Pure railway romance!
Scenic train ride in Sebnitz Valley: Through several tunnels and over numerous bridges and viaducts.
National Park railway U28 on its journey through the romantic Sebnitz Valley / Photo: VVO, M. Schmidt
Stops of the U28 between Bad Schandau and Sebnitz
Start your trip at the National Park Station in Bad Schandau. The train to Sebnitz departs this station every two hours. The train first crosses the river Elbe before travelling along the Lachsbach stream through Rathmannsdorf to the stop of Porschdorf. During the approx. 20-minute train ride you will be passing through 7 tunnels, some ascents and narrow passages as well as countless bridges across the Sebnitz. Furthermore, you will be able to enjoy some magnificent views of Saxon Switzerland.
In Sebnitz we recommend visiting the Kunstblume open factory, displaying artificial flowers and their production. It is located about 1 km from the station. The building is accessible. More information about opening hours, guided tours etc. can be found at: www.deutsche-kunstblume-sebnitz.de. We also recommend a short walk across the Sebnitz market.
Since 2014, the railway gap between Saxony and Bohemia has been closed again. You can take the National Park railway from Děčín to Bad Schandau via Sebnitz to Rumburk. Unfortunately, not all areas are accessible, so we can only recommend the journey from Bad Schandau to Sebnitz. A directory including accessibility as well as other services of the railway stations of the Czech Republic can be found at: www.cd.cz. Hopefully we will soon see some more improvements to guarantee accessibility of these interesting places.
You can gain a small impression of the tour from the following film by the Tourism Association:
One of the most lively natural marvels of this region is the otter. It can grow up to 90 cm long, plus about 40 cm of tail. This water-loving predator is one of the most endangered, and therefore rarest, animal species of Central Europe. Currently, otters are found in all streams of the Saxonian part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Especially in the winter it is possible to find otters following their characteristic tracks. In contrast to other domestic predators all five of their toes are clearly distinguishable.
The rare and shy otter (Lutra lutra) prefers mostly the waters and stream to the right of the Elbe River, including the Sebnitz, Kirnitzsch and Polenz Rivers / Photo: Archive National Park Management
