Český ráj
highlands
The country's oldest protected landscape — sandstone rock towns, basalt cones and castle silhouettes between Jičín and Turnov.
Everything worth a day here lies within walking distance of something else worth one — no other region packs so much varied geology into day-hike distances. A morning in a sandstone rock town (Prachovské skály, Hruboskalsko, the Klokočské walls) can finish on a volcanic cone the same afternoon: Trosky with its two-towered ruin, Zebín or Tábor (Český ráj). The paths between run through orchard villages and past chateau parks, and early autumn walks the rock towns without their crowds.
The classic long route is the Zlatá stezka (Golden Trail) linking Jičín and Turnov through the main rock towns; shorter loops start from nearly every village. Jičín, with Wallenstein’s baroque square and the Valdštejnská lodžie avenue, is the natural eastern base, and rail serves both ends of the region.
At a glance
- Countryside
- Sandstone rock towns and wooded hills
- Protected as
- CHKO Český ráj, since 1955 — the country's first; UNESCO Global Geopark
- Highest point
- Kozákov, 744 m
- From Prague
- Around an hour and a half by train to Turnov, or by bus to Jičín
- Best time
- April to October — early autumn for the rock towns without the crowds
- Bases
- Turnov, Jičín, Sobotka
Places worth walking to
Trosky · 
Zebín · 
Železnice · 
Alainova věž · Bílý mlýn · Brada · Hlavatice · Kumburk · Sobotka · 
Tábor (Český ráj) · Valdštejn · 
Valdštejnská lodžie
