Three Summits over Lovosice

A 24.9 km three-summit day in the central Středohoří — the Oltařík ruin, steep Lipská hora and castle-topped Ostrý, finishing in Lovosice.

Three cones, three climbs, three different rewards — this is the central Středohoří doing what it does best, and a December day with clear air suits it perfectly. Each summit is a spur off the through route, so the modest distance carries over 700 m of ascent.

From the Podsedice stop the way crosses the fields to the first hill: Oltařík, whose small Hussite-era ruin sits on a bare top with the Hazmburk plain behind you. Next, past Děkovka, comes the day’s hardest work — Lipská hora rises as a steep trachyte cone, and the path up wastes no time on switchbacks. The summit rocks put Milešovka straight ahead.

The third act, beyond Lipá and Březno, is Ostrý: another sharp basalt climb, this time with the Kaplíř castle ruin wrapped around the top and Milešovka now filling half the sky. From Ostrý the route lets go — a long, easing descent through Bílinka and Vchynice brings you into Lovosice for the train back to Prague.