Day 1: Discover the Stories of the Čapek Brothers and the Views from Žaltman

Visit the Museum of the Čapek Brothers, Josef and Karel, in Malé Svatoňovice. The town is easily accessible by train, so pack a snack and head out. 
The Svatoňovice Museum, which is housed in the apartment of Antonín Čapek – a doctor and the father of the brothers – where the Čapek family lived before they moved to the neighbouring Úpice, now houses exhibitions on the work of both famous brothers. First, take a walk through the Karel Čapek exhibition. It represents his work as a writer and journalist, but also as a theatre artist. You will also find his personal correspondence with friends, photographs and drawings. There are also several important works of art dedicated to Karel Čapek. If you pay attention, you will discover one of Karel‘s robots!
On the second floor, dedicated to Josef Čapek, there is a cross-section of his paintings – a set of twenty oil paintings in one place can be seen in Malé Svatoňovice. 
The Josef Čapek exhibition is divided into several parts and presents the older of the two brothers as a gifted artist whose work was ahead of its time. Today, his work is pushing prices at auctions to astronomical amounts. The exhibition is complemented by personal items, samples from his literary works, as well as documents from the last years of Josef’s life. The artist spent them in a concentration camp. Many of his poems and pictures from this period have only been saved thanks to his surviving fellow prisoners.

TIP: Take a drink of water from the Marian spring in the square. In the chapel with the spring, Karel’s mother offered gifts to the Virgin Mary for Karel’s healing.

From the square climb up the hill where you can take a walk through the Marian orchard and then along the stations of the cross. After the last station, keep going up. On the way through the forest you will find a gazebo, where you can rest for a while or roast sausages in the prepared fireplace. A detour will also take you to Lotrando’s cave, where you will still come across the signature of the famous robber. However, the real reward awaits those who can climb the stairs to the Žaltman lookout tower. It is located on the highest peak of the Jestřebí Mountains and, when the visibility is good, offers a view of the Krkonoše Mountains, the Orlické Mountains, the Trutnov region and the Adršpach rocks, as well as Rozkoš and sometimes as far as Hradec Králové.

From Žaltman go down to nearby Batňovice, where you can get refreshment in the local pub. Just do not waste your time – take a brisk walk to Rtyně v Podkrkonoší and from there, to Červený Kostelec. There you will find the house where the young Božena (then still Barbora) Němcová and her husband stayed shortly after their wedding. The newly-weds spent several months in the merchant’s house opposite the church. Today, you can see their little world with period furniture, a portrait of the writer taken by her young admirer, but also a garden where you can also find the grave of Viktorka – not the one from Babička but the real one. Local guides will be happy to tell you about her fate. In the basement of the house there are two ‘rooms’ for children inspired by the fairytales written by Božena Němcová.

DID YOU KNOW... Němcová’s stay in Červený Kostelec inspired her to write the Poor People short story?

The shorter hiking route is 15 km long, while the longer option covers approximately 17 km.