A short walk to the best viewpoint over Zvíkov, the ‘king of Czech castles’ – 3 km
- Zvíkov is one of Bohemia’s most visited and atmospheric medieval castles. It was called the ‘king of Bohemian castles’ by the 19th century historian August Sedláček, who spent 20 years creating an astonishing fifteen volume study of Bohemian fortresses.
- Restored by the Schwarzenberg noble family in the 19th century, the Gothic masterpiece of Zvíkov was originally built and then extended in the 13th century by the Přemyslid kings of Bohemia. Situated on a rocky outcrop at the confluence of the Vltava and Otava rivers, the castle already held a formidable strategic position in the Middle Ages. However, the modern creation of the Orlík reservoir (in the 1960’s) has enhanced the impression of a virtually impregnable fortress almost completely surrounded by water.
- Whether planning a visit to Zvíkov, or simply on a tour of the area, a superb way to catch a first impression of this important castle is from a little known viewpoint near the village of Zbonín, a few km to the north of the castle. The quickest way to reach the viewpoint is from the public road just outside Zbonín.
- Sadly, there are no close public transport options (the nearest being in Varvažov, some 4km away from the viewpoint), but if driving there are usually a couple of parking spots at the point the cycle path leaves the public road, 500m from the center of Zbonín village. The viewpoint is 1.6 km from this spot. The nearest refreshments are also in Varvažov, where there is a nice restaurant by the pond.
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
- Take the public road from Varvažov to Zbonín. After 3 km, as the road bends sharply left there is a track to the right, with yellow cycle path signposts. If driving, park here, which is also the point where the RED hiking trail leaves the public road
- Follow the RED trail down the track for 500m to reach the Kopanina trail junction. Here, turn left onto the marked nature trail (green-white diagonal stripes) towards Vyhlídka Zvíkov
- After 800m the nature trail splits at the Vyhlídka Zvíkov junction. Take the right hand path which leads to the viewpoint in 300m
- Return back the same route
