

We’ve always wanted to explore Saxon Switzerland in our home country of Germany and see its many different highlights. However, we were always drawn abroad for personal travel or business trips. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we used the time much more intensively to explore our own country. And so it happened that we spent a wonderful vacation in Saxon Switzerland in the summer of 2020. The national park is the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains and awaits us with breathtaking landscapes, bizarre rock formations, deep gorges, striking table mountains, idyllic forests, stunningly beautiful hiking and biking trails, and a variety of recreational opportunities.

Wanderung-Carolafelsen-Saechsische-Schweiz

The national park is an El Dorado for bikers, hikers, climbers, and nature lovers. Look forward to over 400 kilometers of marked paths, trails, and trails that lead you through the various national park regions. We went on a different hike almost every day and, among other things, explored the Bastei, climbed the Pfaffenstein, enjoyed the view from the Schrammsteine, took a boat trip on the Upper Lock, discovered the Sweden Holes and visited the striking Hercules Pillars. More about that here: Our top 15 sights in Saxon Switzerland.

Obere-Schleuse-Kirnitzsch-Bootsanleger-Kahnfahrt

Saxon Switzerland – Camping & Campsites

There are several different campsites in Saxon Switzerland. We’ve taken the trouble to select a few sites for you and described them in more detail in the table. Ultimately, it’s entirely your decision which one you choose. Generally, you should book well in advance if you want to be sure of a spot (especially during school holidays and in summer). Otherwise, it’s worth calling the campsites directly and asking if they have any availability.

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Königstein Campsite

We chose the Königstein Campsite because it’s very centrally located and we could easily reach all the highlights from there. This site is located directly on the Elbe River and offers a wonderful view of the Königstein Fortress, which towers over the town on a hill. The pitches are spread across a meadow strip laid out in three terraces, lined with deciduous trees and overlooking the Elbe River. There are numerous pitches for RVs and campers, as well as two sections on the middle level for tents. At another site, these pitches were clearly marked, so you were close to each other. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case at the Königstein campsite; here we could simply choose an available spot.

Koenigstein-Saechsische-Schweiz-Elbe

The campsite has a large sanitary facility with toilets, showers, and washing machines. These facilities were also cleaned regularly. Parking for cars is located above, but unfortunately, this is not free. So, in addition to our tent pitch and shower tokens, we also had to pay for the parking space. But hey, let’s not be so stingy, right? The owner and the rest of the staff were super friendly and helpful, and the guests at this campsite were also very pleasant. The site also rents out small witch’s houses, as well as sleeping barrels, bungalows, and small hiking huts.

Camping-in-der-saechsischen-schweiz-huette-koenigstein

Plus point: The campsite offers fresh rolls, croissants, and bread straight from the oven every morning. You can also buy small pieces of butter, cheese, sausage, eggs, and other delicacies. We got a fresh coffee there every morning, as well as the deliciously fragrant baked goods. The small reception shop also sells gas cartridges, newspapers, and basically everything you need for camping in Saxon Switzerland.

Our Camping Gear

We were once again very minimalist, but still had everything we needed for our camping holiday in Saxon Switzerland. In addition to our ultralight tent* (setup time 10 minutes), inflatable sleeping mats*, and warm sleeping bags*, we also had our travel pillows* and two comfortable camping chairs*, as well as two large boxes*, which we also used as tables. These boxes contained the dishes*, camping stove*, gas cartridges*, food, tent lamp*, dish soap, sponge, towel, wooden boards, spices, card games, and, of course, wine. We bought some of the groceries at home before our trip, so we only had to go to the supermarket once on site.

Camping-Saechsische-Schweiz-Zelt-Outdoorer

For a camping holiday in Saxon Switzerland, you need one thing above all: comfortable hiking boots*. Of course, only if you plan to spend a lot of time outdoors. You should also bring comfortable clothing*, preferably functional clothing. Many hikers also like to bring hiking poles*. If you want to know exactly what shoes and clothing we always bring with us, take a look at our Iceland packing list. For almost 1.5 years now, we’ve also been using a fitness tracker (Mi Band 4*) to see exactly how many kilometers we’ve covered each day.

Camping-Koenigstein-Saechsische-Schweiz-Zeltplatz

Camping in Saxon Switzerland – Costs & Budget

We were in Saxon Switzerland in the wonderful month of June with perfect weather, so many campsites were already quite full. This was probably also due to the pandemic and the already very long lockdown periods last year. In the following table, we have summarized our costs for our camping holiday in Saxon Switzerland.

As you can see, this summer vacation wasn’t all that expensive. We spent a total of only about €185 per person, including gas, food, drinks, camping, parking, and other expenses. We spent a total of 6 days in Saxon Switzerland and therefore only needed €31 per person per day.

Camping in Saxon Switzerland – Our Conclusion

We can definitely say that this trip was one of the most beautiful trips within Germany we have ever taken. Traveling with a tent and sleeping bag was the best decision, because it showed us once again that we don’t need a hotel for a relaxing and great vacation. We had fantastically beautiful days in the diverse natural surroundings of the national park and especially enjoyed the evenings watching the sunset at the campsite. A holiday in your home country will probably be quite popular again this year, and that’s precisely why you should definitely book early, whether it’s accommodation or a campsite!