If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll have seen that I went to the Czech Republic a fortnight ago.
It was a very spur of the moment break away, booking the flights and hotel on the Wednesday, and travelling on the Friday. I originally planned to travel alone, but continuing with the spontaneous nature of the trip, my friend Solo decided to come along too, booking his flights just four hours before we had to be at the airport. Beat that for impulsive travel.
Though I flew into and stayed in Prague, my main reason for visiting the country was to climb the imposing “monster” on the top of this mountain:
Resembling some kind of crazy roller coaster from the theme park of nightmares (Alton Towers perhaps?), this is actually the Skywalk in the sleepy little town of Dolní Morava.
Where is the Czech Republic Skywalk?
The Skywalk was my reason for travelling 958 miles from the comfort and warmth of my flat in Reading, and for trekking 121 miles from the capital of the Czech Republic. Maybe I’m as crazy as the architects who designed the impressive structure which sits proudly at the top of the tallest ski slope in the Dolní Morava resort, but as soon as I saw this story in the Daily Mail, I knew that one of my missions for 2016 would be to climb and conquer the Skywalk.
And a mission it was. As I said, Dolní Morava is about 121 miles from Prague – which may not seem that long (it’s roughly the same distance from London to Weymouth, which isn’t far in the grand scheme of things), but unfortunately there was no straightforward route for getting there…
How to get to the Czech Republic Skywalk.
From our hotel in Malešická we ended up taking a bus to Florenc, then a metro to Praha hl.n., the main station in Prague. From there it was a train to Ústí n.Orlicí, and then another train to Lichkov. Once in Lichkov, we then had to find a taxi to take us to Dolní Morava – which was possibly the hardest part of the journey, as a) neither of us spoke Czech, b) it was a Sunday afternoon with zero people around, plus c) Lichkov is a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere, meaning we couldn’t just use the Uber app. In fact, Wikipedia suggests Lichkov’s population is just 552 – half the number of people who follow me on Twitter.
Lichkov did however have a train station with a platform, unlike some of the “stations” that the second train stopped at (if you’re curious, Google Têchonín and Mladkov).
On the plus – and one thing that I absolutely loved about the public transport in the Czech Republic – travelling 121 miles actually only cost the equivalent price of a Big Mac meal in the UK. We paid about £14 each for the round trip. We certainly couldn’t have travelled 242 miles for £14 in the UK by train (not unless we’d managed to bag a super cheap, advance, off peak, sale ticket anyway).
Once we arrived in Dolní Morava, after four hours of epic-but-cheap travelling, we were pooped, but undeterred. I had gotten this far, I wasn’t going to just give up – “always carry on”, that’s my motto. I wanted to get up that mountain and climb that Skywalk. So we bought our combi-chair-lift-and-Skywalk ticket, and did the last stretch of the journey up the mountain surrounded by skiers and snowboarders, who were much more suitably dressed for the -5c temperatures than us.
The mammoth trek was totally worth it though. The Skywalk really is a feat of engineering genius, my pictures don’t do it justice at all:
Czech Republic Skywalk – the lowdown.
The Skywalk, which only opened on 5 December 2015, is a 55m (180ft) high wooden walkway on top of a mountain. The baby of architect Zdeněk Fránek – who first dreamed up the crazy construction in 2012 – it is designed to be both fun and educational. Oh, and it has a helter skelter-type slide from the top to the bottom. So what’s not to get excited about?
As you walk up the gradual incline of the wooden walkway, there are plaques telling you about the history of the construction, and pinpointing areas of interest on the horizon. Unfortunately it was absolutely freezing when we scaled the Skywalk, so we didn’t really stop to read much, but here are a few facts we learned:
- The Skywalk is located at the top of a mountain 1,116m (3,661ft) above sea level.
- The walkway spirals upwards with a length of 700m (2,300ft).
- It is made of 600m³ (21,200ft³) of larch wood and 345 tonnes of steel.
- Apparently it can resist winds of up to 186mph – I’m not sure exactly how windy that is, but it was extremely windy while we were up there.
- When it’s time to get down, the 100m (328ft) long helter-skelter slide can take visitors back to ground level – unfortunately this was closed when we went. Boo.
Once at the top, you can take in views of the Králický Sněžník massif, the Morava river and the Krkonoše mountain range. You can also learn from information plaques about the history of the adjacent valley, and about the clouds as a meteorological phenomenon. But as I said, it was very windy up there, so we didn’t hang about learning the names of clouds.
What I can tell you is that the whole experience was pretty awesome, and well worth the trek from Prague.
I’ve since found out that the Dolní Morava resort is open all year round, with skiing and snowboarding down the mountains in the colder winter months, and hiking, mountain biking and Segway tours there when the snow melts. Apparently in the summer there is also a water park, an “adrenaline park” and a picnic and BBQ area.
I’d love to go back there in the summer, just to see how different it is, and also so I can say I’ve actually done the slide.
Fabulous article from a fabulous and travel- crazy lady!
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Ahhh thanks missus! Will have to do a post about all my trips up to Scotland 😉
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Amazing! Planning a trip for later in the year.
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That’s great Sheenie! Let me know how you get on ☺️
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Oh my gosh! Kudos for how you are living your life and the choices you are making! If I didn’ have to get up so early for my job, I’d be sitting here hours wanting to read each post first! I’ll have to settle for following your blog!
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Oh thanks Susan! That’s very kind of you to say 🙂
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I love your ‘Always carry on’ moto, it’s also my moto too. hehe.
Last minute, spontaneous trips are the best kind of trips. It looks and sounds like a great time was had. Love the photos! The Skywalk looks AMAZING! xx
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Ahhh thanks Sarah – it’s just kind of become my motto, originally “carry on” was referring to my hand luggage and how I always go hand luggage only, but the phrase had become more poignant, it’s grown to mean so much more, especially after recent events. But yes, 100% with you on spontaneous trips – the ones with no agenda where you just go with the flow are always the better ones in my experience 😀 xx
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Everything about the skywalk looks incredible, from the setting to the actual structure of the walk,
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It is an amazing structure! X
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This looks amazing but totally scary if you are not a fan of heights like me! The slide looks like something my son would do
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It is pretty high up, so completely understandable if you’re not a fan of heights. But the incline was so slight as you walked up, it didn’t even feel like you were getting higher as you walked up! I wish I’d managed to go on the slide though 👎🏻 x
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That skywalk looks absolutely insane! I’ve never heard of it or seen pictures before, but I now seriously want to visit it. I bet the view was incredible!
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The views were incredible! Add it to your bucket list Zinzi – it’s a bit of a faff to get there if you’re staying in Prague, but it’s totally worth it x
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wow that’s a pilgrimage to get there, but by the looks of it, it was worth it. Well done! R
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Thanks Rosana – you’re right, it was a mammoth of a trip, but once I set my heart on doing something, I just do it! 🙂 x
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Definitely adding this to my wanderlust list! I love exploring new places and this just looks incredible!! Your pictures are amazing xx
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Ahhh thanks so much Crissy! Glad to have inspired you! x
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wow, that is breathtaking, what a view that that is from up there! *didn’t even know that existed, aha* but it’s now on my bucket list!
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So happy to hear that my post and photos have inspired you to add the Skywalk to your bucket list Shelley – it’s a mission to get to, but totally worth it once you’re there! x
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The views from the top of the skywalk look amazing but I think I would have succumbed to my fear of heights before I got to the top. Sounds like Czech Republic is a really cheap and interesting place though which I’ve never thought of visiting until reading your post!
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Yeah, if you’re not so good with heights this one may not be for you – Prague is a beautiful city though, and not so high up. So definitely add it to your list of places to visit Connor x
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That skywalk looks amazing. I bet you can see some stunning views from up there!
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The views from the top were incredible Jon! x
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this looks absolutely amazing. I have been on a slide down like this one in London at the Olympic park and its the highest closed in slide in the world and my god it was amazing. This one look fantastic as well, id love to visit here.
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I’ve never been to the slide in Stratford, but maybe I should add it to my list of things to do! I think you can abseil that one, which I would LOVE! x
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The views look amazing from up there, definitely worth the effort x
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It was a long journey to get there, but totally worth it! x
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Oh wow what an incredible place to visit! I’d love to scale it one day
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I hope you get the chance Mel! x
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It actually reminds me of the orbit in Stratford but a lot more beautiful and statuesque. How cool that your friend Solo came along although I would have had a heart attack booking my tickets 4 hours beforehand lol. Where are you thinking of going next? When is it that you start your new job in London? x
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Yeah, it is similar to the one in the Olympic Village – but I’ve never visited that one… Maybe I should now I am working in London again?! I started this week, eeeeeek! Must meet up soon xx
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wow this looks like a stunning place to visit and the helter-skelter looks like so much fun!!
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I just wish it hadn’t been frozen so I could have tried it! x
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WOW!!!!! This looks amazing and well worth the mission. What an incredible place to discover.
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It was definitely worth it! x
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Everyone should be visiting this sky walk whenever they’re in Czech.
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I couldn’t agree more Lauretta! x
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Wow that sky walk looks incredible and your photos are stunning you really have captured some amazing shots.
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Thanks so much Joanna – they’re all taken on my Samsung Galaxy S6 x
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wow i’ve not heard of this. It looks incredible. The photos you’ve captured are amazing. Look at that slide. So cool x
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Thanks Kerry – I’d not heard of it before seeing it in the paper, but as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to go there! x
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Stunning scenery and experience! Wow! An amazing place to visit
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It was a really special place, and I’d love to go back! x
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OMG, I would love to do this. What a great memory to have
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Maybe you’ll get there one day Kara! x
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That looks amazing and quite scary. Czech Republic is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit
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I hope you get there at some point Kizzy! X
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The skywalk looks truly amazing. A fab blog post from a fab lady.
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Thanks so much! x
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The skywalk sounds incredible! Definitely something I would love to try 🙂 Beautiful photo’s too!
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Thanks so much Hannah! x
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wow wow wow. That’s the type of place I look for when traveling. I always try to climb as high as possible for the view. In Norway, I was getting up to the ski jumping towers, they were closed during the summer. But this puts the experience to the whole new level.
Pity, it is not really close to Prague.
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Yes, it’s such a shame that it’s such a pain to get to! But it’s definitely worth the journey x
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Last-minute trips are so much fun and exciting as was your trip to the Czech Skywalk. I hadn’t heard of this earlier but am tempted to visit it (probably in Summer) when we visit Prague.
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I’d like to visit it again in the summer Deeptha, I imagine the views to be completely different x
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That. Looks. Incredible. I love a good spur of the moment trip and good for you for just going for it. I had no idea that was in the Czech Republic but it’s been some time since I was last there. Maybe this is a good excuse to return…?
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I reckon so Lucy! x
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Your post is so well-written and describes your experience so well. What a journey to make to go all the way there! What was it that inspired you to go? As for me, just looking at it gives me vertigo. I’m not good with heights 😉
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Ahhh thanks Priya, really appreciate the nice comment 🙂 but completely understand if the skywalk isn’t for you though x
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Can’t beat a spontaneous trip!!! It looks soooo cold there but still amazingly beautiful. What an amazing feat of engineering. And that slide….what fun! You’ll definitely have to go back in the summer and try it out.
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I’m not a huge fan, but the skywalk looks amazing! I think I would dare to try it and now, definitely I want to do it there!
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Be brave and try everything once Nives :* x
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That’s a incredible slide in Dolni Morava! I’ve not heard of this place, but I can understand when you say it’s worth the trek from Prague. I love your photos too; summer scenes are stunning, but so too are these wintry landscapes.
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Thanks Lisa – I’d love to go there in the summer, just to see how different the two seasons are x
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Becca, this is so interesting! Oh man, the slide from the top to the down, hahaa I wanna go!
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So do I, I was gutted that it was frozen and we didn’t get to go on it 😦 x
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Looks pretty amazing and I am glad you made it up there! It does seem like it was freezing though and a climb up that thing couldn’t have been easy but you were determined and travelled all the way from the capital to get here so that’s really good that you managed to make it to the top of the skywalk. I love how you can make spontaneous travel plans like that Becca (I would struggle with visa issues if I were to do that) and yeah, seems like the 122-mile journey was really cheap on the public transport (a lot of places would seem cheaper as compared to the UK, no doubt). The view of the river and mountains from the skywalk is breathtaking!
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It was a super cheap journey considering the distance covered! And, though it took ages to get there, I’d do it all again just to try the slide when it’s not frozen! x
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That sounds like an amazing experience. I would love to go down that slide! I bet the view is incredible at the top too.
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Oh wow. I would most definitely love to to this. More than the temperatures I think it’d be totally worth the view 😍
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This sounds like a wonderful experience. I didn’t know of this skywalk prior to this post. Any adventurous loving person will find this relatable, especially the wind.
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That is absolutely fantastic. I’d love to make the walk up there. I’ll be the view is amazing.
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I never knew there is such cool thing in Czech Republic! So much fun! Overall super nice place!
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Your photos are gorgeous, wow!!! I miss the Czech Republic, it is an amazing country, can’t wait to go there again.
Chad
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This is such a good experience. This is the place I need to visit this year!, thanks for sharing this travel inspiration.
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Beautiful place! Even if I live quite close I never been there before, I definately must go there this year !
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This looks like such an awesome experience! That slide looks like so much fun, and so long too!
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This is so cool! I have seen large slides like that to descend the Great Wall of China, but not in this fashion. Great views!
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Actually this is the first time I’ve encounter this, what an amazing structure that the designer really put efforts in thinking and building it. The place where it build is really also a wonderful one and breathtaking in every essence of it.
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Such a fun and great experience you had. Czech Republic is one in my bucket list. Hoping to visit there soon
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Nice walk in the sky and then fine refreshment ať stylish mountain house – nice trip. Also possible to sleep there – tourists standard, also nice short track to a site seeing place app. 1,5 km
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This place looks so cool! I love that you decided to up and go to a place to see one thing. My husband and I did the same thing in Italy. He wanted to go see this one random castle on the water…so off we went! Great post!
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That looks like a crazy awesome walkway. At first, I was like no way, but looking at all of these other pictures changed my mind.
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I am afraid of heights so I’m not sure I can go there. But it looks really amazing and awesome.
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It sounds like all season can be enjoyable there. I would love the to do the winter activities just for the experience
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Oh my gosh your pictures are amazing!!! Sounds like you had the best time!!
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