Kolešovice – Castle, Hops and Heritage Railway

Kolešovice combines cultural monuments, hop growing and a historic excursion railway. The town is interesting for your travel planning if you would like to explore architecture, regional traditions and different types of excursions in one destination. The castle, church, hop route, cycle route and heritage railway each offer a different focus.

Cultural Monuments in the Town

Zámek Kolešovice Castle is a cultural monument. It consists of the old and new castle, an enclosing wall with gates and the castle park. Important for your planning: the interior of Zámek Kolešovice Castle is not open to the public. Kostel sv. Petra a Pavla Church stands in the centre of Kolešovice next to the castle. This means that two different historical points of reference are located directly next to each other here: the castle complex and the Baroque ecclesiastical building. It is a single-nave Baroque building with predominantly Baroque furnishings. The present-day Kostel sv. Petra a Pavla Church in Kolešovice was built by E. Kondel in 1768–1769.

Chapel and Landscape

Another stop in the town's history is Kaple sv. Jana Nepomuckého Chapel. It stands on the outskirts of Kolešovice at the intersection of the roads to Heřmanov and Zderazi. Its location distinguishes it from the central cultural monuments and adds an outlying point of reference to a visit to the town. Inside, the chapel is decorated with a stone statue of Saint John of Nepomuk dating from the mid-18th century.

The landscape around Kolešovice is not strongly varied and has a low proportion of forest. Hop growing, cereal cultivation and the cultivation of legumes predominate. On excursions, agricultural land and hop fields therefore shape the impression of the landscape. As a result, hops are not only one of the agricultural products but also feature in several specific experiences in the town.

Hops, Riddle Route and Excursions

The “Od unikátní sušárny chmelu ke hrobu kontraadmirála” riddle route begins at the historic hop-drying kiln in Kolešovice. Its starting point connects the route directly with the local hop-growing tradition. On the small hop field supported by wooden poles, visitors can try picking hops by hand during the harvest season on the last Saturday in August. The fixed date makes this experience a clearly seasonal part of travel planning.

The Kolešovka heritage railway also offers its own perspective on the region. It runs along a 17-kilometre route from Lužná u Rakovníka to Kolešovice through hop-growing villages in the Rakovník region. The length of the route gives the train ride a clearly defined excursion framework. Kolešovice is the terminus of the excursion steam trains on the Kolešovka heritage railway. For an active alternative, the Kolešovka cycle route is available. It has only 49 metres of elevation gain and, according to the tourism information, is also suitable for family excursions. The small difference in elevation provides a specific guide for planning a cycling trip, while the steam train ride offers a different way to get to know the hop-growing region.

If you are looking for accommodation in Kolešovice, you can base your choice on the preferred combination of castle and church visits, a hop-related experience, the cycle route or the heritage railway.

For your further search, you can also find Krty, Lašovice, Pochvalov, Panoší Újezd, Řevničov, Krupá, Kounov and Václavy.

For the higher-level travel overview: Rakovník District.