An easy circular route from Dolní Břežany to Točná airfield: 11 km

• Dolní Břežany, a small town located 20 km to the south of Prague is located on the plateau where some of Bohemia’s first farmers brought their livestock and sowed their seeds, some 7000 years ago. Nearby is the hillfort of Závist, the most important and largest Celtic oppidum in Bohemia, covering over 100ha of fortified hilltops.
• Despite its ancient heritage, the town is definitely not living in the past. An advanced European laser research center sits adjacent to the restored Renaissance 17th century chateau, once owned by the Prague Archbishopric. Next to the chateau (which is now a luxury hotel) sits a new family owned microbrewery and restaurant, built on the site of the earlier Renaissance brewery. There is also a freshly reconstructed information center, a new museum (devoted to the history of the town) and an architect designed park, with modern art sculptures.
• There are various walks possible with a start in Dolní Břežany, but for a nice easy stroll on mostly flat paths consider the route shown below which follows cycle paths across the plateau to reach the Točná airfield, home to a museum of privately owned vintage aircraft. The airfield is open to the public every second Saturday of the month, from March to December. If flying conditions are good, many of the aircraft can be seen in the air.
• A highlight of the museum is a 1937 Lockheed Electra L-10A, made famous by Amelia Earhart’s unsuccessful attempt to circumnavigate the globe. This is one of only two L-10A’s still flying. The aircraft was purchased in 1937 by Jan Antonín Baťa, the founder of the Baťa empire.
• The route shown in the map can be managed with a stroller as it is mostly on dedicated asphalt cycle tracks (which are also extensively used by pedestrians and dog walkers!) There are several possibilities for refreshments on the route, but the best option is a visit to the microbrewery mentioned above, Olivův pivovar, located next to the chateau in Dolní Břežany.

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

Directions

• Dolní Břežany has good bus connections with Prague, but if driving there are various parking areas near the chateau and the main square
• Starting at the main square, join the YELLOW hiking trail and walk for 2.7 km until reaching the public road, Hrazanská, on the edge of Točná village
• There, leave the YELLOW trail and join the cycle path heading across the fields towards the airfield
• After 1.7 km reach the access road to the airfield. The entrance to the museum is 600m to the left
• Return back along the airfield access path and follow the cycle trail into Cholupice village, reached after 1.8 km
• From Cholupice, join the A204 cycle path heading back to Dolní Břežany, which is reached after 4.2 km