Greenway Jizera

www.greenway-jizera.cz Greenway Jizera – Malá Skála: 97 km from Prague

by train from Prague 2 h 8 min by bus from Prague 1 h 30 min by car from Prague 1 h 5 min

Target group: Pleasure seekers: families with children

The river Jizera rises on the Polish side of the Jizera Mountains and is followed by the network of marked cycle routes Greenway Jizera, (Euro Regional route ER-9) until it flows into the Elbe. The Jizera corridor contains natural landmarks, castles and chateaux, technical sights and folk and religious architecture. Most impressive of all, however, is a natural gallery of the beauty of four Czech regions – the Jizera Mountains, Krkonoše, Bohemian Paradise and the Polabí. Along the River to Nature and History The backbone route connects the ridges of the Jizera Mountains to lowlands on the banks of the Elbe and leads all the way to Prague. It is roughly 160 kilometres long, “roughly” because there are several alternatives for getting to the Elbe valley. Greenway Jizera is beautiful from beginning to end. If you want to find its most attractive part, however, you should probably choose a 17 km section running through Bohemian Paradise, specifically between Maloskalsko and Turnov. Here you can combine travelling by bike, scooter, in-line skates, on foot and even by boat as you please. Greenway Jizera, however, begins in the charming mountain settlement Jizerka, which lies in meadows interlaced by Safírový potok (Sapphire Creek). From its confluence with the Jizera, we head down to Kořenov and Paseky nad Jizerou, popular winter and summer sport resorts, and through the picturesque townlet Vysoké nad Jizerou along a stunning and diverse mountain landscape offering deep forests, rolling meadows, steep valleys and high mountain ridges. We continue through the town of Semily with its Museum and Jizera gallery until we reach Železný Brod, a town of glass and folk architecture. An alternative route leads through Pasky nad Jizerou through the town of Jilemnice with a Krkonoše Museum housed in a Renaissance Chateau and connects with Semily.

Rock Towns A stone’s throw from Železný Brod is Malá Skála, where the mentioned most beautiful section begins. Maloskalsko is a rocky region and one of the most significant and wellknown rock town in all of Bohemian Paradise with the

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remarkably rugged Vranov ridge, a rock labyrinth, ruins, vantage points and the stunning rocky massif Pantheon with the remains of Vranov Castle and a Neo-Gothic hunting lodge in the form of a chapel; one of the most photogenic places in the country. Nearby is Besedické skály with more rock towns and labyrinths. The route meets the rock town Drábovna, from where we return to the bank of the Jizera and on to Dolánky u Turnova. Tourists will enjoy the reconstructed traditional Dlaskův statek farm, a wonderful example of folk architecture with exhibitions at the Bohemian Paradise Museum and House of Nature, a unique facility, where phenomena of the country’s oldest protected landscape area are presented using sensory perception. Nearby Turnov offers a tour of a synagogue, a Museum of Jewellery Making with exhibitions of traditional and unique production of jewellery from Bohemian garnet, the Bohemian Paradise Museum and, above all, a visit to the beautiful Neo-Gothic Hrubý Rohozec Chateau and its English landscape garden. The section packed with experiences leads to Svijany. In the local Chateau, you can see several exhibitions, for example, on the history of the brewing and spa industries, the underground, and the Chateau chapel. You don’t have to settle for ordinary tours – you can try the interactive adventure game Arcana, which takes you through the Chateau in an entirely different way. The journey to the Toušeň Spa, where the Jizera flows into the Elbe, is full of experiences. The terrain is gentle and the landscape full of charm.

www.greenway-jizera.cz Malá Skála: www.mala-skala.cz Pantheon: www.vranov-pantheon.cz Besedice Rocks: www.cesky-raj.info/dr-cs/678-.html The Bohemian Paradise House of Nature: www.dumprirody.cz/ceskyraj Dlaskův statek Farm: www.muzeum-turnov.cz/dlaskuv-statek Svijany Chateau: www.hotelzameksvijany.cz Liberec region: www.liberecky-kraj.cz Central Bohemia region: www.centralbohemia.cz