*A fine walk around the historical northern Czech town of Frýdlant: 4 km*

• The town of Frýdlant, situated close to the Polish border, 25 km to the north of Liberec, is one of the most interesting northern Czech towns to explore. The town is dominated by a remarkable castle-chateau complex, which was initially constructed in the 13th century on a rock terrace above the Smědá river to protect the trade route into Saxony. In the late 16th century, the castle was redeveloped into a Renaissance palace.
• In 1801, the chateau was partly opened to the public by the then owners, the Clam-Gallas family, making this the earliest example of a castle museum in Central Europe. However, the most famous owner was probably the Imperial generalissimo, Albrecht of Valdštejn, who acquired the Duchy of Frýdlant in 1622. Valdštejn took control of much of northern Bohemia in the years following the Battle of White Mountain and the region enjoyed a period of huge prosperity under his rule, until his murder in 1634.
• The town clearly still celebrates the Valdštejn era, with the historical brewery (which reopened in 2013), brewing excellent beers with the Albrecht label. The whole town is worth exploring, but the gem is the chateau complex, which is usually open for tours between April and October. There is a nice view over the castle from the hill Křížový vrch, which has a ‘Stations of the Cross’ route, dating from 1737 (restored in 2017).
• The 4.4 km route shown on the map below starts at the train station, climbs up to Křížový vrch and then crosses the river (via the brewery) to visit the castle complex. It is worth taking the loop around the castle on the narrow footpath to admire the impressive fortifications and towers.
• Frýdlant has a number of good spots for refreshment, including the brewery and there are a few cafés near the town square, of which Kavárna na náměstí is possibly the nicest. During the main season the castle courtyard has a nice pancake snack bar.

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

• From the train station, join the BLUE trail heading in the direction of Křížový vrch, which is reached in 1.1 km
• From the viewpoint on the hill, continue on the BLUE trail crossing the river using the road bridge to reach the brewery after 1 km
• From the brewery, continue uphill on the BLUE trail to reach the castle – take the time to walk around the outer walls on the footpath
• From the castle head into town following the blue nature trail (blue-white triangle markers). The main square is reached 900m after leaving the castle
• From the main square, take the YELLOW trail back to the train station, reached after 700m