Do you like hiking in the mountains while avoiding overcrowded tourist spots? That’s exactly our idea of a pleasant week’s holiday. Four to five days nicely on the move. About 20 km in your legs every day.
To finish off, two or three days of relaxation and well-deserved rest in a wellness center. Simply a great week-long holiday, even during the summer break when there are crowds of people everywhere.
Because finding places where you won’t meet anyone all day is possible even during the summer holidays here in the Czech Republic. Fortunately, the Czech tourist is an adaptable creature: when you forbid them from traveling to Thailand, they’ll find a way to travel around our picturesque country.
This article describes a holiday almost without people during the first year of COVID. How we plan such a trip and what we experienced on it. Two adults set off during the summer holidays. The route is passable from spring to autumn.
Itinerary
We prefer loops where we start and end at the same place. It’s not always possible to plan such a loop, so option two is to have the possibility of returning to the start by bus or ideally by train. Which was also our case for the trip across the Ore Mountains.
We don’t want to travel with a full pack, but as light as possible if we can. Just with clothes, water, and a few basic necessities. When planning, we try to take several things into account.
Availability of accommodation on the required dates
Some prefer a tent or sleeping under the stars and preparing meals over a stove. For us, a soft bed and a roof over our heads at the end of the day is a more interesting option. So we adapt the route to the availability of housing.
Finding a place to stay isn’t rocket science, but having it on an interesting route and within a manageable walking distance? That can be a bit of a nut to crack.
Route
The requirements for the trip route might seem quite simple at first. We want to walk on hiking trails, not on the road, have nice scenery along the way, and come across an interesting spot every day. If possible, meet no one, but then again, a cozy pub by the road at lunchtime shouldn’t be missing.
Walk through forests and meadows, visit picturesque villages, and enjoy the views of the landscape.
At the end of the day, pleasant accommodation, a chance to get something to eat, and a good drink must be waiting for us. A simple requirement gets a bit complicated, but for us, it’s still nothing unrealistic.
Choosing the location starts
at home in the warmth by the computer. The first thing I open is Mapy.com. I’ve already walked the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše) back and forth, and going there during the summer holidays is nonsense, travel suicide; an idea worthy of tourist masochists and rookies. There are more people there than on Wenceslas Square in Prague. The Ore Mountains catch my eye.
After exploring the map, I choose the northern part between Chomutov and Ústí nad Labem. The mountains stretch above towns like Most, Litvínov, Chomutov, Jirkov, Teplice, Hrob, and Ústí nad Labem.
Just saying the names of these towns causes uncontrollable shaking in many people. Excluded localities where—if you don’t have to—you often don’t even want to slow down. For us, a guarantee that there will be a minimum of people.
Yet the nature here is beautiful too and besides the mentioned towns in the foothills, above them you’ll find chateaus, waterfalls, adits, old navigation canals, Hora sv.. Kateřiny, Fláje reservoir, Český Jiřetín, Moldava or Cínovec.
And you can always cross over to the German side of the Ore Mountains, which we also did several times.
Route
At this point, it’s mainly about clicking on the map. Route from here > Route to here. Finding out how long a given section is and how many hours it takes to cross it.
In a second window next to it, I open Booking.com and look at the concentration of accommodation capacities. I don’t have any exact verified procedure, but gradually, as I click and try different variants, a route starts to take shape on the map.
First place, is there any accommodation? Yes… Next place that can be reached and where there’s accommodation. This is how I work my way to the goal and an approximate route step by step.
Then I move to the second window with Booking.com and start looking for vacancies for specific days. If nothing is free, I try to re-plan the route elsewhere. In the end, this turned out to be the best option, also considering free accommodation:
- Start in the afternoon in Jirkov, where we’ll leave the car by the station and hope it lasts there for four days. A short transfer to the chateau where we have accommodation.
- The second day to Germany to the edge of Kurort Seiffen, where a pleasant campsite and a fully equipped cabin await us.
- The third day via the Fláje reservoir along the beautiful old Fláje navigation canal to Český Jiřetín.
- From there via Moldava all the way to Cínovec. On the morning of the last day, a transfer to the train in Dubí, from where we’ll take a railcar back to the start in Jirkov and then zoom off by car for a well-deserved wellness stay in Karlovy Vary.
- Two days in Vary as the icing on the cake.
In total, we’ll have almost 70 km in our legs over four days and stay for four nights.
Route summary
Accommodation
After moving to Karlovy Vary
Interesting places
- Červený Hrádek Chateau
- Ore Mountain Folk House
- Hláska Lookout Tower
- Lichtenwald Hunting Lodge
- Mikuláš Adit
- Fláje Dam
- Fláje Navigation Canal
- Half-timbered house, Český Jiřetín
- Moldava
- Pramenáč Adit
Ore Mountains budget:
- Accommodation (2 people): 6,500 CZK
- Food and drink: 5,200 CZK
Karlovy Vary:
- Accommodation (2 people, 5-star hotel): 8,500 CZK
- Food and drink: 3,000 CZK
Route map and itinerary
The route is HERE.
Jirkov
A place where—if you don’t have to—you don’t really want to be. We arrived only in the afternoon, parked at one of the many apartment blocks near the station, and set off on foot to the start of our journey, which was Červený Hrádek Chateau.
And that was a different story altogether.
The beautiful chateau where we spent the first night is also a hotel. Have you ever slept in a castle? Here you have the chance—and even for quite silly money.
The price from 500 CZK per person is absolutely luxurious for that experience. Of course, you can also have the royal suite, where the price per night starts at a still pleasant 2,800 CZK.
Day one on the road
In the morning we get up, have a hearty breakfast, which was a great finishing touch to this accommodation, and head towards Germany. Exactly 20 km of forested landscape awaits us, where we didn’t meet a single tourist along the way.
Very rarely were we lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of the local residents.
When we were careless and they spotted us, they disappeared into their dwellings within moments. It is probably a very shy, endangered Ore Mountain species. There were… truly enough to count on the fingers of one hand.
Approximately halfway through the route, we arrived at Lesná, where there is a successful replica of the Ore Mountain Folk House. A small hotel and restaurant where we had the chance to quench our thirst.
Lesná was the first place where we finally managed to see more people at once who weren’t shy and didn’t run away. After a short observation, we discovered it was a human species called Tourist in a Car. They arrived, walked around the area, got in, and left.
We definitely recommend visiting the folk house and museum. You can read more information about the whole project at muzeumlesna.eu. Lesná was a pleasant, refreshing stop for the body (beer) and soul (museum).
Just before crossing the border to our neighbors in Germany, we decided to climb Hora sv. Kateřiny, where the local historical lookout tower Hláska stands on Růžový vrch.
Alas, it was Monday and Hláska wasn’t “proclaiming,” it was closed.
So we redirected our steps to the local, and only pub for miles around, with the poetic name Horský domov (Mountain Home). That’s where all the poetry ends. It’s a pub where time stopped somewhere in 1980… which is actually also poetic.
The landlady hosted us properly and well. Only the local regulars kept looking at us somewhat distrustfully. We didn’t understand why, but eventually, it was explained. When we went out for the second time for an e-cigarette, the landlady sidled up and said—you can do that in here too, you don’t have to go outside.
Then she leaned in even closer and whispered a tricky question—do you want an ashtray? Wink, wink. When we nodded somewhat uncomprehendingly, her smile spread from ear to ear.
Suddenly, ashtrays appeared on all the tables and the local crowd began impatiently lighting one cigarette after another. Suddenly we tasted what it used to be like in the old days when smoking was still allowed in pubs. Retro as hell.
Properly fortified and smelly, we headed further towards the border. Our legs were starting to send signals to the brain that it was getting quite long, but we still had a few final kilometres and then accommodation in Germany.
For this stop, we chose Hotel and campsite Ahornberg, where they had very nice, fully equipped cabins available, including a bathroom and kitchenette. We snagged one for ourselves and spent the rest of the evening looking into the valley and at the minigolf.
Fláje – day two
After breakfast, which was sort of East German, continental, and unfortunately a bit weak, we set off on another 20km route. The goal was Český Jiřetín. We were to stay just across the border, so again in Germany, in a completely ordinary pension Grenzhof.
Nothing else was available for our chosen dates. Thanks to the pension operator, our stay eventually became quite extraordinary.
Hiking trails on the German part of the Ore Mountains mostly lead through meadows. The Ore Mountains descend gradually there, and you have beautiful views of the landscape along the way.
The route is spiced up by ubiquitous raspberry bushes, so you’re constantly stopping and feeding on raspberries.
Gradually we crossed the border back to our dear Czech motherland and headed towards the Fláje reservoir. This reservoir was created on the Fláje stream in 1963 for the purpose of supplying water to the foothills of the Ore Mountains.
The dam wall is concrete, pillared (meaning hollow inside), and the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic (another similar one is as far as Switzerland). Height 58 m, length 459 m. A respectable structure.
It’s possible to arrange a tour, which we unfortunately weren’t lucky enough to do. It was Tuesday—and they’re closed then. Plus, you need to make a reservation in advance. So when you go this way, don’t forget to book.
Fortunately, the old Fláje navigation canal is accessible year-round and perhaps even more interesting. It is the oldest technical monument of its kind in Bohemia.
The Fláje navigation canal was created to ensure the transport of wood for the town of Freiberg. They needed it for smelters and mines, but also as building material and for heating. Construction of the canal took five years and they built the whole thing between 1624 and 1629.
The navigation canal started in Fláje, which is now a dam, and ended in the village of Clausnitz. There it flowed into the Freiberg Mulde, or Moldava, which also rises on our territory, along which the wood was transported further to Freiberg.
When building the navigation canal, a decent height difference of 150 m had to be overcome, and that only over a distance of 18.2 km, which was the length of the canal. And this is what it looks like there today.
The path along the Fláje canal led us all the way to Český Jiřetín, where we—already quite famished—ducked into the first open pub and had a proper meal.
It wasn’t bad, but a pity, because the accommodation was literally just a few meters from us and we would have eaten much better there. We only realized that the moment we moved to pension Grenzhof.
We were welcomed by a Vietnamese man smiling from ear to ear, who turned out to be the operator, maybe even the owner of the pension and the Vietnamese restaurant on the ground floor.
The first thing out of him was “oh, you two, I thought one” and laughter. Then he says: “Oh, you Czechs, that’s good, I no speak German.” Then he took us to the room and says: “I no have that, that… eeee…” Eventually we understood he meant a second duvet. So he took us to another room. No have that here either. Only the third one was ready for two people and had bedding and duvets for two.
We were the only guests in the whole pension. You could see the pension had seen better days, but it was clean and warm. The breakfast was absolutely phenomenal and probably the best thing we had on our trek. The constantly grinning Vietnamese man, who didn’t know a word of German, running a pension and restaurant in Germany, won us over.
We chose the pension because it was the only one free in the area for our dates, and in the end, it was a blast of an experience. We can only recommend it. The price / Vietnamese specialties ratio was unbeatable.
To Cínovec
The next day another 20 km awaits us and we’re really feeling it in our legs. After an absolutely fancy breakfast from the Vietnamese man, we set off along the border on the German side towards Moldava.
We’re in the mountains, but up here there are either long gradual hills going up or down. Roads without turns and visibility (of the roads) is measured in kilometers.
Again, we don’t meet a soul, to the point where it’s starting to get suspicious. In the middle of the summer holidays, in the mountains—and no one anywhere. Paths made for hiking and cycling. Eventually, we manage to meet three cyclists.
Just before the border, we pass through the small German village of Teichhaus, where we turn towards the Czech Republic. You’ll hardly even notice the state border. The hiking trails have long been unified and marked on both the German and Czech sides. Only the signposts are a bit different for the Germans.
As soon as we cross the border, the first houses of Moldava start to appear. I was here for the first time many, many years ago when Moldava was still a ski resort with a slope. Nothing is left of that.
The village is very nice, but you can see it lacks tourist traffic. Famished, we sit in the first pub we come across (Restaurace u Bizona) and have lunch. Then we don’t linger much and head further.
The route leads us to the Moldava station, which has also seen its best years. We find out that only here is the center of Moldava with the municipal office, shops, and a gas station. Probably because of the larger border crossing, most people have moved here. Near the station, there are a few interesting signs with the history of the area, from which you can see that it was very lively here, especially in winter.
We still have a good few kilometers ahead of us, so we just have a quick coffee and trek on to Cínovec.
Originally I had planned to stay at the beautiful Hotel Krušnohorský Dvůr, where our sore feet would surely have received great care. Unfortunately, it was fully booked, which we regretted again as we passed it on the way.
We squeezed back a tear probably caused by the pain in our feet, which had 20 km a day behind them for the third time, and continued on to hotel Pomezí, where our room was waiting. In the end, even this hotel turned out to be a good choice.
You could see it was intended more for schools and it must be quite a wild place, especially in winter. But we arrived so exhausted that we didn’t really care where we slept. We were mainly interested in food and drink. So we first dealt with our growling stomachs, washed it down with a beer, and only then figured out what room we had and where we could take a shower.
The room was pleasant, there was nothing to complain about at all. The next morning, the last few kilometers and the move to Karlovy Vary awaited us.
To the train and to Vary
From Cínovec we ran down the last 5 km from the mountains towards the Dubí train stop, which is still very high above the town. An old train from Moldava runs through it, which dropped us off in Most. There we hopped onto something a bit more modern and in a while we were in Jirkov. The whole train journey, including the transfer, took only an hour and a few minutes.
We found the car in Jirkov in the same place and condition as we left it. We were quite relieved. High time to head towards Karlovy Vary, where we planned to refresh ourselves after the 65km route.
Karlovy Vary
We didn’t intend to underestimate anything for recovery and regeneration, so we planned two days of spa right away. I was in charge of the route around the Ore Mountains, my girlfriend took Vary on her shoulders.
She handled the task perfectly and secured the Luxury Spa Hotel Olympic Palace. A hotel where we were looked after by very nice and helpful staff. There was even a welcome drink. We could calmly order food to the room and heal our wounds in the hotel wellness.
There were several saunas, a pool, and a hot tub to enjoy. Or rather, that’s what we used. There was much more available. Olympic isn’t a very large hotel and thanks to that it feels pleasant, even family-like. The hotel wellness was at a great level and exceeded our expectations. Plus, we were completely alone in it the whole time.
Conclusion and route for copying the trip
The Ore Mountains surprised us very pleasantly. I wouldn’t have dreamed that in the middle of the holidays, even during COVID when people weren’t traveling much outside the Czech Republic, they would be so deserted.
In those few days, we met an absolute minimum of people and a larger concentration of them was only in places that can be reached by car.
Fláje, Lesná, Moldava—we met someone there occasionally. But it can’t be compared with the amount of people that trek up Sněžka every day during the holidays.
Few areas of the Czech Republic are as romantic and at the same time as mysterious as the Ore Mountains. Forests as far as the eye can see, with an occasional forest meadow in between. Historical buildings and estates from the 18th century, mining adits, or even the adit from the original Fláje water main, which is more than three kilometers long.
Absolutely ideal for hiking, but also for cycling.
Yet the Ore Mountains are underutilized for tourism, which is also evident in the more modest range of accommodation and restaurants to make your journey more pleasant. But it’s still possible to plan the route so that you don’t have to trek with a full pack including food, but instead just light with clothes and water.
Downloadable map including places to stay overnight
Copy the route from Mapy.com. You can find it at https://mapy.cz/s/meveloleto or load it into your phone via the QR code.
The Ore Mountains stretch over 130 km, but so far we’ve only walked through their north. We’re already starting to plan another summer route through the southern part of the range and are really looking forward to it. These mountains have a lot to offer.
