Hazmburk the Long Way

A 49.7 km point-to-point marathon dayhike from Roudnice nad Labem over Hazmburk to Louny.

This is a distance walk: nearly fifty kilometres of open lowland between two railway towns, with one proper hill in the middle. The terrain is never hard — field lanes and quiet roads through the flat country along the Ohře — so the whole difficulty is in the length. Start early; March worked well, cool weather with the fields still empty.

From Roudnice nad Labem the route leaves the Elbe and crosses west through Podlusky towards the Ohře. Doksany, with its ancient convent, is the place to stock up — it has a shop, and there is not much else for a long way in either direction. Past Brozany nad Ohří the way continues through Chotěšov and Slatina, and the day’s one landmark grows steadily ahead: Hazmburk, visible for hours before you reach it. The climb to the castle is short and sharp, and the views from the ruin reach over everything you have walked and everything still to come.

Down the other side the route turns west through Třtěno and Mnichovský Týnec into low, bare hills — the southern outliers of the České středohoří, steppe-like country quite unlike the wooded core of the range. The final kilometres drop past Dobroměřice into Louny, where a dinner in town before the train home is exactly what the day calls for — the author’s choice was the Krušovická Šalanda, and it was well deserved.