Some remarks on the many different Czech long-distance walking and pilgrimage routes

• Over the years, many ‘long distance’ walking routes have been created to take advantage of the extraordinary network of marked trails throughout the Czech Republic. Some routes fall under the domain of official walking associations, such as the European long-distance paths (the ‘E-paths’), which are designated by the European Ramblers Association (while the trails themselves are maintained by the Czech Tourist Club).
• At present only two of the E-paths spend significant time in the Czech Republic (the E3 path which follows trails in the northern border mountain areas and the E10 path which crosses the country from north Bohemia to south Bohemia). Two other E-paths cross briefly into Czech Republic (the E8 path, which runs the length of the Podyjí national park in South Moravia and the E6 path, which follows trails in west Bohemia from the edge of Šumava to Cheb).
• Other Czech long-distance walks have been developed by associations focusing on pilgrimage routes. Several Czech connecting trails on the Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago) have been created. Other Czech specific pilgrimage routes exist, of which the best known is probably the classic Blaník-Říp trail.
• In recent years, a couple of new projects have sprung up focused on circling or crossing the country from border to border. One well-known project is the ‘Stezka Českem‘, which started (in 2020) as a 1000 km west to east route, broadly following trails near the northern borders with Germany and Poland. It now has a southern route, essentially creating a 2000 km + circular route around the country.
• Around the same time as the Cesta Českem routes were being created an (apparently) unconnected project was being developed, called Via Czechia. This project maps six multiday routes between extreme points in the country, including a northern and southern border route, not dissimilar to Stezka Českem. The six routes follow trails totaling more than 10000 km. The Via Czechia routes are, quite usefully, subdivided into manageable day segments (usually 20 km to 25 km long) between different accommodation points.
• Although the Via Czechia, Cesta Českem and the E-paths frequently traverse the same territory, the routes often diverge, following different local trails. As markings for these long-distance routes are increasingly being included in published maps (including on the mapy.cz application) and even on the physical trail signposts at junctions, this can make choosing the best route in some regions quite complicated or confusing!
• While myCzechwalks is not really focused on long multiday point-to-point walks (my general walking preference being for circular day trips or at most 2 or 3-day circular routes), some segments of these long-distance trails are simply too good to be ignored! Where I have direct experience of the different trails, I will try to make a recommendation as to which route to follow for some multiday point-to-point walks in selected regions. These recommendations will appear in the specific regional sections (search using the multiday walk filter).