A short walk to Jiří of Poděbrady’s favourite castle – Litice nad Orlicí: 3 km

• Litice castle is one of the best preserved late medieval castles in east Bohemia. The castle was built on a rocky promontory overlooking a horseshoe bend in the river Divoká Orlice. It owes a large part of its current design to work undertaken by Jiří of Poděbrady, who ruled the Czech lands between 1458 and 1471. Litice was apparently one of his favourite castles, which he inherited as the lord of Kunštát. The castle is usually open for tours between April and October.  Litice also has some attractive folk architecture, including a rare 18th century wooden bell tower (pictured below),
• A number of castles were built along the Divoká Orlice when this sparsely populated landscape was finally colonized at the end of the 13th century. Just 7 km downstream from Litice, the equally impressive Potštejn castle had many of the same owners throughout the medieval period. Both castles can be combined on an excellent 15 km circular walk. However, for those without the time to undertake the combined walk, separate short walks to both of these fine castles are included in these pages.
• The short walk to Litice starts and finishes at the regional train station, which has direct connections to Hradec Králové. It is an easy 1.5 km walk to the castle from the station, including a climb of 90m. Below the castle, on the banks of the river, the excellent Restaurace Zátiší is worth a visit (map point 3). In the summer months they also have a homemade ice cream stand.

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 station, follow the RED trail in the direction of Litice n. O. – hrad, which is reached after 1 km
• At the junction, follow the red marked diversion signs to the castle
• Return back the same way