Five viewpoints high above the Labe valley, starting at Dubice – 5 km to 11 km

• There are many scenic viewpoints along the Labe (Elbe) river as it flows from its source in the Krkonoše mountains on its thousand kilometer journey to the North Sea. However, the stretch of the river flowing through the volcanic basalt landscape of České Středohoří has more than its fair share of spectacular views of the meandering river.
• The old village of Dubice, perched on a rocky ridge 200m above the river, midway between Ústí nad Labem and Lovosice is a good starting point to visit at least five separate viewpoints overlooking the river in a relatively short walk. Each of the views is just a little different, but collectively they offer an unrivalled panorama of the Labe.
• Dubice can be reached by bus from Ústí and there is a large parking area near the prominent church of St Barbora. Next to the church is a pension-restaurant with a large terrace that overlooks one of the viewpoints. There is also a highly regarded snack bar serving pancakes in the next village, Moravany (only open Fridays and weekends), which is on the way to/from the spectacular Skalka viewpoint (the final viewpoint on the suggested itinerary).
• The suggested route follows the ridge, but there are sections of descent and ascent to visit the viewpoints, but none of the paths are difficult or particularly steep. the paths are a mix of narrow meadow footpaths and country lanes. Visiting all five viewpoints is an 11 km tour (with 250m of height to ascend/descend). The route can be shortened by skipping one or more of the viewpoints (eg skipping Doerell viewpoint reduces the walk to 9 km and skipping both Doerell and Skalky reduces the walk to 5 km).
• Note – for a longer tour in the same landscape, visiting these five viewpoints and other scenic trails in the area, see the 22 km Labe viewpoints route.

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

• From the trail junction in the center of Dubice village (the Dubičky junction) if planning on doing the full tour of five viewpoints, take the YELLOW trail in the direction of Radejčín
• After 600m reach the Doerellova vyhlídka junction and turn left to reach the viewpoint in a further 600m. Return back to Dubice village after visiting the viewpoint
• Back at the Dubičky junction join the GREEN trail and head towards the church – there is a fine viewpoint directly beside the church and also the restaurant terrace, which can be visited either now, or at the end of the walk
• Continue on the GREEN trail for 600m to reach the next viewpoint, which is on the far side of the transmitter tower, 100m off the main trail (at the transmitter there is a signpost pointing to the footpath leading to the viewpoint)
• Continue for 300m on the GREEN trail to reach the junction leading to the Mlynářův kámen viewpoint. Take the diversion trail which leads to the viewpoint in 200m and then return to the main trail (note – there is a new Via Ferrata constructed just below the viewpoint, so far unmarked on the map, and not yet sampled by the author)
• At the main trail, join the blue nature trail (blue-white triangles) which follows the main GREEN trail for 200m then then leaves the GREEN trail and continues for 300m to join up with the yellow nature trail. Follow the yellow nature trail for 200m to reach the center of the village of Moravany
• In Moravany, turn right onto the main YELLOW trail in the direction of Skalky
• After 100m on the right there is the pancake snack bar (normally open Fridays and weekends) and then continue for 1.5 km to reach the Skalky junction
• Turn right at the junction to visit the final viewpoint of Skalky, which is reached in 500m. The viewpoint is also a launch point for paragliders
• Return back to the junction and rejoin the main YELLOW trail. Continue back to Dubice on the YELLOW trail, which is reached in 4.2 km