Discover Schönsee: Culture, Moor Bath and Trails
Accommodation in Schönsee
Schönsee combines a cross-border cultural tradition with bodies of water, an extensive spa park, and cycling and hiking trails. This makes the town an appealing destination for a trip where you can choose how to balance cultural discoveries and time outdoors. Bobbin lace-making is also part of the local identity—a craft tradition associated with places across the Upper Palatinate, beyond Schönsee itself.
Culture between Bavaria and Czechia
Since spring 2006, the Centrum Bavaria Bohemia (CeBB) has served as a bilingual cultural hub between Bavaria and Czechia. It is housed in the historic former communal brewery, a listed building restored by the town of Schönsee. As an information centre, exhibition forum, and point of contact and networking, it connects the regions. Anyone interested in cultural exchange will find a clear starting point for their stay here.
Bobbin lace-making is another special feature. In Schönsee, Stadlern in the district of Schwandorf, and Tiefenbach in the district of Cham, this craft tradition has been passed down from generation to generation since the 19th century. It remains an essential part of local identity. “Bobbin Lace-Making in the Upper Palatinate Forest,” also associated with Schönsee, is listed in the Bavarian State Directory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The Klöppeltrafo in Schönsee also commemorates this tradition: the decommissioned transformer hut was transformed into a local landmark and now presents exhibitions on bobbin lace-making. This small building thus bridges its former technical purpose and the craft that shapes local culture.
Spa Park, Lakes and Moor Bath
The spa park was created between 1989 and 1996 around the small lakes Hahnenweiher and Keckenweiher and along the Ascha River. It covers approximately 11 hectares. Its features and landscape include green spaces, walking paths, bodies of water, shorelines, biotopes, music stages, and playgrounds. The combination of landscaped green spaces and water defines this part of Schönsee; the walking paths offer a different way to spend your time here than a cycling trip through the region.
The Schönsee Moor Bath is a natural bathing facility with a body of water fed by a nearby spring containing peat. Sanitary facilities and changing rooms are available. If you want to include water and time outdoors in your holiday plans, you can make the moor bath a focus in its own right, alongside culture and trails.
Cycling and Hiking Trails, and Summer Performances
Schönsee has over 120 kilometres of signposted cycling and hiking trails, inviting visitors to explore the region across the border. The Aschatal Cycle Route runs along the Ascha from Schönsee to the palatine town of Neunburg vorm Wald. It starts in Schönsee-Weberhäuser at the junction where the Schwarzachtal Cycle Route branches off towards Czechia. If you want to include a cycling trip in your stay, you’ll find both a specific route and a wider network of designated trails.
Every summer, “Irrlichter” and “Pascher” are performed at the open-air stage on Eulenberg in Friedrichshäng, a district of Schönsee. The Schönsee Lake Festival takes place every year on the last Sunday in July and ends after dark with a spectacular fireworks display. These seasonal events add their own highlights to the cultural and natural attractions described above.
When choosing a holiday apartment, you can start by considering what you would like to define your stay in Schönsee: bilingual culture and bobbin lace-making, the natural bathing facility and spa park, or cycling and hiking trips. This lets you focus your search on the kind of holiday you want, without treating cultural sites, the bathing facility, and trails as one combined route.
Stadlern, where bobbin lace-making is also an established tradition, offers another starting point for further discoveries: Stadlern.
Other places: Trausnitz, Burglengenfeld, Schwarzach, Bodenwöhr, Nittenau, Neukirchen-Balbini, Stulln.
See the main travel overview: Schwandorf.
