*A walk around historic Jindřichův Hradec, once the second largest city in Bohemia: km to 5 km*

• Jindřichův Hradec is a delightful south Bohemian town, worth exploring for its rich and diverse architecture. It is also an excellent base for touring the nearby Česká Kanada park area, a relatively uninhabited landscape filled with ponds and mixed forests on rolling hills.
• The town filled was probably founded between the 9th and 10th centuries by the Přemyslid dynasty, the ruling family of Bohemia until the 14th century. The town was owned by the powerful Lords of Hradec from the 13th century until the beginning of the 17th century, at which point Jindřichův Hradec was the second only to Prague in terms of its population.
• The town became wealthy due to its strategic position on the Prague/Vienna trade route and in the Middle Ages was known as a major centre in the country for the drapery industry. The historical centre is full of Gothic and Renaissance buildings, which were given a Classicist appearance after a devastating fire in 1801.
• The castle/chateau is superb, with a series of courtyards, each with its own character, culminating in the late 16th century Rondel music pavilion, built in a lovely arcaded garden. Various tours of the castle’s interior may be booked from May to October, but the courtyards are freely accessible from Spring to Autumn.
• The historical centre is not large and a walk around the main highlights is less than a couple of kilometers (note that if travelling by train, the station is 1 km outside the town centre). It is definitely worth crossing the river and taking the trail that effectively circles the citadel area (on which the castle was built). The best viewpoint over the chateau is located on this trail (map point 7).
• Jindřichův Hradec is developing its gastronomic scene, with an increasing number of quality cafés and interesting restaurants. One excellent café right in the historical centre, with a nice terrace area, is the Cukrářství Lavendy (map point 11). Also worth trying is restaurant Pod Zámkem (map point 6), which has a pleasant summer garden overlooking the river and chateau.

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

• If travelling by train to the main station, follow the GREEN trail directly to the centre of town, which is reached in 1 km
• Once there, it is best to use a good street map or the mapy.cz phone application to follow a route around the historical centre and for the recommended loop on the far side of the river, as this is mostly without trail markings