This trip would be much better if there would be no snow and ice on the ground. So, do not follow us right away, wait for at least a week. However, if you are impatient and want to go right now, you can easily avoid the tricky parts and use only the good roads. This means that instead of 6 to 7 you will go 5 to 7 through Žďár, instead 10 to 12 go back from 10 to 8 and from there to 12, and you skip the climb to Bezděz from 15 and rather go to 4 and if you want to see the castle Bezděz you go backwards from 4.
You can start this ride in several spots: Railway station Bezděz (our suggestion) or from the parking at Bezděz village (point 18), which can be pretty busy in the summer, or parking at castle Houska. You can consider also parking at point 13, however in this case you should negotiate with the restaurant (promise that you will come and have lunch there – this applies only if the restaurants are open). Our map shows the closure of the road between point 2 and 3, but it does not apply to bikes.
Bezděz is one of the famous castle ruins which inspired a lot of stories. It was founded in 13th century and definitely worth the visit. It was favorite castle of a poet Karel Hynek Mácha, who visited it many times. Castle Houska is the castle with the reputation of the scariest castle in Czech republic – but we already covered the Houska story in our previous blog from this summer.
https://en.mapy.cz/s/duvoposara 32 km, 478 m elevation gain, GPX. To see this ride in context, check our interactive maps.
