Admiring the rock city of Adršpach during a 5-day campervan roadtrip in Czechia
Majka and Jano love trips to the Czech Republic. Reading their blogs it’s not hard to understand why. This time, their main destination was Adršpach and it’s famous rock city. However, they saw and experienced much more along the way on their 2nd campervan roadtrip in Czechia.
If you also feel like dissappearing from the daily life for a few days, experiencing nature, culture and good food, all with a touch of adventure and the comfort of a campervan, perhaps this tip will come in handy to you.
Day 1
This is our third trip with the “Big Banana” campervan. I guess, we like this van a lot. We had long talked about wanting to see Adršpach, the rock city, and its surroundings. When we decided it’s time to get to action, we didn’t hesitate to book the Big Banana and go for this campervan roadtrip in Czechia.
The almost winter-like weather did not discourage us. We chose to go during the public holidays in May, because we wanted to avoid the main tourist season, explore everything calmly, and make use of a day off work. Unlike autumn, 15°C in spring feels more manageable, and the weather forecast for the coming days was quite good, so we set off on Friday morning.
Packing for the roadtrip
This time we opted for slightly lighter packing and took more practical items, as we had a lot of unnecessary things on our previous trips. We also needed more space in the campervan since we brought both of our dogs with us this time and we didn’t want to keep rearranging things in the car all the time.
Kutná hora
After a brief discussion, we decided to dedicate the first day to the town of Kutná Hora and its surroundings. Since it’s a longer journey, we decided to buy a Czech highway vignette, which shortened the journey by about an hour (despite our love for country roads where you can admire the surroundings).
The jurney to Kutná Hora from Bratislava took around 3.5 hours. We only stopped somewhere along the way to let the dogs run. For our first stop, we chose St. Barbara’s Church, where we could also park directly. There’s plenty to see inside the church, beautiful decorations, stained glass windows, paintings, an organ, viewpoints, all taking about three-quarters of an hour.
Right behind the church are vineyards, beautiful surroundings, a view of the city, a gallery, and the opportunity to walk through the old town. A short walk from the church is a small brewery with a view of the city; we recommend taking a break there for a beer or coffee.
The sights of Kutná hora
There’s plenty to see in Kutná Hora; we bought a combined ticket for the church, cathedral, and Kostnice, which was cheaper than buying separate tickets.
The Cathedral of St. Mary and the Kostnice are next to each other; however, you need to drive from the church to the cathedral.
The cathedral is modestly decorated compared to the church, but since it was included in the ticket, we visited it, but we would recommend something else, such as the Silver Museum (for us it would take too long to visit and we wanted to move on to the next stops).
Kostnice is a must-see; beneath the church in the cemetery is a decoration made of human bones with an interesting history. A short distance from it is the Lego museum with a shop. However, we do not recommend refreshments there. Next to it is also an interesting souvenir shop worth stopping by if you’re looking for unusual pieces.
After touring the town, we took the dogs for an uphill walk to the lookout tower – Rozhledna Havířská Bouda. You can go up there; although it’s for a fee, there’s a restaurant and an elevator, but we just walked around it and continued the hike.
Parking for the night
Since we wanted to be closer to the next day’s program, we decided to drive a bit further and parked on the hill at the Zvičina ski resort, where the Reisova cottage restaurant with excellent food and beer is located. They have a large parking lot where it’s not a problem to stay overnight, watch the sunset, and have a good meal. There’s even a small church where it’s worth taking a look. Taking dogs on walks around here is also not a problem; there’s plenty of places to go.
Day 2
In the morning, we quickly walked around the surroundings of Reisova cottage. There are a few wooden sculptures, a television transmitter, and even the Treehouse Zvičina, where you can pay to stay in a tree.
Les Království Dam
Quick breakfast, and our journey led to the village of Nemojov, where the Les Království Dam is located. This is something that you definitely need to see, there is a beautiful bridge over the dam with small towers, although you’ll see it all in around 15 minutes, it’s worth a visit if you’re nearby.
Peklo (Hell)
Because of the dogs, we decided to head towards Peklo (translates as “hell”). A beautiful place by the Metuje River, with endless hiking opportunities. We took an easy route along the river, but there are plenty of options; the nature is beautiful, just pick one.
Broumovsko
For lunch, we decided not to cook, and since our next steps were towards the Protected Landscape Area of Broumovsko, we found lunch at a small bistro by the pond – Hospudka Ryba na hrázi. Nice terrace with a view of the pond, food at reasonable prices, and close to a forest crossroad that lead to a beautiful but gloomy building – Ticháček’s Chapel. Again, a place worth a visit, a path perfect for dogs. Even with taking pictures and stopping to admire the views, it’s a relatively easy hour-long hike.
Parking for the second night
We found a place to sleep through the Park4night app, at the Kaple Hvězda parking lot. It’s a small parking lot where we shared the night with four other campers. It’s busy during the day, but at night it’s completely quiet, and the surroundings are definitely worth it.
Day 3
In the morning, we woke up to gradually increasing number of cars and tourists. About 200m from the parking lot is a chapel (Kaple Panny Marie Sněžné), which offers a beautiful view of the surroundings, and the Hvězda tourist chalet, whose opening hours are a mystery.
Broumov Walls
We then went on around an hour-long hike, which was quite challenging with dogs (stairs, rocks, steep ascents/descents…), but it’s one of the most beautiful things we saw on this trip. The Broumov Walls (Brumovské stěny) offer beautiful natural scenery; the trail swivels directly among the rocks – it’s called the Skalní divadlo (translates as “the rocky theatre”).
Again, there are plenty of options; we chose one with the most to see according to the map. For hiking (even in Slovakia), we always use the Mapy.cz app; it’s reliable, shows even non-touristic forest roads and trails, but it’s always a good idea to download the area you’re going to, to your phone, to be able to access it offline.
We ended our stay in this area with a quick stop at the Suchodolská waterfall, which is a smaller waterfall with a mini-lake. You can park the car and walk to the waterfall in about 15 minutes; the trail is absolutely easy.
Adršpach Rock City
In the afternoon, it was time for the main program of the trip, the Adršpach Rocks. We recommend buying tickets in advance (buy them here) along with parking, as capacity is limited both for entry and parking. They have the information easily accessible on their website, so you can find out how many spaces are available when and you can even catch a time when there are fewer visitors (after 2 pm, I think the admission is cheaper).
Again, there are more options for what to see, but since we had already spent half a day walking, based on the recommendation at the infocenter, we chose “just” a tour of the Adršpach Rock City (it took us 3 hours in the end). Here, too, is an option to take an easier route where you can go with dogs or a stroller, but we recommend going without, as many beautiful things are more difficult to access, there are narrow passages between rocks, lots of climbing/descending narrow stairs, in some places it is overcrowded, and you can only walk one by one.
Along the route through the rock city, you have the opportunity to see not only breathtaking rock formations but also, for example, a flooded quarry, a waterfall, a chapel, several viewpoints, take a boat ride on the lake… We won’t elaborate on this further because we might not finish. In short: if you’re in the area, definitely go; it’s one of the most beautiful things in nature. You can also turn off the route to the Teplice Rocks (Teplické skály), but we didn’t have time or energy for that.
Campsite for the third night
After the third day, we opted for parking with services. On our route we found a campsite called Kemp Western Vochtánka Potštejn. They have a bar with food and beers, showers, toilets, and a huge meadow for the overnight stay. You won’t be in anybody’s way here, that’s for sure. Next to the campsite flows the Divoká Orlice river. Directly above it, you can climb up to the ruins of Potštejn Castle.
We were satisfied with the campsite’s services; we refilled water here, and the lady at the campsite even gave us plenty of tips on what to see in the area.
Day 4
Helfštýn Castle
After a long morning walk in the local nature, we agreed that after the previous challenging days, we’ll only choose easy stops from now on. For an easier journey home, we looked at interesting sights that could appeal to us on the way to Slovakia. We found them in the area of Olomouc, so we decided to explore this part of the country. Our first stop on the way back was the ruin – Helfštýn Castle. It’s quite large, under reconstruction, with a very nice view of the surroundings. There’s also a cable car and the opportunity for a walk in the forest right by the parking lot.
Hranice town
About 10 minutes by car from there is the town of Hranice, where there’s much to discover. We chose the Hranice Abyss – the deepest abyss in the world. There isn’t as much to see there as, for example, at Macocha. The abyss is only partly dry; most of it is flooded. However, the path to it is a nice walk, with an educational trail. Opposite it are the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves, but they were closed during our visit.
Campsite for the fourth night
We found a place to spend the night directly in Hranice, at the AMK Kemp Hranice campsite. A nice place at a great price, with showers, toilets, the possibility of refilling water and connecting to electricity, a bar with food and drinks open until late.
Day 5
Kroměříž
On the last day, we didn’t rush anywhere. The task was to finish the food and find something interesting on the way back home. That something interesting we found in the town of Kroměříž. From many options, we chose the Flower Garden (Květná záhrada). It’s quite large, and our visit took approximately 1.5 hours. There’s plenty to see, several greenhouses, a huge rotunda, a colonnade with statues of Greek gods, fountains, mazes of living hedges… garden enthusiasts will enjoy it.
The journey back to Bratislava
For the rest of the day we just travelled home and tidied up the car, which we then returned to Martina and Peter. We refilled the water only once on the way, the gas was enough for us, although we basically only brewed coffee, tea, and reheated food cooked at home in advance. We also didn’t need electricity; we returned the campervam with a battery charged to 100%.
After the third trip with Big Banana, we’re already planning the next one… 🙂 Thanks, purecampers.
What to pack for a campervan trip with a purecampers van?
food and drinks (ground coffee, salt, sugar, spices and cooking oil are part of the kitchen equipment), coal if you want to use the small grill available in the camper, coffee beans and a grinder if you prefer freshly ground coffee (Mokka coffee maker is in the camper), toilet paper, head lamps, clothes and sports equipment that you need
