A tour around the Krkonoše spa town of Janské Lázně, with a visit to the Tree Top Walk: 5 km
- Janské Lázně is probably known best today as a base for skiing in the Krkonoše mountains. The country’s only 8-seater gondola rises from the town center to near the summit of Černá hora (1299m), from where a surprisingly extensive ski area can be explored in winter. The town can be reached by direct bus from Prague.
- However, the town is also worth visiting outside the ski season. It has an unusually long history; its warm spring waters used from the 11th century to power a mill and then in the 13th century the first medical uses of the spa waters were reported. The town today has a number of attractive spa buildings, from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Kolonáda building (pictured in the header photo) which houses a pleasant café.
- There is a wide range of mountain walking options with starts in Janské Lázně. A few of the best are outlined in this guide (or will be in due course), but for an easy walk around the town area, consider the 5 km loop shown in the map below.
- Two kilometers to the west of the town center, set in the spruce forests at the foot of Černá hora, the popular Krkonoše Tree Top Walk can be found. There are now a few of these suspended walks in the Czech forests, but this is probably the best and features 1.5 km of walkway rising from the forest floor to above the tree line. The route has lots of information about the natural environment in the Krkonoše forests. The walkway is open year-round and there is a (completely optional!) adrenaline inducing 80m slide down from the top of the viewing tower.
- The route shown below can be managed with a stroller – when the ground is not covered with snow. It is, however, a nearly 200m uphill walk to the beginning of the treetop walk. There are various refreshment options, including the café in the spa Kolonáda and a restaurant in the tree top walk entrance building.
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 the walk at the main square of Janské Lázně and take the GREEN trail in the direction of Hoffmannova bouda
- The trail runs through the town and after 2 km reaches the entrance to the tree top walk
- Return to the center of town either using the outbound route or to complete the loop, take the marked Střední hřeben education trail (green-white diagonal stripe markers) following a wide forest track back to town
The Kolonáda at Janské Lázně