A walk in countryside around Štiřín castle on the trail of the Ringhoffer family: 11 km

• Štiřín castle is a well known conference hotel, based on a late Baroque chateau, with a very pretty English-style park most of which is used for a 9 hole golf course. Sadly, only a small part of the park is open to the public between April and October (golfers may visit the whole area at this time), but in the winter months the whole park may be visited. For the golfers reading this, there is a magnificent collection of rhododendron bushes, usually in bloom from mid May to early June…
• Štiřín was acquired in the 19th century by the famous Ringhoffer industrial family, who purchased other chateaux in the area and founded the brewery in nearby Velké Popovice. Various routes visiting different Ringhoffer sites has been created, including a long cycle route. Shorter walking routes also tour the area, combining sections in the forests and fields, with visits to the villages associated with the Ringhoffer family. There are a number of information boards providing details (in Czech).
• One 9 km to 16 km route, starting in Velké Popovice is described elsewhere. On this page, the route begins at Štiřín and circles through the villages of Olešovice and Kamenice (both of which have former Ringhoffer owned chateaux). The family tomb is also in Kamenice. The route then visits the village of Kostelec u Křížků, where the church includes a rotunda dating from the 12th century, before returning to Štiřín. Take the time to visit as much of the park area as is permitted at that time.
• The full route of 11 km includes 150m of height to climb/descend. None of the paths are difficult, but the forest and field paths are not suitable for strollers. There are several refreshment and restaurant options available on the route, including the unusually designed Atis restaurant (part of the Štiřín hotel) which has a terrace overlooking the golf course.

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

• Štiřín is only on a local bus route, without direct connections to Prague, but for drivers there is a large (paid) car park directlz next to the chateau/hotel
• After tour as much of the park area as is permitted, join the GREEN hiking trail in the direction of U Všedobrovic. The route initiallz runs along the main road and then turns into the forest
• Reach the U Všedobrovic junction after 1.3 km and here turn onto the BLUE trail in the direction of Kamenice
• Continue on the BLUE trail, passing the (not accessible) Olešovice and Kamenice chateaux, reaching nthe Ringhoffer tomb after 4.5 km
• From the tomb, continue on the BLUE trail for 1.8 km to reach the trail junction in Kostelec u Křížků. Here, turn right onto the GREEN trail, which leads directly back to Štiřín castle in 3.3 km