The Czech Republic - places tourists don´t go. /Part 3/

Heaven for Hikers

 Despite its small size, the Czech Republic has probably the most intensive network of well-marked trails in Europe.

The first trails were marked in 1889 and today the overall length exceeds 40 000 km. Some 1400 volunteers, organized by the Czech Tourist Club (KČT), keep the marking well maintained throughout the year and the network covers not only all the numerous mountain ranges and protected natural areas, but virtually the whole country.

No matter what kind of hiker you are, in the Czech Republic you will certainly find many interesting trails corresponding to your requirements.

In addition more than 32 000 km of well-marked bicycle trails are available.

Karlštejn Castle

Except for the immediate vicinity of large cities like Prague or Brno, the Czech countryside remains largely frozen in time. Like in many other European countries, a typical Czech village is built around a church which is usually also its dominating feature. Many of the houses are very old and in various state of preservation.

The Czech Republic is virtually peppered with hundreds of castles and chateaux. Today more than 2000 such sites are still in existence and virtually all of them are connected to the trail network, maintained by the Czech Tourist Club.

 

A few examples of these historical sites easy to reach from Prague:

Chateau Ploskovice

Křivoklát Castle

Chateau Nelahozeves

Točník Castle

Chateau Chlumec nad Cidlinou

 Doksany is one of the many unfortunate historical sites, horribly damaged during the socialist period.

 Lysa nad Labem - Once a beautiful baroque Chateau, was turned into an aged persons home and is currently in a poor state of repair. On the other hand this is probably one of the most interesting places, you can hope to spent the rest of your life.

 

Czech Hiking Marks

Frequent sign posts indicate direction and the remaining distance to go.

Detailed hiking maps, covering different regions of the Czech Republic, can be purchased in almost every bookstore.

Another alternative is to use mapy.cz This option gives you the advantage of measuring the length of your trip.This is available under the sign "Plánování a měření trasy" in the right upper corner. "Pěšky" means on foot and the "preferovat turistické trasy" option should be checked too. In the left upper corner choose "turisticka". Once you are finished, press print screen...

The Czech Republic has an extensive network of public transportation. All connections are reliable and frequency depends on settlement density. Nevertheless, there are at least one or two daily connections even to the most remote village.  

Probably the best on-line timetables for the Czech Republic:  http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz

The small medieval gold mining town of Jílové u Prahy near Prague, is a great place to begin your hiking experience.