Zittau Mountains
Right in front of the gates of Zittau, the smallest mountains of Germany rise and invite you to relax, hiking and sport climbing - all attainable in a beautifully nostalgic way, a narrow-gauge steam train, but also on foot, bike or other nature friendly.
In addition to a number of mountain peaks with views of the countryside, there are many rock towns, as well as all possible trails in virtually all difficulty levels. The villages of the Zittau Mountains are a kingdom of half-timbered houses, evidence of traditional folk architecture. The landscape is interwoven with many witnesses of ancient times. Various stone monuments, crosses, milestones but also other documents for human activities in the landscape. In some cases, these are documents remembering the Bronze Age.
Oybin
The most famous places of the Zittau Mountains are Oybin - a picturesque resort amidst rocks and rock cities with a majestic castle of the same name, which is largely embedded in the local rock. Visitors are attracted by the surrounding peaks, the popular Hvozd (Hochwald), the rock surrounded by Potter (Töpfer), accessible by a local train and the steep Scharfenstein (Sharp Stone) accessible by steel ladders.
Jonsdorf
Jonsdorf is a typical mountain village and also a tourist resort. Visitors are attracted mainly by the local rock area with a number of tourist destinations and ascents. A tourist attraction is also the area of former quarries for millstones, which were exported from there to a large part of Europe in the past. Since the middle of the 19th century there has been a development of tourism, which still plays an important role in the economy of the village. In addition to the rock town, the sought-after destinations also include a modern attraction, a fascinating zoological and botanical peculiarity, a butterfly house located in a large tropical greenhouse, flying around 300 species of butterflies.
Waltersdorf
Waltersdorf is a picturesque resort, spanning about 3.5 km along a stream on the northern slope of Luže. Today it has about 1700 inhabitants.
The village was founded in 1367 by the old trade route, leading from Bohemia to Lusatia, and was named after its locator Walter. From 1419 it was subject to the town of Zittau. The center of the village was already at the place of today's church and inn, but the upper part of the village, steeply protruding through the valley to the saddle under Luží was not established until 1665. In Waltersdorf, the building called Niederkretscham is the Zittau Mountains Nature Park with information center and interactive exhibition space . The very old house (first mentioned in 1409) with impressive size and architecture has once again found its representative function and is definitely worth a visit.
