Šumava

The biggest forest wilderness in the country — glacial lakes, high peat bogs and long quiet ridges along the Bavarian border.

Plan Šumava around distances: trailheads sit far apart, the plateau forests run for days, and weather turns fast at 1000+ m — walking here rewards an early train (around three hours to Vimperk or Kubova Huť) and a committed line. The classic routes anchor on the border ridge peaks — Plechý, Poledník with its tower, Boubín’s primeval forest just outside the park — and pass the relics of the ice ages on the way: glacial lakes under cirque walls (Černé and Plešné jezero the largest) and raised peat bogs on the high plains, crossed on boardwalks.

The reward is the emptiness itself, with lynx the region’s shy emblem. The Vltava rises here too, and its young valley with the Schwarzenberg timber canal makes for gentler valley days when the ridges are in cloud.