Take a Walk from Karlovy Vary to Svatoš Rocks and Loket

Take a Walk from Karlovy Vary to Svatoš Rocks and Loket - Riverside Hike

Riverside Hike Main Details
Trip Dates: Wed, Sat (April through October)
Meeting Time: 11:45 am
Departure Point: Karlovy Vary “Tržnice” Bus Stop (painted green) for long distance buses on Varšavská Street (placed between two
crosswalks, the Market Hall being behind you)
Tour Duration: 4 hours (approximately)
Distance Covered: 29 km (9 km on your own)
Price: 300 CZK per person, 2 people minimum (600 CZK)
Admission to Loket Castle: 80 CZK is included.

Tour overview
This is an alternative to our Riverside Cycle Tour. You will be dropped off in Karlovy Vary-Doubí, after a 2 km walk along the Ohře River you hit (Jan) Svatoš Rocks. This unique granite rock formation of very unusual shapes is a refuge of rock climbers. The Hans Heiling legend (Jan Svatoš being a translation from German) offers an explanation of its origin. A young man named Jan Svatoš was given some supernatural powers by a water fairy under one condition that he would never get married. He was about to break his promise and therefore she turned the whole wedding procession into stone.

Get on the suspension bridge appearing in front of you. Cross this swinging bridge over the waters of the Ohře River and follow a blue marked trail heading towards Loket up the river. There is a 7 km hike waiting for you with a possible stop at the Loket Riverside Camp buffet on the way (about a kilometer before you reach the town of Loket) to buy some refreshments and take it easy for a while. Leaving the woods you get on the road going straight up to Loket.

Loket (elbow in English), is named after the extreme bend in the Ohře river. The main attraction of this fascinating town (pop 3,200) is its castle (Romanesque-Gothic) built in the first half of the 13th century. You can visit for example a torture chamber and climb a Romanesque tower. Watch out for the Loket Dragon (supposedly of a friendly nature though). The view of the medieval town from there is well worth it. There is an open-air theatre bellow the castle, where a lot of cultural happenings take place during summer. There was an outstanding Jethro Tull concert in 2008 with their music found the most suitable for the castle surroundings as yet.

Afterwards, you will be picked up and driven back.