Two Days to Trosky

A Český ráj weekend in two short legs. Over Tábor hill and its lookout tower to a night under the stars at Železnice, then past the Brada ruin and a train hop to Ktová to catch Trosky before closing time.

This weekend uses two trains: one to Lomnice nad Popelkou to start it, and a deliberately short one in the middle. The walking comes in two relaxed legs with a night under the open sky between them, so there is no reason to hurry. The one exception comes at the very end. That story is below.

Day 1: over Tábor to Železnice

The climb starts straight from the Lomnice nad Popelkou platform and ends on Tábor at the Tichánkova rozhledna. There is no reason to hurry. The kilometres are few and the hill is most of them. The Hornychova chata next to the tower is the refreshment stop before the 145 steps up. The rest of the day is a gentle descent south through Chlum and Kyje to Železnice, a small town with a sleepy square. We rolled out sleeping bags under the stars nearby, with the rest of the weekend still ahead.

Day 2: Brada, and a train to beat the clock

The morning leg goes from Železnice up past the Brada castle ruin and on to Jinolice. Little masonry is left at Brada, but you see the whole Jičín basin from it, and a pub stands near it. From Jinolice a short train ride to Ktová skips a dull road stretch and buys time for the afternoon’s real target.

From the Ktová railway stop the path climbs to the Trosky castle saddle in under half an hour, and the descent on the far side ends at the Borek pod Troskami stop. We arrived on that afternoon train just before closing time. It worked, but give yourself more time than we did if you want both towers.