Tips for trips

Toulovec Stables

  • 15 km from Litomyšl and Poličky, cycling path no. 4021

The Toulovec Stables (Toulovcovy Maštale) are a protected natural monument with an area of 1083.6 hectares situated between Budislav, Proseč and Nové Hrady. The rocks are made of cretaceous limestone of marine origin. As a result of wind and water erosion deep gorges were created. The gradual weathering and freestone separation caused rocks and canyons with bizarre shapes to be carved out. The area is associated with the legend of the robber knight, Vavřinec Toulovec, who hid in the rock seams with his entourage. That is why the term Toulovec Stables is still used. The most attractive features are: the Urban Stables (Městské maštale), Columbus’ Egg (Kolumbovo vejce), the Pulpit (Kazatelna), the Dudych Cave (Dudychova jeskyně) and the Lord’s Table (Panský stůl). The terrain is made accessible by a dense network of marked paths, offering the possibility of tours.

Košumberk Castle

  • 25 km from Litomyšl, 2.5 hours by bicycle

Košumberk Castle is located on a mountain above the Novohradky valley. It was built around 1300. After a fire in 1573 it was repaired in the Renaissance style by the Slavata family from Chlum and Košumberk, who owned the castle. After the Thirty Years’ War, when the Slavata family was reduced to poverty, they sold the castle to the Jesuits of Hradec Kralové. The Thurn-Taxis family were the last owner of the castle. Now the ruins are accessible and in the burgrave’s building there is a museum with collections relating to the castle and the Hamsova treatment center in Luži.

Nové Hrady Chateau

  • 15 km from Litomyšl, 1 hour by bicycle on cycling path no. 4021

The castle was built by Z. Kostka from Postupic in the middle of the 15th century on the hill called Starý zámek. Of the circular castle only a part of the wall and ramparts survives. The entire hill was later adapted into a park. In 1767 a Way of the Cross was created on the south side. A new chateau was built during the years 1774-1777 by Jan Antonin Harbuval-Chamaré. The building material from the old castle was used for its construction. In 1804 the entire rococo chateau was completed, and it remains preserved in its original form up to the present (Czech Versailles). In 1997 Petr and Magda Kučera from Prague bought the chateau and since that time the chateau has been undergoing extensive reconstruction and modernization. The celebratory opening of the chateau took place on June 16th 2001. In the courtyard a new rococo garden with fountains and boxwood hedges clipped in embroidery design was constructed. The granary and the rococo pavilion were also subject to reconstruction. Now the second courtyard, garden house and the chateau guest house are under construction.

Little Pink Meadow

  • 7 km from Litomyšl, cycling trail No. 4021

A memorial near the village of Morašice (a piece of land about 340 meters square), with a special kind of steppe vegetation, Rosa gallica. The area is connected with many legends, such as one that the farewells of those exiled from their homeland after the Battle of the White Mountain took place here. In 1921 a memorial was unveiled to the memory of the Czech Brethren and J.A. Komensky.

Nedošínský Grove

  • 3 km from Litomyšl, cycling path no. 4021

A national nature preserve with an area of 30.7 hectares created for the protection of an oak-hornbeam forest. Together with the neighboring ponds, it forms an important ornithological site. What was originally the Vratička manor park was remodeled into a romantic park with numerous pavilions and temples in the early 19th century. Until 1856 it was a location for student celebrations (and was the setting for Jirásek’s novel Philosophical History - Filozofská Historie). Now only the stone chapel of St. Anthony, located above the spring, remains. An educational nature trail with 9 stops runs through the grove.

Velký Košíř educational trail

  • 2.5 km from Litomyšl, cycling path no. 4021

The educational trail winds around the Velký Košíř pond near Litomyšl. One of the oldest East Bohemian ponds, its surroundings serve as an important ornithological site. In this location 179 types of birds, of which 72 nest here permanently,have been observed. It has four stops with information panels. The information panels will introduce you to the local fauna and flora. Many types are already rare in the Czech Republic. The attentive viewer will see small crakes, speckled crakes, bitterns or ferruginous ducks. Among the singing birds here are bluethroats and Savi’s Warblers. Important representatives of pond life include amphibians such as common frogs, edible frogs, the European tree frog, smooth newt, fire-bellied toad and the common spadefoot toad. In the evening one can also spot bats, such as common noctules, Daubenton’s bats and whiskered bats. The trail joins the older trail in the Nedošínský Grove.

Kozlov

  • 9 km from Litomyšl, 45 min by bicycle

The village of Kozlov is connected with the work of the painter Max Švabinský (1873-1962), who lived there before WW I in a cottage belonging to the Vejrychova family. In the western wooden gable of the cottage there is an original painting – two supplicants and St. Wenceslas with plant ornamentation. In the cottage there are many authentic documents about the life and work of the artist.

The Kozlov hill is 601 meters above sea level. In 1933 the cottage of M. Švabinský was built on the hill. Today it is a pension with refreshments. 100 m from the cottage there is a standardized telecommunication and lookout tower.

Educational trail on Černá hora

  • 1 km, 10 min. by bicycle

Recently, paved paths with a total length of about 5 km were built in the forest on Černá hora, which is owned by the town, and a nature trail with information signs was also marked. The terrain can be used by walkers, runners and cyclists.

Svojanov Castle

  • 16 km from Polička, cycling path no. 4019

HThe castle was founded by Otakar II in 1265 for the protection of the Trstenice trail. Its appearance today is in the empire style after reconstruction following a fire in 1842 (the old chateau was not rebuilt). Since 1993 it has served as the location for the Svojanov Cultural Summer (Svojanovské kulturní léto) and the pilgrimage of puppeteers (Loutkářská pouť). The castle is accessible and includes a permanent exhibition of ceramics by Jan Kutalek.

Lukas’ singing lime

  • 11 km from Polička, 60 min by bicycle

A lime tree which is more than 700 years old – the oldest lime in the Czech Republic. In its hollowed trunk a deaf old scribe wrote and sang psalms.

Bystré u Polička

  • 13 km from Polička, 60 min. by bicycle, cycling path no. 4019

It was promoted to the status of a city by Charles IV in 1368, and one branch of the Trstenice trail leads through it. There is a Baroque town hall, church and parsonage here, as well as wooden log homes;Brtoun’s cottage is open, and there is a Renaissance chateau with an English-style park; today it serves as a nursing care center for young people.

Jimramov

  • 11 km from Polička, cycling path no. 4025

A small historical town founded in 1235, in 1643 it was burned down by the Swedes; after the publication of the Patent of Toleration it became a center for evangelists; it has a Renaissance chateau dating from 1586 and a former Gothic church rebuilt in the Baroque style, and is the birthplace of the writers the Mrštík brothers and Jan Karafiát, author of the Fireflies (Broučci) books for children.

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