A circuit in the countryside around Líbeznice and Měšice, seat of the Nostice-Rieneck family: 14 km

• The increasingly industrialized landscape immediately to the north of Prague might not be the prettiest in Bohemia. However, it is a landscape full of historic villages and towns. For walkers looking for something a little different from the normal countryside tourist routes, this northern Prague area is definitely worth exploring, especially as there are and some surprisingly attractive refreshment spots hidden away in these historic villages.
• One interesting trip is this medium length route which circles around the historic villages of Líbeznice and Měšice. From around 1650 onwards, the owners of these estates were the Counts of Nostice-Rieneck, who held prominent positions in Bohemia during the 17th to 19th centuries.
• In 1767, Count František Antonín Nostice had a large chateau built for him in the village of Měšice. The chateau has both Rococco and early Classicist elements. It is a unique example of late Baroque architecture in Bohemia and at some point managed to acquire the nickname, the ‘Bohemian Versailles’. The chateau is used as a medical facility today, but the mature park is accessible to the public.
• The family’s Bohemian properties were confiscated immediately after World War II under the Beneš decrees, despite the family having strong Czech connections. The last owner of the Měšice chateau was Ervín Leopold Nostitz-Rieneck, whose elder brother, Frederick, married Sophie Hohenberg. Sophie was the eldest child of Archduke Franz Ferdinand d’Este, assassinated heir to the Habsburg monarchy.
• The landscape is relatively flat and this is an easy all-season walk. The only real hill is ascended on the (optional) diversion to an interesting architect-designed viewing tower on a low hill (map point 6). The tower, which was built in 2025, is meant to represent a ship anchored to a wooded hill, situated in the middle of the floodplain between the country’s two great rivers: the Labe and the Vltava.
• The 14 km route is on a mix of cycle tracks and meadow footpaths, with just 90m of height to ascend and descend (including the optional visit to the tower). There are a couple of notable refreshment spots along the way: the stylish ‘Cakes by Maruška’ café in Měšice (map point 2) and the Bistro Statek Líbeznice (map point 9). The latter is a Hejlík recommendation.

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 walk can be started in either Líbeznice or Měšice. Both villages have bus connections with the Prague metro system
• As the suggested route involves a mix of hiking trails, cycle paths and unmarked paths, it is best followed using a good map -ideally the mapy.com phone application (which can be downloaded for free)