Litoměřice is the old wine town of northern Bohemia, and it feels like a smaller cousin of Prague with fewer crowds. It lies on the Elbe in the fertile basin beneath the Central Uplands, in a region called the garden of Bohemia, where orchards, vineyards and market gardens fill the plain. The main square is spacious and lined with arcaded houses, and the town has a cathedral on a hill and a number of baroque churches, giving it a quiet dignity.
Litoměřice has been a bishopric since the seventeenth century, and the cathedral of Saint Stephen, standing on its hill, is a landmark visible from far off. The town was fortified in the Middle Ages, and part of the old walls survive. Vineyards on the slopes of the nearby hills, such as Radobýl, a cone-shaped volcanic hill with its own nature reserve, produce wines that have been drunk here since the days of Charles IV, who is said to have encouraged the planting of vines in the region.
Just a few kilometres away lies Terezín, a fortress town built by Emperor Joseph II in the 1780s. In the Second World War the town was used by the Nazis as a ghetto and transit camp for Jews, and the Small Fortress was a Gestapo prison. A memorial and museum tell this history with dignity, and a visit is sobering and worthwhile, though it needs time.
As a food stop the town is excellent. The main square has restaurants serving Czech classics, as well as lighter dishes and cakes, and local wine is on the menu in most places. Fuel is available in the town, which has about twenty-four thousand inhabitants, with stations on the main road, and parking for bikes is easy near the square.
The roads around the town are calm, flat along the river and gently rolling in the hills, with the volcanic cones of the Central Uplands rising in the distance. A ride in the late afternoon, with the low sun on the vineyards, makes a lovely end to a day. Spring brings blossom, and autumn the grape harvest.