Hiking
Discovering beauty on foot has recently become a slightly outdated pastime. As a result there are fewer and fewer hikers on the trails. Yet, this oldest and most natural form of tourism still has its appeal, because it is precisely while hiking that one can truly appreciate all the different sounds, scents, and colours, the changing patterns of light and shade, simply all that nature has to offer so generously and abundantly. Only when hiking can one experience nature in its entirety and penetrate deep down to its very soul. The Vimperk region has a wealth of hiking trails to offer, varying in kind and difficulty.
Those who want to see as much as possible of the region may combine hiking with "green transport." In the summer season, bus lines crisscross the Šumava from Boubín as far as Železná Ruda, complementing the major hiking trails. The "green buses" also connect to a similar system operating in the neighbouring Bavaria, offering countless alternative routes on both sides of the border, in the Šumava and in the Bayerischer Wald. Detailed timetables are available in all tourist information centres.
Do not miss scenic views from mountain tops, wild and romantic valleys, dreamy plateaus, enjoy to the full endless hours of solitary walks in the vast forests, or the historical sights. The Šumava region is beautiful in all seasons, and particularly so in the Indian summer, as the approaching autumn paints colourful patches onto the hills and forests, which abound in mushrooms that are just waiting to be picked.
Some interesting routes: Vimperk – Boubín (1362 m) – Bobík (1264m) - Volary, red trail, 25 km; Šumavské Hoštice – Lštění – Mařský hill (907 m) – Bohumilice – Stachy, yellow and blue trails, 27 km; Stachy – Churáňov – Horská Kvilda, blue trail, 12 km; Kvilda – the spring of the Vltava – Bučina – Knížecí Pláně – Borová Lada, blue, red, and yellow trails, 20 km.
Theme trails: the Vimperk branch of the Gold Trail (12 stations, Vimperk – border crossing at Strážný); Javorník (2 circuits – the short one with 16 stations, the long one with 21 stations); Churáňov (10 stations); Boubín primeval forest (8 stations); the Sudslavice circuit (particularly natural sites).
