Kamenice River Gorges

The Kamenice cuts down to the Elbe at Hrensko through sandstone so tight in places that there is no bank to walk on, and the nineteenth-century solution is still in use: small weirs were built to raise the water, and passengers are carried through the narrows in flat-bottomed boats poled by a ferryman, who talks as he goes. There are two sections, the Edmund gorge, the quiet gorge, nearer Hrensko and the Wild gorge further up, opened in 1890 and 1898 respectively for the Clary-Aldringen family, with paths, galleries and tunnels cut between them by Italian workers. The walls rise fifty to a hundred metres, cold and mossy, with the water green and slow. It is walked as a route from Hrensko up to Mezni Louka, combining both boat sections with the footpath between, and it can be joined with the Pravcicka gate for a full day.

What you actually see

• Poled flat-bottomed boats - the only way through the narrowest sections.
• Two gorge sections - Edmund and Wild, opened in 1890 and 1898.
• Cut galleries and tunnels - the nineteenth-century path works between them.
• Fifty to a hundred metre walls - cold, mossy sandstone above green water.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Boats run seasonally and stop in high water - the gorges close after heavy rain. Queues are long on summer weekends. The walk between sections is a few kilometres. Each boat section is a separate ticket.

Nearby

Pravcicka gate is above; Hrensko sits at the Elbe confluence.