A tour around the ‘Key to the Kingdom of Bohemia’: the royal town of Loket – 3 km
- The impressive Gothic castle and town of Loket are scenically situated on a massive granite outcrop which is almost circled by a horseshoe-shaped meander of the river Ohře. In the Middle Ages, the castle, which was regarded as almost impregnable, became one of the key royal fortifications protecting the borderlands of western Bohemia.
- The castle originally dates from the 12th century, but became a critical component of regional defense system created by the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, when the surrounding town was established. It is a popular tourist destination in west Bohemia, but still worth exploring for its exceptional well preserved old town (which is very small) and atmospheric castle – for which a fee is required (there are various exhibitions included in the castle rooms).
- A walk around the old town and castle area starting from one of the parking areas or bus stops on the opposite side of the Ohře, is little more than 2 km in length, but try to find the time also to visit one or more of the lookout spots situated a short climb above the parking areas. These offer exceptional views over the town.
- Apart from the slightly steep footpaths to the lookouts above the parking areas, the tour of the old town can be managed with a stroller. There are many refreshment options in the town.
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 parking area 2 (which is also the drop off point for buses from Karlovy Vary), next to the petrol station opposite the main bridge into the town
- Before crossing the bridge take a moment to climb up to the lookout point, accessed by a footpath behind the coach parking area (there is a further lookout point above parking area 5, 400m further on from the first viewpoint. Both are worth visiting)
- Return back to the bridge and cross over into the old town
- Explore the old town and castle area at leisure before returning back across the main bridge
