Šumava Forest Weekend · short arc

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Prague / Bohemia

   The country is one of volcanic hills, sandstone rocks and mixed woods, the western edge of the Lusatian region. Cone-shaped basalt peaks rise from the farmland, and the lower slopes are patched with orchards and small fields. It is lovely and little visited, and you will often have the roads to yourself.

   Read the complete Near Žandov, on the way back write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Prague / Bohemia is where the day begins. Next is Food stop near Bílina.

2. 2. Food stop near Bílina

   Bílina sits in the valley of the Bílina river in north-west Bohemia, between the industrial basin around Most and Teplice and the volcanic cones of the České středohoří, the Bohemian Central Uplands. Look up from almost anywhere in town and you will see the Bořeň, a massive dome of phonolite rock rising abruptly from the woods. Climbers love its crags, and walkers make the climb for the views across the basin and the uplands.

   Read the complete Food stop near Bílina write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Food stop near Bílina is where this day stops to eat. Next is Photo stop near Zaječov.

3. 3. Photo stop near Zaječov

   For decades the Brdy hills south-west of Prague were off-limits: a large military training area closed to the public, with forests that grew wild and roads that only soldiers used. In 2016 much of it was opened and became a protected landscape area, and the hills around villages like Zaječov have quietly become one of the more interesting places to explore in central Bohemia.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Zaječov write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 227 km into the recorded legs you reach Photo stop near Zaječov. Next is Šumava Forest Weekend checkpoint 8.

4. 4. Near Modřany

   South of Prague, the Vltava leaves the city through a deep, wooded valley, and the suburbs give way to villages, orchards and cliffs. It is a place of transition: the city's traffic behind you, the Bohemian countryside ahead.

   Read the complete Near Modřany write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Šumava Forest Weekend checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is High point in Postupice.

5. 5. High point in Postupice

   Postupice is a straggling village in the hills east of Benešov, the kind of place where the church tower is the tallest thing for miles and the pub is the second most important building. Around it the Posázaví uplands fold into small valleys with ponds in the bottoms and woods on the crests, and the roads between the hamlets climb and drop in short, satisfying pulls.

   Read the complete High point in Postupice write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   High point in Postupice tops the climb. Next is Scenic stretch near Benešov.

6. 6. Scenic stretch near Benešov

   Benešov is a busy little county town about forty-five minutes south-east of Prague, and for most riders its name is shorthand for one thing: Konopiště. The chateau sits in a wooded park just west of the centre, a Gothic castle remodelled in the late nineteenth century for Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne. He was an obsessive hunter, and the corridors are lined with an almost unsettling quantity of antlers and trophies. The rose garden, the deer park and the lake below the castle are calmer company.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch near Benešov write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 379 km.