Lovoš to Milešovka

A two-day 36.4 km traverse of the České středohoří from Malé Žernoseky to Bílina, over Lovoš and Milešovka.

The walk starts at the Malé Žernoseky stop, an easy Friday-afternoon train ride from Prague.

Day one: Lovoš and the Oparno valley

The climb of Lovoš starts almost from the platform. The summit hut serves beer at weekends. From the top you see the rest of the route, the Labe below and Milešovka ahead. The descent drops into the Opárenské údolí, a rocky little valley with the Opárno castle ruin above it. The day can end comfortably in Velemín. Motorest Velemín has been reliable every time I have eaten there.

We pushed on instead and climbed Milešovka in the last light, and slept on the summit in sleeping bags. Dawn from the highest hill of the Středohoří was worth the heavy pack to me. But Milešovka is called the thunder mountain for a reason. Check the forecast before you copy this.

Day two: down to Kostomlaty and across the spoil heaps

The morning goes down Milešovka’s west side to Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou, with its castle ruin above the village. The village pub U Kamila is a good early stop. From there the route crosses quieter hills and then a landscape of a different kind. This is the recultivated Radovesice spoil heap country left by the Bílina coal mine, young woods and long straight tracks where a village once stood. We slept the second night out here. Bílina, with its chateau above the river, has the railway station for the ride back to Prague.