A full tour around the Celtic oppidum of Závist – Šance, near Zbraslav: 10 km

• Note: for an alternative (shorter and easier) walk around the hillfort, please click this link. The directions below are for a full exploration of the site, which actually spans two separate hills.
• Immediately after crossing the Vltava river on the road bridge out of Zbraslav, on the right hand side is a wooded hill with a rounded top. From a distance, it seems there is nothing particularly remarkable about this hill. It has steeper than normal slopes, but that’s about it. Yet, this unremarkable hill is home to Bohemia’s most famous archeological site – Závist oppidum – the largest Celtic hillfort in Central Europe. Buried on its summit plateau are the foundations of an acropolis, the oldest monumental stone structure so far discovered in the region, dating from the 6th century BC.
• The prehistoric story of Závist (and its associated sister hillfort, Šance, located on the neighbouring hill) spans over a thousand years. The site is most closely associated with the Celtic Boii tribe, who gave their name to Bohemia, and also gave the Roman Republic enormous trouble for two hundred years. But the story is richer than just the Boii. For those interested in a small prehistorical journey, here is a link to a longer commentary. For those mostly interested in an atmospheric walk in these wooded hills, the following directions should suffice.
• Závist is best approached from Zbraslav (which is itself an important historical town, where Václav II founded a Cistercian monastery in the 13th century, which became the burial place for the last of the Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia) . The hiking paths up the hill start close to the railway, which is a convenient access point, with frequent trains to and from Prague. There is also a small parking area just below the hill – which is also used to access a minizoo (which has some impressively large wild boar in an enclosure) located on Závist’s northern slopes.
• The proposed route takes the most direct access to the summit up the western flank, passing the gazebo (altán) with its views over Zbraslav. The path is relatively steep. At the summit plateau is a set of information panels summarizing the archaeological findings and a newly constructed (2021) wooden lookout tower (see pictures below).
• The descent route on the eastern side is less steep. It leads to the Břežanské valley which separates Závist from its sister hillfort, Šance. By the 5th century BC both fortified sites were connected together by a series of ramparts enclosing an area well over 100ha. It is possible at this point to return directly back to Zbraslav along the valley (skipping the circuit of Šance) to limit the walk to just 5km.
• The circuit of Šance adds a further 5.5 km to the walk (and a similar climb/descent to the Závist circuit), but is definitely worthwhile for the excellent views from several points on the southwest slopes.
• The full 10.5 km walk involves 420m of height being gained/lost. There are no refreshment stops on the route, so take enough liquids for the two climbs.

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

• If starting walk from Zbraslav railway station, cross the road and walk 100m towards the road bridge over the Vltava, in order to connect to the hiking trails
• Just before the bridge (at the tourist information board) join the YELLOW hiking trail. Climb the steps, cross the road and then continue on the trail for 300m to reach the Břežanské údolí – minizoo signpost. This is also where the small car park is located
• At the signpost, take the YELLOW trail in the direction of the Arcibiskupský altán, which is reached after 700m of relatively steep climbing on the western flank of the hill
• From the altán, continue on the YELLOW trail on easier slopes to reach the plateau area after another 900 (here there are information boards detailing the prehistory of the site). There is an unmarked footpath which leads around the circumference of the plateau (which is the site of the acropolis area)
• From the plateau, continue on the YELLOW trail in the direction of Jarov, descending on the eastern flank of the hill to reach the Hradiště trail junction after 600m
• At the junction, turn left onto the BLUE trail in the direction of Hálkův pomník, which is reached after 900m
• At the Hálkův pomník junction, a decision needs to be made whether to continue for the circuit of Šance (for the full 10km walk) or return directly back to Zbraslav along the BLUE trail
• If continuing on to Šance, turn right onto the GREEN trail in the direction on Točná
• The trail follows the road for a section, then turns left and climbs the eastern flank of Šance. After 1.6km the trail through the forest meets the road Ke staému hřišti.
• Continue on this road for 200m. On the left, just before the first house on this side there is a red marked diversion trail. Take this path is a red marked diversion trail – located just before the first house on the left side of the road
• After a short section in the forest, the red diversion trail joins the roads in the housing area for a short section, but after 400m meets the YELLOW hiking trail on the Na Stránkách road. Turn left onto the YELLOW trail which follows the road and then enters the forest, reaching the Šance signpost after 900m. Here there is an option to divert to the right for 200m to reach the highpoint of the hillfort
• From the Šance signpost, continue on the YELLOW trail around the hill. There are several good viewpoints on offer around the edge of the hill. There is a network of alternative (unmarked) paths on the summit area which are worth exploring for the different views
• From the summit area, continue on the YELLOW trail down the western flank of the hill, returning back to the train station/car park after 1.6km