by No comments

*An easy walk around the historic western Bohemian town of Cheb: 3 km*

  • The border town of Cheb has a long and interesting history, dating back to Slavic times when a fortress was established in the 9th century. The castle was upgraded to a stone construction by Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in the 12th century. Its Romanesque character is still evident to this day. The Cheb region only became permanently part of the Bohemian lands in the 14th century and there was an uneasy relationship between the German oriented region and the Bohemian state for many centuries.
  • Today, the original medieval and Renaissance character of the town enter is beautifully preserved. It is well worth exploring the picturesque streets on a short visit. On the main square stands the remarkable Špalíček complex of eleven medieval merchant’s houses dating from the 13th to 15th centuries. In addition to exploring the castle area and the streets around the main square, the climb to the top of the observation tower in St Nicolas’ church is highly recommended (the header photo is taken from there).
  • The route shown in the map below starts and finishes at Cheb train station (which has direct trains to/from Prague). The station is some 1 km from the town center. The walk around the main highlights in the center can be done in less than 2 km. It is mostly a flat route on streets and pavements, easily managed with a stroller.
  • Cheb has some interesting refreshment options, including a popular Italian ice cream parlor in the Špalíček complex (map point 2). There are some good restaurants, including Botanik Bistro, overlooking the main square (map point 4 – a Hejlík recommendation).

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

  • From the train station, follow the RED hiking trail for 1 km heading towards Cheb main square (nám.)
  • Once in the center take a loop through the streets surrounding the square – there are signposts to the main highlights; the St Nicolas church, Franciscan monastery, castle etc)
Tags