Bohemian Switzerland along Gabrielle's Trail
One of the four national parks in the Czech Republic is a natural area called Bohemian Switzerland. Gabrielle’s Trail provides the most beautiful views of this national park, which is located near the border with Germany. It measures 8 km and was marked in 1892. One of its greatest attractions is the gem of Bohemian Switzerland - Pravčice Gate - a unique rock formation, which became the symbol of the national park. If you’re there, be sure to go on a boat ride through wild Edmund’s Gorge. The rocky canyon of the Kamenice River will be a great experience for your children.
How about a barefoot trip!
At the other end of the Czech Republic, in South Moravia, you’ll discover a path along which you walk without shoes in the town of Valtice. Its length is approximately 5 km, has eleven stops and leads from Reistna Colonnade to the neighboring Austrian village Schrattenberg. The surface of the trail is covered with various materials, so you can test whether your feet prefer pebbles, wood, sand, straw, pine cones or tree bark. In addition, the trail is lined with a variety of attractions: a watchtower, a swinging girder bridge anchored in chains, a slide, a deck with views of the surrounding area or a stone labyrinth. You will need approximately two hours for conquering the entire trail, the rest of the program will be taken care of by the Lednice-Valtice grounds, Lednice Chateau or a boat tour of the local castle park. The entire complex, which is listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site, can also be enjoyed by bicycle.
A look into the crowns of trees
You can experience lots of fun with your children on a remarkable trail that doesn’t lead through the nature on the ground, but takes you up above the treetops. It is the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic. It is open year-round, is fully wheelchair accessible, guides you through the forest at a height of 24 meters above ground and is approximately 500 meters long. At its end a 40 meter high observation tower is waiting for you, where you walk another few hundred meters on a spiral path to the top. Along the way you will be acquainted with interactive boards, multiple game elements and also enjoy a fantastic view of the Šumava Mountains, Lipno and the Novohradské Mountains. In clear visibility you can even see the distant peaks of the Alps. And whoever doesn’t want to walk on the way back can slide down the water slide and then enjoy other pleasures in Lipno Active Park.
Rock formations and underground caves
The wish to cool off from the hot weather at the rock formations and underground caverns can also be fulfilled in the Czech Republic. Its northeastern corner is renowned for diverse rock formations, for which it is best to go to Bohemian Paradise or the Adršpach-Teplice Rocks. The local tour route will take you up close to the rocks with a really wide range of shapes. You can thus look forward to the Sugar Loaf, the Elephant square or the Madonna with Child. If your children are not so attracted to heights, but rather mysterious underground spaces full of stalactite and stalagmite formations, take them to Moravian Karst. Its biggest attractions are both its 138 meters deep Macocha gorge (the deepest in the whole Czech Republic) as well as a ride on motor boats along the waters of the underground Punkva River, during which you can admire the stalactite formations of the Punkva Caves.