A paradise for outdoor fiends, the Bavarian Forest National Park extends for around 24,250 hectares along the Czech border, from Bayerisch Eisenstein in the north to Finsterau in the south. Its thick forest, most of it mountain spruce, is criss-crossed by hundreds of kilometres of marked hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing trails, some of which now link up with a similar network across the border. The region is home to deer, wild boar, fox, otter and countless bird species.
Around 1km northeast of the village of Neuschönau stands the Hans-Eisenmann-Haus , the national park’s main visitor centre. The free, but slightly dated, exhibition has hands-on displays designed to shed light on topics such as pollution and tree growth. There’s also a children’s discovery room, a shop and a library.