Bohemian Switzerland National Park (Narodni Park Ceske Svycarsko) is in North Bohemia.

Understand

Bohemian Switzerland (Czech: České Švýcarsko; German: Böhmische Schweiz), also known as Czech Switzerland, is a picturesque region in the north-western Czech Republic. It lies on the Czech side of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains north of Děčín on both sides of the Elbe River. It extends eastward into the Lusatian Mountains and westward into the Ore Mountains. Its highest elevation is the mountain Děčínský Sněžník at 726m above sea level. It has been a protected area (as ChKO Labske Piskovce) since 1972.

The region along the right side of the Elbe became a national park on January 1, 2000, the České Švýcarsko National Park. The National Park is adjacent to the Saxon Switzerland National Park (Sächsische Schweiz) in Germany.

History

As early as 1972, the whole of Bohemian Switzerland was placed under protection. When, in 1990, the status of Saxon Switzerland was raised to that of a national park, efforts were stepped up to place the Bohemian part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains under national park protection as well. A plan devised in 1991 envisaged that this would also include the Růžovský vrch (formerly Rosenberg). This plan was heavily resisted by various groups, such as the owners of hunting land and the forestry industry. A compromise proposal also fell on stony ground. In 1999 the Czech government decided to create the Bohemian Switzerland National Park (Národní park České Švýcarsko) to its originally envisaged extent. On 1 January 2000 the valuable forest and rock landscape, the gorges of the Kamnitz and the area around the Růžovský vrch were given national park status. The headquarters of the national park authority is located in Krásná Lípa (Schönlinde), and there are information offices in Hřensko (Herrnskretschen) and Jetřichovice (Dittersbach).

Sleep

• Apartment Cottage, Kamenná Horka 110 (Krasna Lipa, center Bohemian Switzerland), ☏ +420736224222, ales.kubica@krasnolipsko.cz. Family accommodation with a large garden, a natural swimming pond. (updated Dec 2015)