A tour of the historic villages west of Kutná Hora, starting in Ratboř: 22 km

• The countryside around the UNESCO listed city of Kutná Hora is full of unusual historic and prehistoric monuments. It is definitely worth devoting a little time to exploring the surrounding area after touring the remarkable medieval city of Kutná Hora.
• To the west of the city, there are a number of villages which have converted medieval fortre gned by the Czech architect, Jan Kotěra. Today, the chateau houses a boutique hotel and restaurant. Ratboř is a good starting point for a circular walk around the surrounding villages.
• The circular route from Ratboř leads to the village of Suchdol, with its fine Renaissance chateau (now housing the municipal office) which was built on the site of an older Gothic fortress. Above Suchdol, the hill Vysoká is topped with the romantic ruins of a chapel and summer house built by Count Špork at the end of the 17th century. On the hill there is a viewing tower offering a panoramic view of the surroundings from its 25m high platform.
• From Vysoká the route leads towards the village of Bylany – site of one of thew largest and most important Neolthic sites in Central Europe. Close to Bylany, a short diversion leads to the spring of sv. Vojtěcha, where a niche chapel dedicated to St. Adalbert was constructed in the 19th century. Near the spring are three menhirs (standing stones). There are a number in the area of Kutná Hora which have been erected in recent times.
• From Bylany the trail passes through the village of Přítoky, where there is a nice café situated in the old fortress. The final village before returning to Ratboř is Červené Pečky, which has a large Baroque chateau (not open to the public).
• The full route is 22 km long, with just over 300m of height to ascend-descend. Most of the route is on quiet asphalt roads or tracks and with care the route can be managed with a stroller. For refreshments on the journey, apart from the café in Přítoky, there are a number of pubs in the villages that are passed through.

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

• Ratboř can be reached by bus or train from Kolín. If driving, there are parking options on the side streets near the village centre
• From the village centre (near the church) take the GREEN hiking trail in the direction of Suchdol
• The trail passes through Suchdol, over Vysoká hill to reach Bylany after 10.6 km
• On the edge of Bylany, join the YELLOW trail heading away from the village (map point 5)
• At this point a short diversion trail leads 200m to the chapel of St Adalbert
• Continue on the YELLOW trail to reach Přítoky in 1 km
• Continue a further 1 km on the YELLOW trail to meet the GREEN trail again (map point 7). Turn left onto the GREEN trail and follow this for 8.9 km to return back to Ratboř