České středohoří

A range of volcanic cones along the Labe — steep short climbs, steppe slopes, orchards and a castle ruin on every second hilltop.

The classic day here strings several cones together, and each climb starts more or less from valley level — nothing is high (Milešovka tops the range at 837 m) but almost everything is steep, and there are hundreds to choose from: basalt and phonolite cones left by Tertiary volcanism along the Ohře rift, standing in a band on both sides of the Labe. The tops pay out in kind — ruins on Hazmburk, Kalich Castle, Košťálov and Oltářík, lookouts on Milešovka and Varhošť — and the views run from the Krušné hory wall to Říp on a clear day. Between summits the paths cross south-facing slopes of steppe grassland and orchards.

It is also the easiest serious hill country in Bohemia to reach without a car: rail lines follow the Labe, the Ohře and the Bílina around and through the range, so nearly every ridge day can start and end at a station.