*A visit to the chateau and surrounding forests at Kostelec nad Černými lesy: 6 km to 13 km*

• The majestic chateau in Kostelec nad Černými lesy is a hidden gem in Central Bohemia, located just 30 km to the east of Prague. It is currently the headquarters of the Forestry faculty of the University of Life Sciences. It is now possible to visit the interior on guided tours at weekends in the summer, but otherwise the spectacular exterior is free to walk around.
• The Renaissance chateau was constructed in 1562 by Jaroslav I. Smiřický, on the site of an old Gothic castle. The chateau was acquired by the house of Liechtenstein in the 17th century, after the Battle of White Mountain. The Liechtenstein’s held the estate until the 20th century and it was given a Baroque facade by one of its most distinguished owners, Maria Theresa, Princess of Savoy in the 18th century.
• The north of the chateau, attractive beech and oak forests are bisected by the Jalový stream. A couple of marked trails traverse the forest, which includes a game reserve (interestingly, one trail runs inside the reserve). There is also a short nature trail focused on wetland features (it is quite technical and in Czech language only) as well as an attractive arboretum run by the Forestry faculty (and only occasionally open for public events).
• A couple of options are available for walks in the forest – a short 6 km loop, or a longer 13 km version. Both are described in the directions below. The trails are easy but can get muddy. There is around 200m of height to ascend-descend on the longer version.
• There are some good refreshment options in Kostelec. Just past the chateau there is the Kostelec brewery, which serves food and has an extensive terrace area. On the main square, there is a nice café, the Kavárna Modré dveře, which has excellent coffee and homemade cakes.

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

• Start at the main square in Kostelec. There are bus connections here from the Prague Háje metro station. For drivers, there is a free parking area opposite the chateau
• Join the BLUE hiking trail which runs past the chateau on its way to the brewery, Černokostelecký pivovar
• After walking around the chateau area, continue on the BLUE trail past the brewery and then in 1.8 km reach the Dolní Peklov junction
• At the junction, if preferring the shorter 6 km loop, return back to Kostelec square on the YELLOW trail (the square is reached after 2.3 km
• If continuing on the longer trail (shown the map above) take the YELLOW trail in the opposite direction to reach the Obora junction after 3.5 km
• At the Obora junction, join the BLUE trail which returns back to the Dolní Peklov junction after 3 km (note the optional diversion to the wetland nature trail is 300m before the Dolní Peklov junction – it is not signposted!)
• At the Dolni Peklov junction return back to Kostelec square on the YELLOW trail (the square is reached after 2.3 km)