A circular tour to Doubravka, Prague’s newest lookout tower: 7 km from Hloubětín station
- Doubravka lookout is an example of experimental architecture in the Prague 14 district, located on top of Horka hill. The tower was completed in 2018 from over 7 km of renewable acacia wood grown in Moravia and offers good views of the Prague skyline after climbing its 98 (privately sponsored) steps.
- The tower can be reached via a number of access paths up the hill starting from bus or train connections in the Kyje district of Prague. However, for a slightly longer circular route in this historical area of northeast Prague, consider the varied circular route shown on the map below, which starts and finishes at the Hloubětín metro/tram station.
- The route passes by the scenic Kyský pond and the 13th century church of St Bartholomew, with its unusual Romanesque fortified medieval tower. Inside the church (not normally accessible) are some rare medieval frescos dating back to the 13th century.
- There are a couple of good restaurants on the route that are worth checking out, including the U Eriky pub, with its terrace beside the pond. Near the Hloubětín metro there is an old coaching inn, the Na staré hospodě, which was rebuilt in a Baroque form after the older medieval inn was burnt down during the 30 Years War. Three Habsburg emperors are reputed to have stayed in the inn during the 18th century.
- The easy 7 km route involves 120m of height to ascend/descend and is mostly on asphalt paths (apart from the footpaths to and from the lookout on Horka hill). The whole route can be managed with a stroller. If desired, the route can be extended by following a section of the Vysočany educational trail – this walk is described separately but can also be started in Hloubětín.
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 suggested route does not follow marked hiking trails, so is best followed using a good Prague street map, or (better) the mapy.cz phone application, following the map points noted above.
