Castles, country houses and country walking
- Country walking and architectural history.
- Undulating countryside, some uphill walks (not steep), through woodland of oak, lime and conifer and across meadows and arable land.
- A variety of castles and country houses and extremely pretty towns and villages.
- Talks on Czech architecture, history and contemporary life.
The beauty of Bohemia is two-fold: exquisite towns and villages, and countryside as beguiling as any in Central Europe. In its southernmost reaches low-lying pastures give way to the foothills of the Sumava mountains on the Austrian border. Walking here delves deep into a gentle landscape, much of it farmland, predominantly arable, even more of it woodland and coniferous forest. Water is a constant with innumerable man-made lakes dating from the Middle Ages and the mighty River Vltava.
There are no mountain peaks to scale or deep valleys to traverse. Some views are panoramic, others are snatched in forest clearings, some stretches are enclosed with no vistas at all. Nevertheless, walking here offers an intense experience with its own set of charms.
Firstly, solitude: a careful construction of waymarked paths is woefully neglected by walkers, with just the occasional cyclist or mushroom-picker to sidestep. Then there is ever-changing texture and colour, through dry and practically alpine forest to low-lying, damp dark woods; across maize and wheat farmland to fallow fields and meadows; a paint chart of greens, soft and musty or intense and clean.
Finally, the chief focus of the tour: walks into (or away from) buildings and built environments of beauty, charm or magnificence, a sequence of country houses, monasteries, town palaces and castles. The tour is led by a (British) architectural historian and a Czech guide who talks about the recent past.
For much of its history, but especially in the sixteenth century, Bohemia was one of the most prosperous regions in Europe. Many of the great magnates of the Habsburg Empire established summer residences here, constantly rebuilding, extending and refurbishing. Reception of Italian Renaissance architecture was precocious, and in the era of Baroque there was a veritable mania for building. Many parks and gardens later succumbed to the fashion for the English landscaped style, and also partly of British inspiration was the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival.
In September the soporific heat of a central European summer should have eased and the majority of holiday-makers have gone home. The small towns of Trebon and Cesky Krumlov provide simple but comfortable accommodation, a choice of restaurants and bars and bewitchingly pretty backdrops in which to relax.