Saxon Switzerland hiking

Karen, there are hiking clubs in Germany; they may be your best source of information. Try this website for a start. I know what you're looking for exists in Switzerland; I don't know about Germany. Re this website: on the right, it says Regionen (regions), maybe you can go from there. http://www.wanderverband.de/conpresso/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Startseite
Since you speak some German, you could try German yahoo and search from there. Logically, you get a lot more hits for questions concerning Germany. However, when I just googled "German hiking clubs" a lot of interesting sites came up. You do know that you can take Elbe river boat tours from Dresden into the Saechsische Schweiz? Another point of inquiry could be the Dresden tourist office; they have a great website.

Hi Karen, A couple of years ago I did a one week trip in the region with Ramblers. http://www.ramblersholidays.co.uk/ They haven't had the same trip in their brochure for the past couple of years, but may have it again for next year. The trails in the region are well marked and if you're comfortable reading a map you could probably get by on your own. We stayed in a village called Krippen, about 40 minutes from Dresden. Transit in the region is easy with trains and the river ferry. We had one day on the Czech side of the border which included a boat ride. Neil

If we went on our own, how would our luggage be transported?

Here is the website for the Saxon Swiss tourist association, where they mention "hiking without luggage": http://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/start/click.system?navid=47&sid=c This part is only in German. I followed the inks for Wandern ohne Gepäcke but they only led to a bike trip (by eBike). However, you could contact the tourist office ad their e-mail address and see if any of the hotels in the region offer this service. Or use the interactive map of hiking trails on the page I linked above.

Thanks everybody. Day trips would be fine with me, but my husband has this fantasy of walking from place to place. (That's how I sold him on Saxon Switzerland over WW 1 battlefields in France.). I think that I know where to start on planning. BTW, Julia Bradbury has some great shows on the BBC about hiking in Germany.

Hiking without luggage from hotel to hotel isn't that common in Saxon Switzerland since the area is rather small. Most people stay in one place and go to other places by train and/or bus (and paddle steamer). The mountains are separated into several regions like Bastei, Schrammsteine, Hinterhermsdorf or Zschand. Every part is geographically very small, but there are countless small trails with tours for many days. But you really need very good maps! The best ones from Böhm are hand-drawn and show every little trail. Forget all other maps and always use them in Saxon Switzerland. Here is a link: http://www.boehmwanderkarten.de/kv/is_kvds.html And that's how they look (I LOVE them): http://www.boehmwanderkarten.de/kv/is_kaus.html Klick on Schrammsteine. All these small trails are not visible on other maps like Kompass. I recommend to get Schrammsteine, Hinterhermsdorf, Bastei and Brand-Hohnstein. The Czech side is beautiful too, but less developed. And in some parts they want money (they accept €uros). Böhm has a map for this part too. To get some inspiration have a look at this site (sadly only in German), Many routes with ratings, pics, descriptions and GPS data:
http://www.wandern-saechsische-schweiz.de/Wandergebiete_Saechsische_Schweiz.htm

I completely forgot the Malerweg (= painters trail)! How could I?! That's exactly what you are looking for. And they offer tours with luggage transport. Have a look (I coudn't find it in English, sorry):
http://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/start/click.system?navid=35&sid=uoCc8Af7ISOxzgN4ztoOlMZUHvJKR2Wt&page=Malerweg