Travis and I love any kind of kayaking – flat water, white water, sea, ocean, lake, or river. Doesn’t matter. If it ripples, we’ll paddle it.
Sadly for us, we have the least amount of experience with river kayaking because it’s typically the most difficult logistically. The biggest challenge is usually how to get back upriver. If you’ve ever paddled in the Pacific Northwest (where we’re from), you know that the rivers are too wild for a trip to be anything but one-way. And the best white water tends to be in the wilderness, which means minimal road access. Public transportation? Forget about it!
So for us to be living in Germany – known for its convenient train system and wide, peaceful rivers – it’s an awesome opportunity to do more river kayaking. Kayaking the Elbe River has been on our bucket list since we moved here. Now that we’ve personally paddled it and figured out where to put in, where to take out, and what dangers to avoid, we’re excited to share it with anyone interested in taking a kayak, canoe, or raft on the Elbe.
Is kayaking the Elbe River on your bucket list? Find out where to put in and take out your boats and what hazards to expect.
A Weekend on the Elbe
If you decide to paddle the same stretch of the Elbe as we did, we’d recommend that you plan to spend an entire weekend. The area is really cool, and it has more to offer than just kayaking the Elbe River.
We concocted a fun, three-part plan for our weekend on the Elbe.
- Explore Königstein Fortress by day and stay for an evening concert.
- Enjoy a superb night of hostel camping at Ferdinand’s Homestay.
- Kayak an 18-kilometer stretch of the Elbe River.
The easiest way to do this route is with boats like our Oru folding kayaks. It’s really simple to hop a train, ride it upriver, and kayak back down to your starting point.
Steps to Kayaking the Elbe River
Armed with tips from Silvio, one of the owners of Ferdinands Homestay, we drove to the nearby town of Pirna and parked our car in a free lot near the train station. Since our Orus are light enough for each of us to carry our own, we popped them in their backpacks and lumbered to the train station.
For a few bucks each, we bought train tickets to the town of Königstein where we’d scouted out a tentative launching place on our map. Just as Silvio had said, the river is just a stone’s throw from the train station.
We were stoked to be kayaking the Elbe River for the first time – the first time kayaking any big river in Europe!
In summary, the steps you’ll need to take should look something like this.
- Drive to the town of Pirna. Park your car near the train station. Carry your boats and gear to the train station.
- Buy tickets at the station and ride the train to the town of Königstein. It’s a short ride with just a few stops.
- Disembark in Königstein and walk to the launching point. It’s marked on our Google map at the end of this post.
- Paddle the 18-km stretch of the Elbe River.
- Take out in Pirna. Either carry your gear to your car, or leave your gear at the river while you walk to get your car, drive it to the river, and retrieve your gear.
- Voilà! Easy Parcheesi, right?
You can still paddle this same stretch with regular kayaks or canoes, but you’ll have to work out the logistics of getting back to the starting point.
The easiest thing would likely be to drop off your boats in Königstein, then drive your car to Pirna, park, and take the train back to Königstein to paddle down from the other. The other option is to park and launch in Königstein, paddle to Pirna, then have someone take the train back to Königstein to retrieve the car and return to Pirna to pick up boats.
Stop for a Break in Rathen
The perfect place to take a break along the route is the cute little spa town of Rathen.
After an hour or two of leisurely paddling, it eventually slipped into view. Grassy embankments along the river beckoned, so we pulled up for a rest.
While I napped in the soft grass, Travis scouted out the nearby shops, returning a few minutes later with absolutely delicious Eiskaffee – balls of rich vanilla ice cream floating in espresso.
Hazards on the Elbe River
Kayaking anywhere has its hazards, especially when you’re in unfamiliar waters. The Elbe is no exception.
Before launching, Silvio recommended we steer clear of the huge red and green buoys moored at regular intervals in the river. Though the water appears to be quite peaceful, it actually has a fairly strong current. It’s so deep that it’s a bit deceptive. We realized when we neared the first buoy just how much so when we saw the current tilting the monstrous creaking metal beast at a sharp angle downstream. Mounds of branches and sodden grass were wrapped around its base.
We definitely steered clear.
Of all the tips Silvio gave us though, the best was the warning about the ferry in Rathen. Though I’d read a blurb about it somewhere online weeks before, the article casually mentioned staying on the left of the river through Rathen. It didn’t explain why.
Caution! Paddle on the left through Rathen!
The reason is because a small passenger ferry is tethered to the shore on the right bank, so it swings back and forth across the river like a pendulum to transport foot traffic back and forth. That means if you cross to the right of the ferry, you’ll actually cross its cable, which is incredibly dangerous. A week before our visit, a young guy on a SUP paddled over the cable and was pulled under. Tragically, he drowned.
If you paddle this route, look for the yellow buoys that mark the tether where it extends far upriver. Stay near the left bank, wait until the ferry is docked on the right, and then pass safely on the left. It makes so much more sense when you actually see it, but it’s really completely safe as long as you do what?
Paddle on the left!
Saxon Switzerland National Park
Just downriver from Rathen, you’ll pass under one of Germany’s most famous landmarks – Bastei Bridge. The famous natural stone arch is located within Saxon Switzerland, one of Germany’s sixteen national parks.
Last spring, we visited Bastei Bridge while hiking in Saxon Switzerland National Park. This time, we marveled at the blackened sandstone cliffs surrounding the Bastei from our unique vantage on the Elbe River. As hikers sweated their way along the path above, I smugly dipped my toes in the cool river.
I love hiking, but kayaking definitely has its advantages.
Our Elbe River Angels
As the kilometers slipped past and the sun slid behind hazy clouds, my stomach growled. I was ready to trade in my paddle for dinner and a huge mug of fresh coffee.
Pulling over to stretch our legs just a few kilometers upstream from our take-out at Pirna, we were a bit startled to see another kayaker not far behind us. When he neared, he threw us a friendly greeting, so we chatted for a bit. After asking where we’d been staying, he told us he lived in a big yellow house right on the river in Pirna and that we should stop by on our way past. I somehow understood that to mean that he operates a guest house and that we were welcome to check it out in case we wanted to come back to stay sometime. Thinking it a nice offer but one we didn’t need, we waved goodbye and hit the river again shortly after he paddled away.
We didn’t think about it again until we noticed our kayak friend standing on a hill on the opposite bank of the river, madly waving his arms at us.
Tired, with a long drive ahead of us, we exchanged looks over the water. Not wanting to be rude, we both started paddling across the river to him. Greeting us at the water’s edge, he warmly invited us up for coffee.
It was as if the clouds parted and angels sang!
I’m not sure how long we stood in their yard and chatted. We were certainly there long enough to savor a generous bowl of ice cream and dark, creamy espresso.
We found out our mystery kayaker also works in a scientific field, so he and Travis talked shop for a bit.
They noted that our Orus lack names and informed us that authorities in this particular region of Germany require all boats to have identifying names prominently displayed in large letters on the hull. This explained why a police boat had cruised slowly past us earlier, intently surveilling us across the river with binoculars. It’s a wide river.
Now if this isn’t proof that accepting coffee from a stranger is fine, I don’t know what is!
To our Elbe River Angels: If you happen to read this, thank you for your warm and completely unexpected hospitality! It made our day kayaking the Elbe River extra memorable.
- For safety, paddle with the red buoys to your right and the green ones to your left on the way downriver. While I imagine this rule applies more to the large vessels, it is recommended that small craft follow it as well.
- Caution! This route has a dangerous obstacle. A passenger ferry goes back and forth across the river every 15 minutes or so at Rathen, several kilometers downstream from Ferdinand’s Homestay (see map below). It’s attached to the right bank of the river with a long tether marked with yellow floating buoys. Don’t cross the ferry line. Wait until the ferry is on the right bank of the river and pass downriver on the left.
- Free parking is available near the train station in Pirna. It’s about a 2 minute walk to the station from the lot. Paid parking is available at the train station also, but be prepared for it to be full during business hours and weekends.
- A single adult train ticket from Pirna to Königstein costs €4 and takes around 10 minutes.
- Our take-out in Pirna is near the train station, so it only takes a few minutes to walk to the lot to get your car and drive to the river to pick up your kayaks and gear. If you’re taking the train from Pirna, it’s even easier to just walk straight from the river to the train station. See map below.
- Need a place to stay in the area and you love hostels and/or camping? We recommend Ferdinands Homestay, a great place to relax on the Elbe River. *This is not a sponsored post. We just really enjoyed our stay.
