Vltava hike close to Prague - Svatojánské proudy

Text based on two visits (Oct 10 and Sep 14). This 8,5 km along river Vltava claims to be the oldest marked trail in the Czech Republic (the other one claiming to be the first is red marked 15 km trail from castle Karlštejn to Beroun which is also beautiful and still waiting for my post:). It is definitely worth visiting any time of the year but now (in the autumn), you can also find many mushrooms there and see rare animals, salamandra salamandra. It is an easy trail, not many ups and downs but you can make it longer. "Svatojánské proudy" got its name from St. Jan, whose statue is in the end of the trail, and "proudy" refers to wild rapids that used to be there until 1938.

Tourist map is here: http://mapy.cz/s/de2E - it is the yellow and green trail from Štěchovice to Třebenice. 

You can get easily to Štěchovice from Prague, it is 37 minutes from Smíchovské nádraží by bus no. 338, 390, 361 (in these buses, you have to pay at the driver - no matter if you have or don't have Opencard). Be in time at the station as these buses are usually quite full. 

Marked trail starts directly at the bus station in Štěchovice however you can first start with breakfast in one of the cafés there. First follow blue mark but later you will follow the special white and green square sign. You will go across local water power plant, continue along the river with some beautiful views and finish the river part of the trail at Slapy dam. Along the way, there are some educational boards - unfortunately in Czech only - but there are some interesting old photos how the place looked like before people completely changed river Vltava with a system of river dams. 

Also you can notice dozens of not easily accessible wooden little cottages. They are part of "tramps' settlements" (the oldest one being established here, at Svatojánské proudy) and often bear USA-inspired names. History of Czech tramps is extremely interesting; you can find some more information here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_tramping and here http://domov-trampu.home.comcast.net/~domov-trampu/Tramping.htm ; very detailed text (A century of Czech tramping by Mr. Pohunek) here: http://prebral.net/dok/trampflk.pdf ; more about specific tramp music here http://www.radio.cz/en/section/panorama/sing-when-youre-tramping-the-art-of-the-czech-wandering-song

When you reach Třebenice, take bus no. 390 back to Prague or hike back to Štěchovice (it is more up the hill) following blue marked trail (or blue and later red). Nothing special there to see but it is a nice app. 5 km long walk:) If you feel up to a really long hike, follow blue trail from Třebenice further to the south across river until you reach yellow trail and you can see some famous Vltava views (this hike is described in another post:). 

Day trippers around year 1900 - it was very popular destination for trips from Prague

Nové Město nad Metují + nature trail Peklo

"Peklo" actually means "hell" but that's something you would never think of when visiting these places.

We did this hike the opposite way, starting already in village Borová but that part is not so interesting so I'll just skip that.

Recommended start is in Nové Město nad Metují which is beautiful town worth spending some time at. English website http://english.novemestonm.cz provides good information about history, sights, historical square, accommodation and restaurants as well as some hiking and cycling trails recommendations ("For tourists" chapter)! From Prague, you can get here by bus (2,5 h). We ate at "U Paďourů" at the squary - nothing fancy, classic Czech pub, but the food was great! (and cheap).

The main sight there (besides the historical centre, square and fortification) is a chateau - with a web in English http://www.zameknm.cz/en. Check the opening hours. Entrance fee - 100 Kč adult. Gardens free of charge (very nice! Plus unique collections of caricature dwarfs statues from year 1713). 

You can find a map here: http://mapy.cz/s/6K8Z - so you can see you can easily spend a day there with a short walk for example to a viewpoint and castle ruins (red trail to south-east; Juránkova vyhl. + zříc. hradu Výrov - photogallery at http://www.turistik.cz/cz/kraje/kralovehradecky-kraj/okres-nachod/nove-mesto-nad-metuji/zricenina-vyrov/galerie)

Geocaching - there is a power trail close by - first cache at http://coord.info/GC3NG2E - contact me if you need help with translation

So now the PEKLO TRAIL - THE HELL! I couldn't find out why it has such name:( From the town centre and/or bus station, follow red trail. Most of the time you'll go through a beautiful river Metuje valley; it is a nature reserve. You can even go canoeing on the river! Details here http://rivers.raft.cz/metuje/jaro.aspx?ID=3. After about 6 km you reach crossroads of 8 trails with a confluence of rivers Metuje and Olešenka and restaurant called Bartoňova útulna in a unique old building by architect Jurkovič. Our experience was unfortunately rather bad there (the food). 

Now you have to decide where would you like to continue - check map at http://mapy.cz/s/6Ka2. To go back to NMNM, take yellow (very steep at the beginning) or blue (later green) trail with a stop at Sendraž lookout tower (photos at http://rozhledny.webzdarma.cz/sendraz.htm). OR you can continue to Dobrošov (see another post here about it) and/or to Náchod. From there you can take a bus back to NMNM (15 min) or just stay there, take bus/train to Prague etc. Take blue trail if you want directly to Náchod (7 km) or red if you want to stop at Dobrošov first (5 km).

http://turistika.arkotechnik.cz/Reports/R_023_Peklo/R_023_Peklo_08.jpg

Open air museum in Přerov nad Labem and walk along the river

We did this trip in December 2012.

For only 5,5 km walk we did, start at train station Čelákovice-Jiřina (half an hour from Masarykovo nádraží in Prague centre). Follow green mark. Tourist map: http://www.mapy.cz/s/6JRT. Easy and nice walk along the river. To make the hike longer you can start at Brandýs nad Labem (from there to Čelákovice, follow blue mark until Čelákovice).

You can also add 2,5 km from Přerov n. L. and back following yellow mark to "Přerovská hůra" hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C5%99erovsk%C3%A1_h%C5%AFra

The main attraction in Přerov nad Labem is the open air musem where you can see how our ancestors used to live. Website unfortunately in Czech only http://www.polabskemuzeum.cz/prerov-nad-labem/vystavy. There is a very good photogallery ("fotogalerie") to give you an idea. They have different exhibitions and events during the year following seasons and feasts. Opening hours were (April 2013): Tue-Sun, 9-17, closed for winter. Entrance fee adult 70 Kč.

There is a good restaurant "U skanzenu" very close to the museum.

Further, you can have a look at the chateau from outside.

There is also a "Moto & Velo museum" (I didn't visit). May be interesting though! There are 70 bicycles and 60 motorcycles. http://www.motovelomuzeum.cz

To get back to Prague, better check connections in advance. Mostly you'll have to change (mostly take a bus to Čelákovice and change to a train.