Discover Choceň: Culture, nature trail and cycling routes

Choceň between urban history and landscape

Choceň combines remarkable cultural monuments with themed trails and several cycling routes. If you are looking for a place where urban history, observing nature and active excursions can be combined, you will find very different starting points here for planning your trip.

Museum, pilgrimage chapels and historic buildings

At the Orlické muzeum Choceň, the Letecká expozice traces the history of aircraft production in the Choceň region from 1935 to the present day. The Geologická expozice presents Cretaceous fossils, including nautiloids and ammonites, as well as fossil fish found near Koldín. The museum topics thus range from regional industrial history to the geological traces of the landscape.

At the eastern edge of Choceň, the seven pilgrimage chapels of the Virgin Mary stand along the former road to nearby Hemže. The town’s historic character also includes the Baroque Church of Saint Francis Seraphicus with its bell tower, hospital and rectory, as well as a square with the Neo-Renaissance town hall from 1881 and a Marian column from 1760.

Choceň Castle has an English landscape park and a Gothic Revival chapel. These two elements complement the town’s buildings with a distinct historic site where architecture and a landscaped park belong together.

Dívčí doly nature trail and routes through the surrounding area

The Dívčí doly nature trail is 5 km long and has nine information boards or stations. The boards explain local history, natural processes and the functions of the forest. The trail begins about 700 metres from the Choceň winter stadium, at a woodland site called U Tunýlku. The route length provides a concrete indication of the scope of the excursion. The nine stations divide the trail into thematic stops where local history, natural processes and the functions of the forest come together. Dívčí doly thus combines movement with observing the surrounding area. This makes it possible to combine nature observation and regional history along the same trail. The stations create natural breaks if you would like to divide the trail into several short observation phases.

Cyclists will also find several documented connections relating to Choceň. Long-distance cycling route 8, also known as CT 8, runs through Choceň between Hradec Králové and Zábřeh. Cycling route T 18 reaches Choceň after passing through Peliny Nature Park and is suitable for inline skaters along its entire route.

Choceň as a destination for different interests

The diversity of topics makes Choceň interesting if you do not want to consider culture separately from nature and physical activity. Museum exhibitions, historic religious and secular buildings, the castle park, nature trail and cycling routes each focus on different aspects. When choosing your accommodation, you can therefore pay particular attention to which part of your stay is most important to you: regional history, walks with explanatory stations or a trip along designated cycling connections.

For further research, you can also find Pustina, Zádolí, Janovicky, Radhošť, Horní Čermná, Valterice, Zálší and Hrádek.

For the higher-level travel overview: Okres Ústí Nad Orlicí.