Zittau
Laid-back Zittau in Saxony’s southeast offers all the right ingredients for a great weekend away, including nature, culture and hospitality.
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Day 1 in Zittau: Friday
Your first day in Zittau is dedicated to some unique religious artefacts and the town’s most famous sights.
After checking in at one of Zittau’s cosy, family-run B&Bs or hotels, make your way to the tourist information on the market square to get a first impression of your charming destination and all the information you need for your stay.
Located right next to the town hall, St. Johannis Church is the most dominant building in Zittau and walking up the 266 stairs of its tower is well worth it as you’ll be rewarded with great views of the town and surrounding Zittau Mountains.
The unique “Large Zittau Lenten Cloth” (1472) is, no doubt, Zittau’s most famous attraction. The 8.20-metre-high and 6.80-metre-wide textile work of art is displayed in the “Museum Kirche zum heiligen Kreuz”, a former church, and depicts no fewer than 90 scenes from the Bible.
How about joining a “Last Supper” to continue the religious theme? A local historic inn offers a themed dinner which you can, naturally, also enjoy without being religious, and most certainly, it will also not be your last meal! Afterwards, we recommend taking part in guided city tour with a Medieval touch.
Day 2 in Zittau: Saturday
Time to explore the Zittau Mountains and enjoy nature!
The Zittau Mountains Nature Park in the border region between Germany and the Czech Republic features sandstone mountains, volcanic peaks and picturesque valleys. The saying goes that if you use your imagination you can recognise historical mythical creatures in the shapes of the rocks – good luck finding them!
Oybin is the most famous mountain in the Zittau Mountains and the impressive sandstone massif in a basin surrounded by volcanoes with the ruins of Oybin Monastery even inspired the famous Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.
First, lunch in an inn on Oybin mountain, then a nice scenic hike – how does that sound? Your trail will take you from the town of Oybin to Jonsberg where you can get to know over 200 species of butterflies in the local butterfly house as well as the snakes and reptiles that also live there.
Time to relax: Board the local narrow-gauge steam railway from Jonsdorf back to Zittau at 5.19 pm and enjoy the wonderfully nostalgic – and scenic – ride!
7 pm: Dinner
Zittau's historic town centre is one of the most beautiful ones in the whole of Saxony. The splendid buildings bear testament to the town’s prosperous past as a centre of cloth trading and damask weaving. Zittau also has a long tradition of beer brewing and when enjoying your dinner in one of the old town’s restaurants, be sure to try a Eibauer Schwarzbier with your meal.
Day 3 in Zittau: Sunday
We bet you didn’t expect this but today, you’ll get in a rubber dinghy to make your way to an abbey…
A special outing on your last day will take you by rubber dinghy on the Neisse river to St. Marienthal Abbey in Ostritz to explore this vast and historically significant complex, which was founded in 1234 and is the oldest nunnery of the Cistercian Order in Germany with unbroken occupation of its house since its foundation.
12 pm: Abbey Brewery
After having toured the abbey, raise a glass to your weekend in Zittau and sample the beer brewed in the on-site brewery!