A shorter (and easier) tour around the Celtic oppidum of Závist, near Zbraslav: 5 km

• This is an alternative (shorter and easier) version of the full Závist hillfort walk (which is up to 10 km). Závist is a popular walking destination, partly because of its proximity to Prague and also because of its fame as a Celtic archaeological site. There are several marked trails that traverse the hill. None are particularly difficult, but some paths are steeper than others and these can become icy in winter (a popular time for walking up the hill). The circular route shown below uses the gentlest paths for the descent – useful when conditions are slippery!
• Immediately after crossing the Vltava river on the road bridge out of Zbraslav, on the right hand side is a wooded hill with a rounded top. From a distance, it seems there is nothing particularly remarkable about this hill. It has steeper than normal slopes, but that’s about it. Yet, this unremarkable hill is home to Bohemia’s most famous archaeological site – Závist oppidum – the largest Celtic hillfort in Central Europe. Buried on its summit plateau are the foundations of an acropolis, the oldest monumental stone structure so far discovered in the region, dating from the 6th century BC.
• The prehistoric story of Závist (and its associated sister hillfort, Šance, located on the neighbouring hill) spans over a thousand years. The site is most closely associated with the Celtic Boii tribe, who gave their name to Bohemia, and also gave the Roman Republic enormous trouble for two hundred years. But the story is richer than just the Boii. For those interested in a small prehistorical journey, here is a link to a longer commentary.
• Závist is best approached from Zbraslav (which is itself an important historical town, where King Václav II founded a Cistercian monastery in the 13th century, which became the burial place for the last of the Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia) . The hiking paths up the hill start close to the railway, which is a convenient starting point. There are frequent trains to and from the center of Prague. There is also a small parking area just below the hill.
• The proposed route follows the valley for a section before circling around to access the hillfort from its gentler eastern side (where the fort’s main date was located). There are various information boards outlining details of the Celtic settlement (in Czech only, but there is an English language application: OPPIDUM ZAVIST, which can be downloaded). At the summit plateau is a set of information panels summarizing the archaeological findings and a newly constructed (2021) wooden lookout tower (see pictures below).
• The suggested descent route circles around the fort’s southern flank on a nature trail, before returning to the valley along the easiest of the approach paths. The route outlined above is a little over 5 km long, with around 190m of height to ascend/descend. There are no refreshment stops on the route, but there are various options in the center of Zbraslav.

Note: click ‘Show on map’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• If starting walk from Zbraslav railway station, cross the road and walk 100m towards the road bridge over the Vltava, in order to connect to the hiking trails
• Just before the bridge (at the tourist information board) join the BLUE hiking trail. Climb the steps, cross the road and then continue on the trail for 300m to reach the Břežanské údolí signpost. This is also where the small car park is located
• At the signpost, continue on the BLUE trail for 1.5 km to reach the trail junction Hradiště. There, join the YELLOW trail which leads to the summit and lookout tower
• From the summit area, continue on the YELLOW trail for a further 200m before turning left (at map point 5) to join a wide unmarked path that circles back down the western flank of the hill, returning back to the Hradiště junction after 700m
• At the junction, join the GREEN trail, which leads directly back to the station (and/or car park) after 1.9 km