Berghotel Bastei

Sleeping by the bridge

The Berghotel Bastei is a family hotel on the Bastei plateau itself, a few steps from the stone bridge and the viewpoints, inside the national park. Its great advantage is the hour: when the excursion buses have gone, the Bastei is yours, and first thing in the morning you can watch the light enter the Elbe valley before anyone arrives. It has a panoramic restaurant, a bar, rooms for celebrations and a sauna and wellness area that also looks out over the landscape.

The rooms

There are 64 rooms, all non-smoking, with air conditioning, shower or bath, television, safe and free minibar; wifi is free and there is a lift. They range from the 17 m² single (from €93 a night) and the 22 m² standard double, some with a terrace (from €132), to doubles with a view of the rocks (from €156), the 26 m² large double, which they recommend for families (from €139), and the 45 and 50 m² suites (from €204 and €216). Prices are per room per night, with a full buffet breakfast. In high season and at weekends the minimum stay is two nights; on weekdays in low season, a single night carries a €10 supplement. The tourist tax (€3 per person per day from age 16) and an energy surcharge of €3.50 per room per night are paid separately.

Getting there and getting around

By car you drive up the Basteistraße from Lohmen. Without a car, you arrive by bus or walk up from Kurort Rathen, where the S1 S-Bahn stops. When you pay the tourist tax you are given the Saxon Switzerland guest card: with it you use the VVO transport association's public transport free in the area (Pirna, Bad Gottleuba, Bad Schandau and Neustadt) from the day of arrival to the day of departure, and you get discounts on many visits. From here you have the Schwedenlöcher and Rathen within walking distance, and one S-Bahn stop away, Königstein Fortress.