On a partly sunny weekend, Ania and I decided to go on a day trip to the Harz mountains. With a direct train from Berlin in the early morning we reached the town of Thale at the foot of the mountains where we would start our hike. We left the train station and headed to reach the cable car; here we bought a one-way ticket to the top and rode on a cabin enjoying the view as it took us from 187m to 431m above sea level. Once at the top we enjoyed the panorama towards the plains of the north and the town of Thale below, and then started our hike, We reached a spot known as the Hexentanzplatz, or Witches′ Dance Floor, a plateau where a restaurant was built and some kiosk set up as it is a popular tourist attraction. The place is believed to be an Old Saxon cult site, at which pagan celebrations were held in honor of the forest and mountain goddesses. Nowadays it seems more like a Disneyland park but at least the view over the Bode Valley below was impressive. We started following a trail heading south through the semi-forested landscape. We were on relatively flat terrain, high above 500m. After a short while, we took a detour and reached the Prinzensicht a viewing point above the Bode Valley. After enjoying the view we headed back the way we came and rejoined the main trail continuing onwards. Following the trail, we eventually reached a vantage point above the village of Treseburg. Here we stopped at a bench to have our lunch while enjoying the view. After eating we then headed down and reached the village, situated in a picturesque location, at a bend of the Bode river and surrounded by forest. We walked through the picturesque village admiring the nice wooden and timber-framed houses. From that point, we started to follow the trail which meandered its way parallel to the Bode River, flowing downwards but northwards. The trail didn't stand at the level of the river but instead meandered its way through forest, rocky terrain, and with lots of ups and downs. This part of the hike had many more people as it is one of the most popular in the area. Nevertheless, it was never crowded, and on many occasions, it was just the two of us. We admired the nice landscape as we continued pushing on. We saw some nice rock formations as well as many waterfalls along the way. The highlight was also the beautiful viewpoint at one of the tightest bends of the river, right below the Hexentazplatz. Nearby we then crossed over the river on the Teufelsbrücke, the devil's bridge, and continued on the trail till we reached another bridge, the Jungfernbrücke from which we had a picturesque view of the valley and river and to the side of which was a small restaurant. Continuing on the last part of the valley we passed by a youth hostel and then eventually got back to the place we started from where the cable car station was located. As we still had some time we decided to have a snack and picked a cafè in Thale where we had a piece of cake. It was then time to go, we headed to the station and eventually got our direct train back to Berlin.
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| The church of St. Petri in Thale |
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| The cable car up to the Hexentanzplatz |
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| A view from the top |
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| Brocken in the distance |
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A view of the village of Treseburg
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| View of the village |
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| The Bode river flowing through |
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| Another part of the river |
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| View of the Bodetal |
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| Another section of the canyon |
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| A bridge over the river |
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