Stage 9 of the Cyril & Methodius trail: from Světla nad Sázavou to Havlíčkův Brod – 20 km

• The Cyril & Methodius route is a series of interlinked hiking trails connected with the life and mission of the 9th century Byzantine missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius. The route was established by the Council of Europe in 2021 and now comprises over 5,000 km of trails, spanning 10 countries. The Saints – who were brothers – are most famous for helping bring Christianity to the Slavic lands. They are most closely associated with the Great Moravian Empire, where Methodius became the first Archbishop.
• The Czech Republic has six different Cyril & Methodius trails, all of which end at the pilgrimage site of Velehrad, in the eastern Moravian Zlín region. Velehrad was (in folk tradition) the seat of Methodius after he became archbishop. It is also the site of Moravia’s first Cistercian monastery. The Bohemian-Moravian trail runs for approximately 420 km between the site of the first Bohemian church, at Levý Hradec and Velehrad.
• The ninth stage of the Bohemian route begins at another historic town on the Sázava river, Světla nad Sázavou, which dates back to the early 13th century. The town, which has a long glass-making tradition, has an impressive Neo-Renaissance chateau, which is now privately owned, but (unusually) is fully open to the public throughout the year – even on Mondays! The courtyard features some of the town’s colorful glass products.
• This is a relatively flat and tranquil stage of the walk, with attractive sections of footpath close to the Sázava river. There are few distractions or notable sites between the start in Světla and the finish in the important Vysočina town of Havlíčkův Brod.
• Havlíčkův Brod does have a scenic town square, lined with Baroque and neo-Renaissance buildings, which is worth exploring. The town became rich in the Medieval period as result of its local silver ore deposits. As a consequence there are also some nicely preserved medieval fortifications, including rare corner bastions.
• This stage is around 20 km, assuming a start and finish and the respective train stations, with approximately 150m of height to ascend-descend along the way. The route is a mix of forest and riverside footpaths, with some sections along minor roads and cycle paths. Some sections of the official C&M route are (as of summer 2026) being reconstructed, so the plan takes an alternative route into Havlíčkův Brod – staying closer to the river (which, in this author’s view, is more attractive anyway).
• There are various refreshment options in Světla and Havlíčkův Brod and a useful pub at the halfway stage in Okrouhlice (map point 3).

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• The official C&M route plan follows the RED hiking trail all the way from Světla to Havlíčkův Brod
• A route closure in summer 2026, necessitates a diversion at Veselice (map point 4), joining up with the BLUE trail at Papšíkov
• The BLUE trail then leads directly into Havlíčkův Brod (and is a nicer path than the RED trail anyway)
• Note that Havlíčkův Brod is a 1.5 km walk from the center of town on the YELLOW trail