*Nové Hrady and walks in the beautiful Terčino valley: 5 km to 10 km*

• In the Middle Ages, Nové Hrady was an important border town, located some 30 km south east of  České Budějovice. Built on the site of a Slavic fortress, the castle evolved over several centuries from the mid 13th century onwards, including the creation of a massive moat. The castle was severely damaged during the 15th century wars and was reconstructed in an early Renaissance style, which it retains today. It is an interesting castle to explore.
• Nové Hrady became more prominent when acquired by the old French Buquoy family in the early 17th century. General Karel Bonaventura, Count Buquoy, led the Imperial forces in the early part of the 30 Years Wars, and after the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, acquired various estate, including Nové Hrady as compensation for unpaid Imperial debts. The Buquoys made Bohemia their home and retained Nové Hrady until 1945, when their estates were confiscated under the Beneš decrees.
• The Buquoy family never lived in the old Gothic castle, preferring to reside in an early Baroque building constructed on the main square (which today houses the Rezidence hotel). The Buquoys created a new early Classicist mansion on the edge of town at the beginning of the 19th century, and resided there until the end of the Second World War (this now houses a branch of the Academy of Sciences).
• Perhaps the most significant contribution of the Buquoz family to the Nové Hrady landscape was the remodeling of the Terčino valley by Countess Terezie Buquoyová in the late 18th century. The valley was landscaped in the romantic English park style. The monuments, buildings (including a spa and reconstructed forge), and water features (including an artificial waterfall) represent one of the most extraordinary examples of early landscape design in Central Europe.
• The walk around the beautiful landscaped valley is one of nicest and most popular trails in Southern Bohemia. The full trail around the park is around 8 km long, but if needed this can be shortened to include just the central section of the park, which includes two popular restaurants located in the old forge and spa buildings (both also offer accommodation).
• The walk from the center of Nové Hrady to the park entrance is around 1 km, and the combination of the attractive town, with its range of different architectural styles, with the tranquil park and excellent refreshment options (both in the park and town), make this a highly recommended walk.
• The full circuit, from the Buquoy Classicist mansion, through the town, around the park and then back to the chateau is 10.2 km long, with just over 200m of height to ascend-descend. All the paths are easy, but some sections are on uneven forest tracks, not easily accessed with a stroller. If walking with a buggy it is recommended to stick in the the central section of the park. In addition to the restaurants in the park, there are a couple of nice cafés in the town center, including the Baroque styled Apatyka Café, which serves good coffee and cakes.

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 main bus station (where there are also parking areas), walk to the nearby chateau and there join the RED trail in the direction of Údolí u Nových Hradů
• Walk through the old town and castle area and then descend the hill to reach the entrance of the park area after 1 km
• Follow the RED trail for 1.4 km , past the Hamr building (restaurant) to reach the old spa (the U Lázniček trail junction) where there is an outdoor restaurant
• At the U Lázniček junction, turn right onto the nature trail (marked with green/white diagonal stripes), crossing the stream using the footbridge
• Follow the nature trail in an anticlockwise direction past the waterfall and then climb up to the plateau to visit the medieval Cuknštejn fortress
• The full circuit from the spa back to the entrance to the park is around 6 km, but there are various points on the route where short cuts can be made
• From the park entrance, return back to the town center by following the same RED trail used for the outbound route