*In the footsteps of Božena Němcová: Ratibořice chateau and along Babiččino údolí – 3 km to 15 km*

• Božena Němcová (1820-1864) is probably the most famous female Czech author and writer. She became a figurehead in the 19th century Czech National Revival and her works are still required reading in Czech schools. Hers is the face on the front of the current 500 czk banknote.
• Němcová’s most famous work, Babička (Grandmother), was published in 1855 and is set in the landscape around the village of Ratibořice in east Bohemia. The novel describes the childhood of a country girl, Barunka, and her life in the countryside with her grandmother. The book was inspired by Němcová’s upbringing in the same village, where she lived with her parents, siblings and maternal grandmother Magdalena Novotná.
• A nature trail follows the attractive Babiččina valley featuring places associated with the early life of Němcová and the characters in the novel, many of whom were based on people Němcová met in the valley, including the owner of Ratibořice chateau, Princess Kateřina Vilemína Zaháňská. Zaháňská was a significant character in Austro/Hungarian politics (and gossip circles) at the beginning of the 19th century. Her story is fascinating.
• The trail starts in the town of Česká Skalice, where Němcová went to school. In the town there is a nice museum dedicated to the author’s life. The trail finishes after approximately 7 km at the ruins of Rýzmburk castle, overlooking the Úpa river. To create a 15 km circular walk, it is possible to follow a trail back to Česká Skalice, which follows the course of the Úpa river.
• Shorter options are available, for example by starting at the lovely Empire-style Ratibořice chateau (which has a nice English park area that is also worth exploring). Ratibořice has bus connections with Česká Skalice and there are extensive (paid) parking areas. It is just a 3 km round trip from the chateau, passing Rudrův mill to reach the famous half-timbered cottage in Staré Bělidlo and the nearby Viktorčin weir, all of which are important locations in the novel.
• The full 15 km circuit is mostly on easy footpaths or farm tracks. There is 150m of ascent, most of which is the climb up to Rýzmburk castle, which can be skipped if taking the shorter walk options. There are good refreshment options near the chateau car park and at Rudrův mill (in a very nice garden) but if taking the full circuit back to Česká Skalice, it is definitely worth stopping at the excellent Zahradní restaurant, located in a modern pension hotel, on the edge of town (map point 15).

Note: click ‘Show on map’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• Starting at Česká Skalice train station (which has direct connections with Prague and parking areas), join the BLUE hiking trail heading into the center of town (direction Ratibořice)
• The nature trail starts just after the main square (white-green diagonal markers), reached after 1 km
• Continue on the BLUE trail and cross river (the Božena Němcová museum is located here)
• At the museum, join the RED trail heading towards Ratibořice chateau, which is reached after 3.3 km
• From the chateau, continue on the RED trail for a further 2.3 km along the river, to reach the Pohodlí  junction. Here, join the YELLOW trail for 1 km to reach the Pod Rýzmburkem junction
• At the Pod Rýzmburkem junction join the BLUE trail heading towards Rýzmburk castle ruins, which are reached in 400m
• For the circular, route, continue on the BLUE trail for 1.3 km to reach the Žernov junction and here join the YELLOW trail heading back to Ratibořice
• At Rudrův mlýn, reached after 1.3 km, join the GREEN trail which follows the river for 1.7 km to reach the village of Zlíč
• At the Zlíč cycle junction leave the GREEN trail a follow the cycle path (which is also a marked nature trail) back to the train station, which is reached after 2 km