The Malerweg: one of the most beautiful hiking trails in Germany

It is one of the most beautiful hikes in Europe, the Malerweg in Germany. Never did I think ‘walking-in-the-nature’ would be the description of my ideal holiday. Just the word ‘hiking’ makes me sound boring and slow. I like adventure. Running, jumping, climbing, wandering around off the beaten track & getting lost. Yes, adventure is what we call it. So I often replace the word ‘walking’ with ‘hiking’. Nice and hip and sounds a lot better. Choose the Malerweg and let yourself be absorbed by nature. Get really tired for once, through a whole day of effort and bring out the child in you with next-level tracking. The Malerweg is closer than you think!

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The Malerweg in Saxon Switzerland, Germany

The Malerweg is a hike through one of the most beautiful landscapes in Germany. No other route through the Elbsandstein Mountains offers such a wide range of sights. This makes this route unique and perfect for your new hike adventure.

In total, the complete trek is about 116 km and you will spend about 46 hours hiking. Don't expect a simple or boring trail as the Malerweg route consists of alternating up and down sections, including steps and ladders in typical rocky terrain. Perfect if you like a challenge.

Transport to Malerweg

Turn onto the motorway towards Germany and steer course on Dresden. About an hour before Dresden, you steer a little more to the right and get sucked into another world; called the Saxon Switzerland. Saxon Switzerland is an enchantingly beautiful nature reserve with bizarre rock formations, huge table mountains, rugged ravines and lots of trees, forest, forest.

Through Saxon Switzerland runs the Malerweg. A multi-day hike that owes its name to the many painters who walked through the forest to find inspiration for their masterpieces. Maler also literally means ‘painter’ in German. From the many rock formations, you have a colour spectacle almost every time at sunrise and sunset.

We recommend driving to the Malerweg in Germany by car. If you don't have a car at your disposal, choose to go by train. From Netherlands you can travel by train to Dresden and then from Dresden by train to Stadt Wehlen. Check out the site of NSInternational for current times and prices.

Car park for the Malerweg hike

We parked our car at Stadt Wehlen. This is where our hike started. Bear in mind that on a multi-day hike, you will first need to to the tourist information point in the village must! In fact, you have to buy a special parking ticket. The tourist information point can be found on the village square.

You have two car parks in Stadt Wehlen. One in the village on the river Elba, where you can park for a maximum of 24 hours. You should not have this car park if you will be hiking for several consecutive days.

The other car park is just outside the village at the top of the hill. You can see the car park right by the road when driving towards Stadt Wehlen. With the special parking ticket, you can park here for several days. Do you go directly to this car park? Then you will only be able to buy a 24-hour parking ticket at the parking machine.

Really dear readers, first drive to the tourist information for your multi-day parking ticket. It's a hefty, steep climb between the hilltop car park and the village square and you'd rather not do this one twice.... 

After parking the car, walk towards Stadt Wehlen and start the trek. The Malerweg is signposted - occasionally a bit of tracking, but that brings some adventure. So you don't need a hiking map or compass.

Tip: Still find it exciting to rely entirely on ‘tracking’? At the tourist information point, they have handy guides with route descriptions and extra information about the trail.

How many stages does the Malerweg have?

The entire trek is about 116 km and consists of eight day stages with a distance between 11 km to 18 km per day. The route starts in the small town of Liebethal and ends in Pirna, just near the Czech border. An 11 km day hike may sound like three hours of walking a day. However, this is different at the Malerweg. You will walk over large rocky outcrops during your route, making the majority of the hike consist of steps, ladders, descents into deep ravines and a climb up. The hike is not difficult, but it is a sporting challenge. 

We find the trek so incredibly beautiful and have therefore walked it twice already. Once at the end of winter (March) and in the heart of summer (August).

Stage overview of the Malerweg

• Malerweg stage 1: Liebethal (Pirna) - Wehlen (11.5 km, 4 hours)
• Malerweg stage 2: Wehlen - Hohnstein (13.2 km, 5 hours)
• Malerweg stage 3: Hohnstein - Altendorf (11.7 km, 5 hours)
• Malerweg stage 4: Altendorf - Neumannmühle (13.6 km, 7 hours)
• Malerweg stage 5: Neumannmühle - Schmilka (13.6 km, 7 hours)
• Malerweg stage 6: Schmilka - Gohrisch (16.7 km, 7 hours)
• Malerweg stage 7: Gohrisch - Weißig (15.4 km, 6 hours)
• Malerweg stage 8: Weißig - Pirna (12.4 km, 5 hours)

This is how to prevent blisters!

As you can see, you'll be walking quite a few days. Despite the fact that we often think: it will be fine, it won't be that hard and we will just do it, this route does require some advance planning. It is wise to think about the footwear you choose for this hike.

We recommend choosing a hike shoe in category A. These are low or mid-high hiking shoes which can be compared to ‘normal” every-day trainers. However, they have a sturdy sole with plenty of grip.

Walk fewer stages & shorten route

You can easily shorten the route. We made it a 4-day itinerary once - purely because, unfortunately, we only have a limited number of holiday days per year. Want to combine it with a road trip or short visit to this area? Then choose to walk a one-day stage. You can find more information about the different Malerweg stages on the official website of Saxon Switzerland. At the bottom of this webpage you will find overviews of all days including photos. So you know exactly what to expect.

The best way to shorten the Malerweg hike

We recommend a trip from Stadt Wehlen to Schmilka. The stages from Stadt Wehlen to Schmilka go right through the national park. Whereby the first day stage (Stadt Wehlen to Hohnstein) is a fine walking route to start with. In fact, if you start here you gradually go deeper into the nature reserve and the hiking routes become more challenging step by step.

Besides, the trip from Schmilka back to your car is easy. On arrival in Schmilka, you can take a ferry across the river Elbe to the train station. From here, a train leaves for Stadt Wehlen and thus back to your car. 

Read also: Mini Guide Dresden - 8x must-see sights!
Read also: 5x handy tips and info for Hanging Bridge Geierlay, Germany. This is what you want to know before you go!

The tourist Bastei bridge

Just after starting in Stadt Wehlen you come to the Bastei bridge. This tourist hotspot is popular and therefore very busy. Don't let this put you off, it's mainly day-tourists who arrive by covered wagon and then return to stadt Wehlen. The rest of the route is much quieter and you will be completely engulfed by nature. 

Accommodations, restaurants and practical tips

Overnight: Along Malerweg, you have several campsites where you can stay overnight. Do you choose a campsite? Then keep in mind that you need to bring all your own camping gear during your trek. We therefore chose to spend the night in guesthouses. This leaves you with only a backpack full of snacks, drinks, camera, extra clothes and toiletries while hiking. 

Both tours we walked on the bonnefooi and always managed to get a place to sleep. However, we do recommend that you book your accommodation in advance. After all, the Malerweg is one of the most popular treks in Europe.

In addition, we recommend you stay at least at these two guesthouses. They are very nice places, ideal to recharge for a new stage.

• Inn Burg Hohnstein - Hohnstein - stage Stadt Wehlen to Hohnstein
• Buschmühle - Kirnitzschtal Ottendorf valley - stage Neumannmühle to Schmilka

Would you also like such a delicious hammock with stand at home? Then check out the Tropilex website!

Dining, breakfast & lunch: During the day-long stages, you will regularly pass iconic forest huts where you can enjoy a hot lunch or a cup of coffee with a big slice of cake. Besides bringing your own granola bar as a snack, plenty of water and your wallet with cash money, the Malerweg will provide you with delicious food. 

Guesthouses usually serve their breakfast between 07:30 and 09:00. Perhaps, as an avid hiker, you would like to start your day-trip earlier. We just don't recommend this. The reason is that the forest huts on the route do not open until noon. If you start hiking too early, you have the chance of standing in front of a closed door and thus missing out on your hot lunch.

Practical tips: Finally, a few practical tips so that you can travel fully prepared.

• Take cash money with you. In Germany, it is very common to settle with cash and often, debit cards are not even an option. 
• Make sure you have a good backpack. Nothing is more annoying than a backpack that does not sit well on your back. Get advice or check out our blog the best backpacks of 2022 (online soon)
• Make sure you have good hike shoes. We said it before, make sure you bring the right shoes. Wrong shoes can make a hike trip really terrible.

Would you rather not walk the route but still go to insane places in the Sächsische Sweiz national park? Then check out our other blogs.

Want to know more about these trip afterr the Malerweg or has anything changed from the above text? Please let us know at [email protected]. Need more travel inspiration? Take a look at our landing page.