Along the Ohře river from Nechranice reservoir to the historic town of Žatec: 18 km

• The town of Žatec, situated on the Ohře river in northwest Bohemia, is possible best known for its brewing history. Some of the country’s best hops have been grown in the Žatec region since at least the 11th century. Today, the re-established Žatec brewery (which is open for tours) occupies the former castle at one end of the walled town. The medieval town was constructed on a raised plateau that was likely first fortified in the Iron Age by Celtic settlers. Žatec grew into one of the most important towns in Bohemia and played an important role in the Hussite period and the Thirty Years War. The town has retained much of the architectural character from these periods and is definitely worth a visit.
• Combine a visit to the town with a walk up or downstream along the pretty river Ohře. The downstream walk is described here and follows the river through the famous hop growing area to the town of Stetník. The upstream is described below. The latter walk starts (or finishes) at the Nechranice reservoir, which was constructed in the 1960’s by damming the Ohře. It is the fifth largest reservoir in the country and is also used for water sports.
• The directions shown below assume a start in the village of Vikletice, situated by the dam and connected by frequent buses from Žatec – the route can obviously also be done in reverse, with a start in Žatec, if desired. The route is on a mix of gavel tracks and asphalt surfaces, mostly following the Ohře cycle path (which is used by hikers as well as bikers!). There are a few sections where the trail leaves the river temporarily but broadly the route stays beside the Ohře. This is therefore a fine mid-length river walk, which can be managed with a stroller. There is around 100m of height to descend-ascend whichever direction the walk is taken.
• Unusually, for a mainly hops growing area, there are a number of vineyards in this part of the country. One of which – the Mikulášek winery – is directly on the route (map point 2). If walking in a group consider organiying a small wine tasting in advance! For additional refreshments, Žatec has several excellent cafés, including the elegant Ramon Café (map point 2) or Mlsná koza (map point 3 – a Hejlík recommendation) , both of which which serve very 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

• The entire route, if starting at Vikletice, follows the BLUE hiking trail (which doubles up with the Ohře cycle path -6 – for most of the way to Žatec)
• It is not a difficult route to follow and so hopefully needs no further instructions