*Pernštejn castle and the nearby forest nature trails: 3 km to 8 km*

• Pernštejn must be somewhere near the top of the list of most spectacular castles in the Czech Republic. Perched on a rock outcrop above the Nedvědička stream valley, the castle was initially constructed in the 13th century. It was never captured or destroyed. Over the following centuries, the impregnable fortress was enlarged and refurbished several times, leading to a unique blend of late Gothic and Renaissance architecture, embellished with Baroque and Rococo interior decorations.
• An excellent guided tour (only in Czech, but with foreign language written materials) explores the different interior architectural phases of the castle. The multiple courtyards and outside buildings are also definitely worth exploring on the self-guided ticket. The castle is normally open from April to October.
• Combining a visit to the castle with a short local walk is easy. Marked nature trails of various lengths explore the forests on both sides of the Nedvědička valley (and beyond). All start at Nedvědice train station (which has connections to the mainline station in Brno). For drivers, there is a large paid parking in the valley below the castle. Footpaths from the car park connect with the trails. A leaflet showing the different trail options is available at the parking kiosk and the train station. The information boards along the different routes discuss the history and nature of the area (all are in Czech only).
• A suggested medium length (8 km) route is shown in the map below (this is a blend of nature trail I and II). This is a good option for those wanting to capture several views of the castle from different angles. The trails are mostly in thick forest and the paths can get quickly overgrown, especially as the paths do not appear to be used too regularly. In addition, the terrain is quite hilly (the 8 km route shown below has nearly 300m of height to ascend/descend). However, for the different viewpoints, it is worthwhile trying one of the routes.
• There are several options for refreshment in the area, including a couple of pubs and cafés in Nedvědice. At the castle there is is a restaurant with a terrace and just below the restaurant (slightly hidden) a pleasant café with views over the newly renovated castle gardens.

Note: click ‘Show on map’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions (note that the route is not well marked and is best followed using the mapy.cz phone application)

• There are occasional nature trail markers along the different routes (as well as the information boards) but given the number of different paths, rote finding can get confusing. So, for this walk is best to follow the chosen route using the mapy.cz phone application (or a good paper map)
• If only following the (1.7 km) direct path from the station to the castle and back, follow the YELLOW hiking trail