A short visit to Potštejn castle and chateau, with a stop at the Clock brewery: 3 km

• The magnificent ruins of Potštejn castle are one of the most popular sites in the Orlické hory region. Potštejn was originally constructed in the 13th century as part of the colonization of the Divoká Orlice river valley. Occupying a steep-sided conical hill overlooking the river, the Gothic fortress has impressive defenses. These were added to over several centuries, by a series of illustrious royal and noble owners including Charles IV, Jiří of Poděbrady and the Pernštejn family. The mix of different architectural styles makes this a fascinating place to visit.
• Potštejn is probably most famous, however, as the site of a (not yet discovered) medieval treasure. The castle’s 14th century owner, Mikuláš of Potštejn, was an opponent of the Luxemburg regime and came into conflict with the future Charles IV, who besieged the castle. Before the castle fell, Mikuláš, is thought to have hidden a huge treasure in an underground tunnel. Mikuláš died in the siege and the treasure was never found by Charles’ troops.
• A mysterious Latin inscription on a Gothic cornerstone (which can still be seen and deciphered today) fueled the search for a the missing treasure in subsequent centuries. It was a quest that inspired the famous 19th century Czech writer and historian, Alois Jirásek, to write the novel The Treasure. Visitors to Potštejn today (the castle is open April to October) are free to continue the search, preferably without the heavy excavation equipment employed in the 18th century that undermined the castle walls.
• Count Jan Ludvík Harbuval Chamaré was the 18th century owner of the castle who so enthusiastically hunted for the lost treasure. Despite his lack of success, the Count still managed to fund an impressive new Baroque chateau and English style park beside the river. At the time of writing (early 2026) it is unclear when the chateau and park will be open to the public.
• One of the best walks in the area combines a visit to Potštejn with a tour of the equally impressive ruins of Litice, some 7 km upstream. However, for those without the time to undertake a longer walk, the immediate areas around the two castles can be explored separately. The circular walk shown in the map below, which starts and finishes at Potštejn station is under 4 km in length and can be managed with a stroller. One of the additional attractions of Potštejn is a visit to the well known ‘Clock’ brewery restaurant – a Hejlík recommendation.

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

• Starting at the train station (which has connections with Hradec Králové), join the BLUE trail which leads directly up to the castle ruin after 1.3 km
• Return back from the ruin on the BLUE trail and after 500m at the Potštejn – pod hradem junction, take the left fork to head down to the village centre, where the brewery and chateau are located
• From the village center, take the GREEN trail directly back to the station