Geocaching

EVERYTHING ABOUT GEOCACHING: WWW.GEOCACHING.COM

This activity already brought me so much fun, helped me discover so many new places and learn so many new things! Basic membership is for free so all you need is a GPS - which more and more people have in their smartphones anyway. Give it a try. Start with some easy, traditional caches. The more "favourites" it has the more popular and worth going it is. For many people, it is highly addictive activity! :)

For me it is also perfect diversification of the hiking trips, not to mention most caches include interesting facts about places so you can read it when you are there.

Here are lists of my favourite geoocaches ("bookmarks" were here before the system of "favorites" was introduced):

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=35e40194-2234-48b1-b0d5-47ebdc549a46

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=e9d31188-989d-40d9-a4f5-fe319f4e178b

Organized hiking events

When you don't have time to plan... or just don't want to :)

 

The biggest database of organized hikes can be found at http://www.kct.cz/cms/kalendar-turistickych-akci. Filter date ("od - do" = "from - to"), oblast (= region, "kraj" - there are 14 total) or typ akce (= type of the event, for us the most interesting being "pěší turistika" = hiking). 

Details - you can figure that out (or ask me). 
Usually there is a registration at the beginning (limited time) where you pay a symbolic fee and you are given a map and further information. You are mostly given a diploma if you finish the whole trail.

If you prefer long hikes (50+ km) there is a specific website for those at http://dalkovepochody.cz. It is organized by weekends. 

It's always nice to connect a hike with some culture. Regarding food and beverages culture, check a database of gastronomical events around Czech Republic - http://www.gastronaut.cz. Again in Czech only. You can sort events by date and regions. 

The most famous long-distance organized hiking event is "Pochod Praha Prčice". The main trail is 70 km. This year it is 18. 5. 2013 - it's always Saturday on or around this date. It's been organized every year since 1966! In 2012, 21018 people joined on 20 trails. http://www.praha-prcice.cz/uvod

 

HIKING IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC - GENERAL INFO

SYSTEM OF HIKING TRAILS, CZECH TOURIST CLUB (KČT), TRANSPORT...

By 1. 1. 2008, there were 39 816 km of marked hiking trails, 31 104 km trails for cycling, 387 km trails for cross-country skiing a 1300 km of marked horseriding trails. All these are managed and preserved by Czech Tourist Club (Klub českých turistů), an organization founded in 1888 that now has about 40.000 members. Some members volunteer to keep the markers. 

Please read about KČT and their maps in English at http://www.kct.cz/cms/czech-tourist-klub-kct

There are 4 colors of hiking markers - genereally, RED is for long or mountain ridges; BLUE for quite important trails; GREEN for local trails; YELLOW for short and connecting trails and shortcuts.  

These are typical markers telling you to turn left, continue or go right.

  Instead of buying printed maps, you can easily plan at http://mapy.cz/ - point your mouse to left upper corner to "Změnit mapu" and click at "Turistická". Now you can see all the tourist marked trails (red, yellow, blue, green) as well as all other details, train stations, roads and paths, sights, etc. In the right upper corner, there is "Plánování a měření trasy" (planning and measuring). By choosing "Pěšky" (by foot), you can click to the map (to point A and B) and it finds you the shortest way how to get somewhere by foot and you get the exact distance. "Ruční měření" (measuring distance) - you use this when you want to stick to the marked tourist trails (not sure how to describe the usage - just click in the map, you'll see yourself:) In case you need translations, the best dictionary is www.slovnik.cz

Next possible destination and how many kilometres you have to walk to get there

Board telling you where you are. Often, there is "rozc." - that means crossroads.

Local marker. City tours etc., usually short.

Educational trail. Expect boards with specific information along the way. Despite the fact they now often install boards with multi-language information most of them are still in Czech only.

   In case you need public transport, you can find city transport as well as all trains and buses in the CR at http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/vlakyautobusy/spojeni/ - switch to English at right below corner. Generally, buses are cheaper if you're travelling alone or in two but then trains are getting cheaper (group discount is already valid in 2 people but the more people are going the cheaper it gets). There are no group discounts for buses. Car sharing - most used website is now www.jizdomat.cz. 

   Accommodation - besides the main tourist towns in the CR, you can easily get a room on a high level without breakfast for 10-15 dollars p.p. The cheapest place to look for besides camp is "ubytovna" - generally rooms with several beds and bathroom common for several rooms. Very cheap option is usually "ubytování v soukromí" (in private) when people rent one room in their house, or even more likely a whole apartment including kitchen. Camping - legal at "official spots", but nobody really cares unless you're in a national park. But I'm not an expert here.

 Food - besides the most "tourist places", you pay for avarage meal in restaurant/pub about 5-7 dollars. Beers vary from 1-2 dollars, soft drinks are usually more expensive but it's more and more common to serve complimentary tap water (at least in bigger cities). Tap water is very good and safe in the CR.

Outdoor equipment - there are many specialized shops, most famous being http://www.hudy.cz or http://www.alpinepro.cz or http://www.rockpoint.cz. There are some outlets, too. 

Mushrooms - one of the most popular hobbies in the CR. There are dozens of different mushrooms you can pick and eat. Make sure though you can distinguish the good ones. More about this activity at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_hunting. 

Source of the pictures: http://www.kct.cz/cms/turisticke-znaceni-kct

Division of this blog:  check the labels for categories. Capital letter are used for geographical division - Czech Republic has 14 regions (= "kraje"). I live in Prague so I guess most of the walks will be in Prague or around and hikes in "Středočeský kraj" (wide circle around Prague). 

http://obce.sweb.cz/grafika/mapa.jpg

 

 Should you need any other advice or you think I should add / correct something don't hesitate to contact me! 

TEST AND INFO

JUST STARTED. PLEASE COME BACK LATER THIS MONTH FOR FIRST POSTS. THERE SHOULD BE QUITE MANY TILL THE END OF APRIL... AND MAY... AND 2013... AND 2014... :) THANK YOU!