Our starting point is the town of Libochovice with a well-preserved historic centre, a Renaissance chateau with French garden and English park. The Libochovice chateau is one of the most significant early-Baroque buildings in the Czech Republic. It is the birthplace of the prominent Czech scientist and scholar of European importance – Jan Evangelista Pukyně, for whom a special exhibition is held here. Besides the special exhibition, the current exposition in the chateau also displays the historical development of room interiors since the Renaissance and the Baroque periods through Rococo and Empire times, including styles from the first half of the last century. An important place in the exhibition belongs to the collection of tapestries, valuable glass and porcelain sets, as well as to large canvases. The newly opened chateau chapel is also of interest. The picturesque garden and park is the work of the gardener Jan Tulipán from 1638.
We will go through a square with a nice Marian column. Following the instructions on the road sing, we turn left towards Slatina (3 km). We are now going through a slightly hilly terrain amongst barren land around fields and meadows offering distant views of the surrounding countryside and especially a view of the local landmark – a basalt hill with the ruins of Hazmburk Castle. In Slatina we will ride through the circular town square, around the Church of St. John of Nepomuk and before turning right towards Černiv, we will see several buildings which belong to the folk architecture protection zone.
From Černiv we ride to Chotěšov, where above the large village green (square) near the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, we join road No. 247 towards Libochovice. But, after several metres we will turn left to a side road going towards Břežany nad Ohří. We will pass a sandstone quarry and before we step down into the valley of the Ohře River, we must undergo one more climb. From Břežany to Budyně nad Ohří we follow the red hiking signs.
The main attraction in the town of Budyně nad Ohří is the fortified Renaissance chateau rebuilt from a former water castle, which stood here from the 13th century. The fortress was protected by a water trench and swamps near the bank of the Ohře River. From the original four wings of the chateau only two remain today, but were perfectly restored and renewed. A museum with an alchemist's workshop and exhibition demonstrating the history of the Budyňsko region from prehistoric times until 1848 is open here. In the middle of the square, which belongs to the urban heritage protection zone, we see the Church of St. Václav (Wenceslas) from the 13th century. From all the richly decorated interiors we would like to point out the dining hall from 1478 and sculptures created by Bart Edera. From Budyně we will ride along a side road, pass the cemetery and Church of P. Marie Sněžné (Virgin Snow Mary) and then pass a valuable and well-preserved Jewish cemetery, founded in 1798 on our right side.
We continue through Mšenský Brook valley before we take a steep climb to Martiněves. In the village of Charvatce our attention will be drawn to the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with its Gothic chancel and tower. Here we turn right and go down into the valley and back to the village of Mšené – Lázně (Mšené – Spa). Immediately behind the railway underpass we encounter the first buildings of the spa complex. On our right side on a wooded slope, we will notice fragments of a partially completed church. The first spa was founded here in 1796. The romantic section of the spa complex is situated inside a large and old park. Behind the spa centre we will turn towards the main road which goes to Budyně nad Ohří. We stay on this road until we reach the village of Podhájí. Here we take the last climb of this trip. At the Podhájí crossroad we must not forget to turn left and join the road going through Roudníček all the way to Kostelec nad Ohří. Near the dominating Church of St. Peter and Paul we come to a tourist crossroad sign. The red sign will take us to a field road without any significant changes in elevation and then around Malá Ohře where, for the second time already, we get a chance to soak up the pleasant atmosphere of the Dolní Poohří Nature Park. To go back to our starting point we will cross the bridge over the Ohře River which offers beautiful views of the chateau and park.
Total length 28.5 km.
