Disway Trails - Barrier-free Route Děčín - Bad Schandau

This route starts at Děčín station. The station is accessible and you can get to the platforms by elevator. Although there is a larger gap between the platform edge and the carriage, there is a mobile ramp on the train that the train attendant can easily install for you, so you can easily get into the carriage or onto the platform. From Bad Schandau station, go down the sidewalk to the ferry. On the way to the pier itself, there is a steeper section where the help of an accompanying person is advisable. Boarding and disembarking the ferry is accessible. In the picturesque spa town of Bad Schandau, you can visit many interesting accessible places.

If you want to travel only from Germany to Děčín, buying the Czech motorway vignette (10 days: €12) hardly pays off. Instead, you can leave the German motorway 17 Dresden–Prague at Pirna and drive on the B 172 through the beautiful Elbe valley via Bad Schandau and the Schmilka/Hřensko border crossing to Děčín. From Dresden, this route covers about 70 km and takes 1:15 to 1½ hours.

If you already have a vignette or want to travel further through the Czech Republic, you can stay on the A 17 (called Dálnice 8 on the Czech side) until the Jílové exit and then drive via this town on Silnice I/13 to Děčín. This route is minimally longer but about 20 minutes faster. You can buy the vignette at the last rest area on the German side before crossing the border. The vignette sale is indicated by a sign.

Silnice I/13 also connects Děčín with Liberec (70 km), and Silnice I/62 with Ústí nad Labem (23 km).

If you travel in the Elbe valley area, you should not miss the lowest-lying town in the Czech Republic: Děčín. If you want to visit Děčín Castle with its gardens and the historic center, we recommend parking your car on the free parking lot below the city library. There is also a tourist information center in the city library where you can find numerous promotional materials and maps of Děčín and its surroundings. Most of them are free of charge. 

In the summer months, the parking lot below the library is mostly occupied in the afternoon and the chance of finding a free parking space is

low, but not zero. The situation is actually worse outside the season when the parking area is mainly used by people who work or live in the area. Parking is actually a problem in the mornings. Nevertheless, you can try parking a little further behind the vocational school. You get here by the same way as to the city library, i.e. drive out of the roundabout at Masaryk Square into Duchcovská Street and shortly afterwards turn right into Labská Street. A few minutes later you will see a small free parking lot. (To the parking lot at the library turn left from Duchcovská Street, closer to the Elbe). There are paid parking lots in the city center with uniform prices. The safest for you is to park on Masaryk Square or at the U Plovárny parking lot.

If you come to Děčín from Ústí, you can also park on the other bank of the Elbe in Podmokly. There is a free parking lot at the main train station, but it is harder to find a free spot there. It is comfortable to park on the other side of the station at the Korál shopping center, which has a capacity of 129 places. You can park for free for 60 minutes; after that, 20 CZK is paid for each additional hour.

You can also park at Mírové Square, where the prices are the same as on Masaryk Square or U Plovárny. If you plan a trip to the Děčín ZOO, there is a parking lot with a parking fee of 50 CZK/day. But because the ZOO is a popular destination, the parking lot is often full during the main season. Therefore, you can park in one of the mentioned parking lots in the city and walk to the ZOO or use a minibus that takes you from the main train station to the zoo entrance.

Municipal paid parking lots (Masarykovo náměstí, U plovárny, Mírové náměstí etc.)

Payment at the parking meter

Price

up to 30 minutes

5 CZK

up to 60 minutes

20 CZK

each additional started hour

20 CZK

You can also pay via app and SMS

If you don’t have small change with you, you can pay with the ParkSimply app, which is available for free on Android and iOS. The payment is very intuitive – just enter the payment method by SMS or card, your car’s license plate number and the zone where you are parking in the app. Details about the app including a simple video guide can be found at ParkSimply.cz. Similarly functions the Sejf app, with which you can pay parking fees not only in Děčín but also in many other cities. More details are on the Sejf app website.

If you are not a fan of smartphones, you can also pay by SMS. Send a message to phone number 90206 in the form: DCP (blank line) your license plate (blank line) parking time (e.g. DCP 1U19876 120). The parking time supports the formats: 60, 120, 180, 240, DEN (day), TYDEN (week). After sending, you will receive a confirmation message on your phone. You can extend the parking time with a repeated SMS with the same wording. If you want to be notified by the system before the parking time ends, add the letter U at the end of the SMS (e.g. DCP DC9874 60 U). More information is on the website of the Děčín city police.

Payment with app and SMS

Price

up to 60 minutes

20 CZK

2 hours

40 CZK

3 hours

60 CZK

4 hours

80 CZK

1 day

100 CZK

1 week

300 CZK

each additional started hour

20 CZK

Note:

A shorter time than 1 hour cannot be paid by text message or mobile app.

You can find timetables here: www.idos.cz or www.zvon.de

Find more information here: https://trails.disway.org/de and https://www.disway.cz/

We also recommend downloading the mobile application Disway Trails. 

Information about the project Traveling for People with Disabilities can be found here:

https://www.stadtsanierung-zittau.de/tourismus/reisen-mit-handicap 

More information here: https://zittauer-gebirge.com/de/barrierefrei-2 

Traveling by ferry is a great experience for everyone. 

From Bad Schandau station, go down the sidewalk to the ferry. On the way to the pier itself, there is a steeper section where the help of an accompanying person is advisable.