Bike the Elbe river 3-10 days: Dresden to Melnik exclusively on dedicated bike paths via Saxon Switzerland and Czech Bohemia

Biking the Elbe river is pure joy if you’re into surfaced, easy and relaxed bike paths. It runs about 1300 km from around Prague to the North Sea via Dresden and Hamburg. Elbe is Labe in Czech, and the route is called Elberadweg in German, translating as www.elbe-cycle-route.com
The south-eastern part of the Elbe is especially beautiful, running through Saxon Switzerland (located in Germany) and Czech Bohemia. Both are hilly areas with beautiful villages, streams, forests and castles. This 200 km stretch runs from Dresden in Germany to Melnik in the Czech Republic (crossing this border within the European Union is seamless). The route on this map is a return journey from Meisen to Lovosice, totalling 300 km and 2,000 m ascend/descend including the optional detours, which took us 4 days of 70-80 km per day (see attached daily plans). Your biking capacity may be considerably higher or lower.

Planning
The basic plan is just biking on dedicated bike paths along the river, either upstream or downstream. Most of the German part has exclusive bike paths on both sides, while the Czech part only on one side of the river, but they are also exclusive up to Melnik. Plan your river crossings well as there are only a few bridges and a few ferries along the way.
There's a wide choice of hotels and restaurants, but booking ahead is always recommended. Weather can impact your trip significantly - seems that May and June can be good options, but assume it can always rain at any time of the year. Good trekking bikes can be rented in Dresden: www.rollondresden.de/en/

Detours
There are many possible detours, such as Thermal centers, wineries and breweries, castles to visit and even a short cable car. The Bastei bridge is particularly worth visiting and very popular. If you’re willing to ascend with your bike, then consider the routes deviating from the river on this map. They are about 20 km each, requiring a climb of 200-300 m each, but offer unparalleled views and forests, which you won’t experience otherwise. Unlike the dedicated river bike path, they include riding on back roads with little traffic, and some unsealed parts. We went on a return trip along the Elbe, and these deviations allowed for diversity and alternative paths rather than repeating the same route twice. 
Another option is to bike upstream (towards Prague), then paddle a kanu, kayak or raft downstream. A decent place to rent equipment, boats, bikes and transport: www.kanu-aktiv-tours.de