In Ústí Region you can laugh until your sides split, or you can just snooze and purr like a contented fat tomcat. You can also shake with fear, cry and scream, but one thing is sure. You will never forget such a holiday.

You will not be able to rid your brains of Ústí Region so easily. And really, it is a waste of time trying to do so, because the dose of experiences you get there is like a drug ensuring you are in a good mood for at least a few months. Maybe you will remember your compass confusing North for South and vice versa at the top of Mount Říp. You see, there is a magnetic anomaly there, so not even the best compass will be of any use to you. With a respectable 456 metres above sea level, Mount Říp also happens to be the highest mound of basalt rock in the area. Legend has it that the chieftain Čech, the mythical father of the Czech nation, stood at the top of this oversized hill when he beheld his “land of milk and honey”.

The Pravčice Gate has become the symbol of Bohemian Switzerland. Photo: Ústí Region / Region Ústí

Give your taste buds a treat!

You will very soon discover that Chieftain Čech was a cunning soul when he decided to settle down in this fertile and hospitable region, as it is very good for growing hops as well as grapes for making different types of wine. While the wine-growers preferred to settle in the sunny area of Velké Žernoseky, where you can try out the different wines made here in the reconstructed château, the hop-growers chose the area of Žatec for their home. It is here that you will find the biggest exposition about hop-growing in Europe. This royal town also has its own brewery. The black beer brewed here is not only very tasty, it is apparently also very healthy for female skeletons. The hop buildings in this royal town are a candidate for entry in the UNESCO Heritage List.

You can really let your taste buds in for a treat on board the Porta Bohemica 1 riverboat, which can carry up to 300 people on the River Labe from Ústí nad Labem, which is the capital Ústí Region, to Štětí. In the boat “Flying Fish” restaurant they serve original delicacies. The boat also has stands for up to 80 bikes for which there is also a bike service.

Mount Říp; Photo: CzechTourism

Enjoy getting spoilt!

The countryside of Ústí Region is so generous to humans that it has provided them with the possibility to have things like spas. In Klášterec nad Ohří you can try out the water from three mineral springs. If you have more time, you can also try out the excellent spa treatment and wellness procedures they provide there. For over 200 years, the peat spa Lázně Mšené has been treating disorders of the locomotive system. In more recent times, the therapists here have begun to focus also on inflammation of nerves. The biggest spa town, however, is Teplice which has thermal springs and treats disorders of the locomotive system, veins and nerves.

Satiate your passion for mysteries!

If you like mysteries then you will certainly be interested in alchemy and alchemists, and the château at Budyně nad Ohří was once full of them. Their workshop, which dates back to the beginning of the 17^th century, is a great attraction, as it was here that they conducted their experiments in the quest to make the elixir of life and gold out of lead. Legend has it that the gold they made is hidden away beneath the castle and that it is guarded by a statue of an alchemist called Kvasnička.

We would also recommend Litoměřice to those that like mysteries. Beneath the streets of the town is a large labyrinth of corridors and cellars. It is one of the most extensive in Bohemia and in medieval times it involved several dozen kilometres. You can visit a stretch that is 366 metres long. It also serves as a quite original gallery for a collection of statues owned by the local museum. The cellars, the building of which started in medieval times, have three levels and the corridors between them connected churches and monasteries in the town and also led into the surroundings.

Don’t curb your curiosity!

It you turn your curiosity in the direction of traditional crafts, then it will probably take you straight to the handmade paper workshop in Litoměřice, where there is an exhibition showing how such paper is made. You also have the chance to make a sheet for yourself. From there it will take you on to the Zubrnice open-air museum, which has a remarkable collection of traditional rustic buildings. Standing side by side are wooden, half-timbered and brick buildings. The little watermill driven by the Luční stream is quite unique. There is also an interesting example of the technical heritage in the form of the station built in

You can also try looking for these dark red garnets yourselves in the sand placed in front of the museum in Třebenice. Photo/Foto: ©Igo kali, iStockphoto.com

1890 on the Velké Březno – Úštěk line. Slightly finer works of art can be found in the Bohemian Garnet Museum in Třebenice. Here you will get a good insight into the mining and processing of Bohemian garnets. This will certainly help you appreciate the beauty of the garnet jewellery on display there, including the jewellery owned by Baroness Ulrika von Levetzow. You can also try looking for these dark red garnets yourselves in the sand dumped in front of the museum.

Succumb to culture!

Many prominent people in the fields of politics and culture visited Duchcov Château. Just like Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven and other geniuses did in their time, you can also come to see the Wallenstein family gallery, the exposition in the so-called billiard wing, the three rooms used by the château staff and the museum devoted to Giacomo Casanova, who lived his last years here working as the librarian. There are tales of how he used to chase the cooks here along the corridors.

Duchcov Château; Photo: CzechTourism

If you set out for Roudnice nad Labem, you should not miss out on a visit to the baroque château owned by the Lobkowicz family and the gallery of modern art there. Part of the family silver is the collection of 60 pictures of Antonín Slavíček, the patron of rustic painting.

Time for contemplation

History has not always been kind to this region and you will also come across the traces of wars and suffering. The Terezín Memorial is at a place where tens of thousands of people suffered during the Second World War. Its mission is to ensure that the fate of those that suffered political and racial persecution during the Nazi occupation will never be forgotten.

While the suffering in Terezín is still within living memory, there are no such memorials for those that suffered as a result of the counter-reformation. However, there is one place of pilgrimage associated with this time in Jiřetín pod Jedlovou. Legend has it that the Saviour called upon seven Czech Brethren to return to their homes in Bohemia. However, only the youngest of them managed to do so. He arrived ill and exhausted after his long journey. He had a cross erected at the foot of the mountain where he went to pray. His prayers led him to recover completely. The place became known to others and the sick began to come to pray so they they would be healed as well. A Way of the Cross and chapel were built here thanks to a vicar called Gottfried Liessner. It was consecrated in 1764.

We should not finish our holiday in Ústí Region contemplating over the injustice of the past, so let’s take a look at some rather more entertaining locations.

Get the adrenaline going!

Some people in this world are addicted to adrenaline sports, and there is plenty of things such people can do in this region. In the north of the region you can visit the rock formations of Bohemian Switzerland, just right for those that enjoy risking life and limb while rock climbing. Or what would you say to punting in the very heart of this exceedingly beautiful National Park. A nature trail will take you to Pravčice Gate, the biggest natural gateway in Europe. It is ideal for those that love contour walking among the most impressive rock formations. And that’s enough to make anyone giddy!

In the west of the region, lined by the Ore Mountains, you will also find ways of accelerating your pulse rate in both the winter and summer seasons. The resorts around Mount Klínovec have all the facilities and gear you need if you like cross-country scooters, mountain bikes, archery, Nordic walking, tandem paragliding, bungee running, team ski games, summer tobogganing and disc golf.

Neither are the towns in the region mean in what they offer in the way of adventure. You can also relieve the pressure in your adrenal gland by driving a racing car on the circuit in Most. You can never experience anything like it when driving a normal car.

So if you want to enjoy something really special during your holiday this year, come and take advantage of what Ústí Region has to offer. The region has a fully-developed road and transport system that ensures easy accessibility from Prague as well as from Germany, and especially the airports in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig.

Ústí Regional Authority
Velká Hradební 3118/48400 02 Ústí nad Labem
Tel.: +420 475 657 111
E-mail: info@kr-ustecky.cz

www.kr-ustecky.cz