Bad Schandau lies at the junction of the Kirnitsch with the Elbe, on the railroad and road between Dresden and Prague (frontier crossing in Schmilka district). It is the largest holiday resort and spa in the Saxon Switzerland.
In the Marktplatz (No. 12) in Bad Schandau is the Brauhof, a Renaissance building with a beautiful doorway of 1680 and an octagonal stair tower on the courtyard side.
In the districts of Ostrau (reached by 50m/165ft lift) and Postelwitz in Bad Schandau are old half-timbered houses and houses of the Saxon umgebinde type (with external beams supporting the upper story and roof).
St John's Church in Bad Schandau, originally Late Gothic, was much altered in the 17th and 18th centuries; the interior was remodeled in 1876. Pulpit hewn from a single block of sandstone; altar of 1572 by H. Walter.