Autumn in the Adršpach countryside

Fairytale rock towns

In deep silence and gloomy weather, the majesty of the rock towers is even more breathtaking than on a sunny day. Apart from Adršpach, there are several rock towns and table mountains in the Broumov region and the adjacent Polish border area that are definitely worth a visit. The largest rock town in Teplice is accessible on foot from Adršpach via the Wolf's Gully and a day trip in the short autumn days is a must. Other rock towns can be found on the Ostaš Table Mountain near Police nad Metují. If you venture beyond the border, you can go to the Bludné Rocks, which are located on the top of the legendary Mount Bor. In the same Polish Table Mountains National Park, you'll also find Mala and Velika Hejšovina, where a hiking trail leads along the very top of Table Mountain with spectacular views. Other rock labyrinths and gorges can be found in the Broumov Walls, but we will devote a separate chapter to these.

Zdoňov animal menhirs

The Crossroads Nature Reserve is a magical rock town on Crossroads Hill, opposite the rock town in Adršpach. It is smaller, but as a result very few people come here. A number of protected birds nest here, including the peregrine falcon. It takes its name from the Way of the Cross, which is a set of cast-iron plaques depicting scenes from the 17th-century Way of Jesus on the rock. The route to the nature reserve of the Way of the Cross starts in Dolní Adršpach along the yellow trail. You can also start from the village of Zdoňov (also on the yellow trail) and on the way, take a detour from the chapel of St. John of Nepomuk to the mysterious ruins of the Church of Panna Marie or Zbořeňák. You then return to the chapel and continue on through the Hrnčířské údolí past the Zdoňov menhirs, an art project dedicated to the animal kingdom. It was created by an international art group from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Slovenia and the USA under the leadership of Slovenian UNESCO Ambassador Marek Pogačnik. Each stone is dedicated to a different animal and represents a different power or element. In Zdoňov, you can stop at the renowned restaurant Kovářova kobyla, where they cook honest seasonal dishes from local ingredients and you can also stay in local apartments.

Around the castle on horseback

That the world is most beautiful from horseback? You can see for yourself here. Horseback rides are offered by the Tom Adventure agency at tomadventure.org. You can ride in the Jirásek Rocks, where the settlement of Skály, the highest village in the Hradec Králové Region, is located. The ruins of a Gothic castle, formerly known as Katzenstein, stand on a rocky ridge above a black lake. Below the castle lies the Bischofstein Castle, which was built in 1666 as a summer residence for the bishop of Hradec Kralove, Karl Sobek of Bílinberk. The place is also suitable for hiking trips, you can take a day trip from Adršpach and go to the Čapí vrch lookout tower, which offers beautiful views of the panorama of the Teplice Rocks.

Broumov Monastery and Baroque churches

Broumov Monastery is one of the most important Baroque monuments in the Hradec Králové Region and since 1995 it has also been a National Cultural Monument. The monastery was built in the seventeenth century and has recently undergone revitalization. This involved not only the building itself, but also the almost three-hectare monastery garden. The monastery houses a unique monastic library, which contains seventeen thousand books. In the church of St. Vojtěch, you will be amazed by the beautiful decoration and especially by the rare copy of the Shroud of Turin (in the Shroud there is an imprint of the reclining Jesus Christ). The monastery hosts many cultural events or lectures throughout the year, and there is also a café and restaurant on the premises. For more information about tours of the monastery, the underground, the library and the medieval writing room, visit klasterbroumov.cz. History and architecture lovers will also appreciate the so-called Broumov Group of Churches, a set of ten Baroque churches built between 1709 and 1743 according to the plans of Kryštof and Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer. The churches are considered to be the Baroque pearls of the region and each of them is an architectural gem.

Sauna, Špičák, shooting range

Via Teplice and Meziměstí you can reach the Javoří Mountains in twenty minutes, a border belt of hills whose highest point is the Ruprechtice peak. The hike up the little-traveled hill starts in the village of Ruprechtice, where there is a small parking lot at the very end of the village. You can choose a steeper route along the yellow trail or a gentler one along the blue cycle trail. The latter joins the blue hiking ridge below the summit. There is a lookout tower at the top of the hill and the hike can be done in less than an hour. On the way back, you can stop in the Walzel Intermediate Centre, which was built in the former mechanical weaving mill of Josef Walzel. Here you will find the restaurant Švejk, a sauna, a salt cave, a climbing wall, an indoor shooting range or a bowling alley. In the spacious restaurant they cook honest Old Bohemian cuisine, have great beer on tap and sometimes they even organize a "schnitzel feast"!

Historical Kladsko and the "Czech Corner"

Kladsko is a historic town in Lower Silesia with a rich history of over a thousand years. It was founded in the Kladsko Basin, on the Kladská Nisa River, which rises at the foot of the Králický Sněžník. You will find many historical monuments here, such as the Gothic bridge, which is said to be a miniature of the Charles Bridge in Prague. However, it is not nearly as big and long and does not even cross the river, but only over the mill embankment, the so-called Mlynówka. The Gothic bridge was completed at the end of the fourteenth century, and the statues were added later, as in Prague, at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Their production was financed by the wealthy townspeople of Kladsko, and in contrast to the Charles Bridge, where there are fifteen of them, the bridge in Kladsko has only six.

In Kladsko you will also find a large fortress with casemates, underground passages under the Old Town, the Church of the Assumption of the Panna Maria, the Franciscan Church with a monastery or the Museum of the Kladsko Land.

Kladsko is located in the southwestern part of Poland, in the promontory which is still called "Czech Corner". It is not uncommon to speak Czech here, there are Czech signs and it is possible to pay in Czech crowns.

Gorge in the Broumov Walls

Another place that will delight you is the Broumov Walls. The ten-kilometre long and very narrow ridge is decorated with numerous rock formations such as the Slavenské Hřiby or the Kamenná brána. On the ridge you will also find the Chapel of Panna Maria Sněžná or the classic wooden mountain hut Hvězda, which is open all year round and is very accessible by car, parking is almost on the ridge. The walk from the hut between the rock formations to the so-called Rock Theatre is not long and is also suitable for families with small children.

We would like to introduce you to two routes leading through the most beautiful rock gorges in the area.The first one is Kovář gorge, which leads to the ridge from the village of Hlavňov. The gorge is wooded, steep in places and lined with beautiful rock towers. In the lower part you will find the Marian Cave, then the trail leads up to the main ridge.At the top, you can enjoy the view of the Broumov basin from the lookout with the name Eagle's Nest.

The second is the Třešňová gorge, which you can reach from the village of Martínkovice on the north side of the walls or the red hiking trail from Slavný will lead you here. The gorge is surrounded by high sandstone towers with devilish themes, such as Lucifer, Trepifajskl or Káča Máša. At the bottom of the gorge there is a cave, the so-called macarat, which often holds ice until summer. From Slavný, take the yellow trail to reach the Stone Gate and other beautiful sights. And if you've already seen all of this, the guides from Tom Adventure will be happy to take you on a tour of this unique macarat or to one of the many other gorges where there are no roads at all.

Spa in Kudowa-Zdrój

Kudowa Zdrój is a spa town with a tradition of more than six hundred years and is located next to the town of Náchod. The heart of the town is the spa park, located in a historic building from 1853 at the foot of Góra Parkowa. The spa is popular mainly due to its year-round favourable climate and picturesque setting with a colonnade and a large spa park. There is a swimming pool for the public as well as a publicly accessible wellness pool with sauna, whirlpools and a water slide at the Verde Montana Hotel. There are many nice patisseries with famous Polish pastries and restaurants, such as the popular trout fryers.

Magical Police and its museums

Police nad Metují is a small town whose main square Masaryk Square was declared a municipal conservation area in 1990. Right on the square, take a drink from the Julinka spring, where locals go to sip crystal clear water springing from a large underground water reservoir, the so-called Police Chalk Basin. Not far from the square is an old timbered school, and in Police nad Metují there is also a unique museum that maps the history and present of the most famous Czech toy - the Merkur building set. Among other things, you will see the largest building made from this building set "Steel City". In addition to the Merkur Museum, you will also find the Museum of Paper Models, which is the only one of its kind in the country. On a three hundred square meter exhibition you will find almost two thousand exhibits made of paper, representing architecture, cars, planes, ships, military technology, science fiction and fantasy, railways and lots of figurines.

Joyful creation and art gallery

Bring the kids? The unique Children's Gallery Lapidarium in the Broumov Monastery will introduce them and playful adults to the world of contemporary art in a very friendly way. The exhibitions bring alive themes, techniques and artistic media through creative accompanying programmes, interactive elements and installation. It organizes exhibitions and workshops - for children, youth and adults. In December, for example, the program includes sewing bags and kidney bags from art and advertising banners, or the children's workshop "Leporelo", which was created for the current exhibition of Klaudia Hlavatá - Eclipse. Children and parents can make their own folding book full of collage pictures and stories.