A tour around Mcely, location of the famous chateau hotel – 3 km
- Mcely is known today as the location of one of the country’s premier chateau hotels, inside which is an award winning restaurant. For those fortunate enough to be staying in the hotel, who would like a short walk before a gourmet lunch or dinner, consider taking the marked nature trail around the historic village.
- Even if not staying at the chateau, the trail around this well preserved village (which dates back to the 14th century) is worth a trip. The route dips into the Čtvrtě national nature reserve, a protected area for rare plants. In the center of this reserve (but off the marked trail) is the remains of a hillfort attributed to the late Bronze Age Lusatian culture. The route also visits the exceptionally well preserved and very attractive Baroque chapel of St.Wenceslas, which has a Gothic foundation.
- The trail is just 3 km long and on easy paths (with just 60m of height to climb/descend), but the paths in the forest scetion can be muddy. For those wanting a longer walk, consider a visit to nearby Loučeň chateau and take the trail through the forest, possibly to visit the Bedřich Smetana Museum in the village of Jabkenice.
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
- For those not staying at the chateau, there are buses to Mcely from Nymburk and Mladá Boleslav. There are a few parking spots in the center of the village (the lower part of Mcely)
- From the center of the village pick up the nature trail opposite the obecní úřad (village adminstration office). This is marked with red-white diagonal stripes. Take the left hand fork – so do not go up the main street towards the church
- The trail passes the village pond and winds up through a section of the nature reserve before rejoining the main road above the church
- Continue up the main road for 300m to get to the chateau entrance
- Return back down the main road, finishing the trail by visiting the chapel
- Note, if staying at the hotel, start the trail by walking down the main road and visit the chapel before taking the loop through the nature reserve
