Exploring the wetland areas and pools beside the Labe river near Čelákovice: 15 km

• There are many hiking and cycling tracks beside the famous Labe river (Elbe in Germany) as it winds its way from the Czech Krkonoše mountains towards the German border and beyond, on its 1000 km journey to the North Sea coast. One of the easiest ways to reach the river from Prague is to take one of the regular trains to the historic town of Čelákovice, located directly on the river. From Čelákovice there are hiking and cycling trails both up and downstream.
• For a medium length downstream walk towards Lázně Toušeň and Brandýs nad Labem, see the following page. The walk on this page explores the wetland areas along the river heading upstream towards Lysá nad Labem. The Káraný – Hrbáček’ ponds are a protected nature reserve of European importance. The suggested route starts by following an attractive (unmarked) footpath directly beside the Labe, which is used frequently by people fishing in the river.
• Čelákovice has a long history and the old fortress (tvrz) now houses the town museum which includes a small archaeological section. There are also a number of good places for refreshment in the town, including the nice café, ice cream and sweet shop Cukrářství U Vocásků (map point 17) and Flek na kafe (map point 18). The latter is a Hejlík recommendation. On the opposite side of the river, just a short walk from the end of the footbridge is the popular pub Grado, with its outdoor seating areas.
• If driving, there are some parking areas in the center of Čelákovice. The train station is nearly 1 km out of town, so parking in town will reduce the trip length somewhat. If starting at the station the proposed route is 15.2 km and is almost completely flat. Some of the paths cross grassy meadows on narrow paths, so the route is not suitable for strollers.

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 Čelákovice train station, take the YELLOW hiking trail to the main town square which is reached after 700m
• From the town center continue on the YELLOW trail past the fortress to reach the modern footbridge across the Labe in 1.5 km
• Cross the bridge and then double back to the river and turn left to follow the cycle trail upstream
• The cycle trail runs for 2 km before turning away from the river, but continue on the path beside the river for a further 1.6 km before turning away along the footpath to reach the Řehačka pond
• At the pond turn right onto the nature trail (green-white diagonal stripes) walking around the pond to the Tři Chalupy hamlet
• Walk along the road for 600m until reaching the cross roads where the cycle trail crosses the road
• Turn left onto the cycle trail and follow this for 600m into the village of Byšičky
• At the edge of the village, rejoin the nature trail, turning right and continue for 1.8 km until reaching the Svatý Václav junction
• At the junction turn left onto YELLOW trail to return back to the river – if wanting to stop at the Grado pub turn right at Čelákovice – chaty junction along the BLUE trail for 250m
• Return back to the YELLOW trail, cross the bridge and continue back into Čelákovice