Suitable for: adults
Length: 11.5 km
Duration: 120-180 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Surface: tiles, asphalt, natural unpaved road
How to get there: Get to Strakonice by public transport or by car; parking at the Strakonice castle or brewery).
Refreshment points: Strakonice
The trail begins under the Jelenka tower at the Strakonice castle, where there is the fi rst information board of the nature trail of Švanda the bagpiper, and we can learn who Švanda the bagpiper, actually was. We continue over the Jan Palach bridge, through a linden alley lying along the right bank of the Otava River to the bridge on Ellerova street. Aft er crossing it, the trail continues along the left bank of the river to the replica of the prehistoric Stonehenge sanctuary. From there, the trail goes downhill through the former mill drive around Splávek restaurant, behind it to the left under the bridge below Lidická street up to MUDr. K. Hradecký street. The trail continues upwards and to the left up to Nerudova street and at the crossroads to the right on the sidewalk along Radomyšlská street. Here we begin to gradually ascend to the gallows hill called “Šibeniční vrch”. Turning through the gardens brings us to the fi eld footpath and then in the wooded terrain outside the town we go up to the top. The beaten path runs past the transmitter and further through the hills of Ryšová and Hliníčná. Along the margin of the Kuřidla hill, we head back to the suburban part of Dražejov, where Švanda the bagpiper, played for the joy of it. Through the village of Virt, we will return to the Otava river. Along the Otava cycle path No. 12, we run to the Podskalí of Strakonice around the brewery, turn to the footbridge across the river and back to the Strakonice castle.
1. Strakonice castle
2. Museum of Central Otava Region of Strakonice
3. Church of Procopius of Sázava
4. Castle safari
5. Stonehenge replica
6. Šibeník Hill
7. Natural Monument of Ryšová
8. Hliničná hill – signpost
9. Kuřidlo nature reserve
10. Chapel of St. John of Nepomuk in Dražejov
11. Podskalí – statue of Dorothy
12. Church of St. Margaret