Just how can you inject life into a holiday in the Orlické Mountains? What about getting on your bike or revving up your in-line skates? The Orlické Cyklo and In-line Kingdom is the best place to do this. Here you’ll find tens of kilometres of well-tended trails with hard surfaces for road and mountain bikes as well as superb terrain for in-line skating trips. And you can enjoy these activities in wonderful natural surroundings, to the murmur of the forests, the aroma of the pine needles, the sound of birdsong and the gush of crystal clear brooks. So let’s get out and start exploring!
These trails measure 40km in total and are mainly newly constructed routes with hard surfaces. Whether you prefer bike or in-line skates, you can look forward to the lovely valley formed by the River Tichá Orlice, which has been declared a nature park thanks to the natural beauty of its water meadows, its meandering course and the rocky slopes that climb steeply from the valley floor. Every trail leads through areas where you can visit places of interest.
Explore some mysterious ruins!
A great idea for a trip is to head out along one of three cycling trails from Ústí nad Orlicí, a town dominated by the Church of the Virgin Mary. From here travel along a newly created 15km-long trail for both cyclists and in-line skaters which runs to Letohrad. Along the way you can take a break and survey the scene from the viewing point at the ruins of a Gothic castle called Lanšperk, or explore the remains of Žampach Castle, visible for miles around. The trail ends at Letohrad, where you shouldn’t pass up the chance to visit the local Craft and Trades Museum.
A miraculous spring and an ancient rotunda
How about combining a cycle trip with a visit to well-known places of interest in the region? If this takes your fancy, take the trail running from Ústí nad Orlicí to Česká Třebová. Along the 10km-long trail you can visit a pilgrimage site called Hory and sample the crystal clear spring water there, which is said to have curative properties. You can also peruse the Romanesque rotunda of St. Catherine and visit the viewing tower atop Kozlovský Hill, a place that rewards those who climb it with some splendid views.
Escape from the labyrinth
You can enjoy some picturesque landscapes as well as learn about one of the greatest Czechs that ever lived when tackling the 15km-long cycling and in-line trail between Ústí nad Orlicí and Choceň. The route passes a natural labyrinth and a monument to Comenius, the “Teacher of Nations”, in Brandýs nad Orlicí, as well as Hemže and Peliny nature reserves where you’ll find some eye-catching cliffs.