The road to Adršpach Rocks climbs in switchbacks on one side, and that’s exactly where our trip began. Daniel and I were edging our way uphill when a car suddenly came round the other way. We didn’t fit. Well – at least, that’s how it looked. Suddenly the roads of Tuscany didn’t seem the least bit narrow to me. 🙂
Was it just an impression? Partly. But not entirely. The stretch between Chvaleč and Adršpach, locally known as the Chvaleč switchbacks, has repeatedly been described by the local press as one of the most dangerous stretches in the area – four kilometres of sharp bends, a road with a “complicated vertical and horizontal layout” and no crash barriers. Because of the accident rate they even installed a barrier with a weather station, which is said to close the road in winter when it ices over. So no, I wasn’t entirely making it up. We got there safely, but mainly because Daniel was driving. I’d have crashed on the first bend.
On the plus side, we didn’t spend a single second afterwards looking for a parking space or queueing – we’d bought both parking and our ticket online in advance. For us, that was the best-spent time of the whole trip.
Below you’ll find the current 2026 entry and parking prices, how the time-slot system works, a plan B for when the car park is full, the number of steps worth knowing about in advance, one place not to eat, and a reason to combine Adršpach with a trip to Poland.
Your ticket stops being valid the moment you leave the rock complex.
That’s the one sentence to take away from the price list. Adršpach isn’t somewhere you can pop out for lunch and come back to – once you go through the exit turnstile, that’s it.
There are several sandstone rock towns in Czechia and they can easily blur into one. Adršpach stands out from the rest for its scale and its visitor numbers: according to the Broumovsko Protected Landscape Area, every year the rocks draw around 400,000 people, while the neighbouring Teplice Rocks get only around 70,000. Remember those numbers – we’ll come back to them.
The reason for that popularity is simple – scale. Milenci (the Lovers), the tallest rock formation in the complex, measures 81.4 metres. Eighty metres of sandstone in one piece. It’s two towers with a narrow gap left between them, and to me they look like two faces turned towards each other, as if about to kiss. I’ll say straight away that this is purely my own impression – everyone reads the name their own way. But once you see them, you’ll probably agree with me. 🙂
The area is also protected about as thoroughly as it gets. The Adršpach-Teplice Rocks National Nature Reserve was designated back in 1933 and is the largest national nature reserve in Czechia by area (around 1,800 hectares), lies in the strictest zone of the Broumovsko Protected Landscape Area, and is also a Natura 2000 site of European importance. That’s why there are the regulations, slots and restrictions – it’s not about hassling visitors, it’s about the rock and about the peregrine falcons that nest here.
This is the most common reason a trip to Adršpach gets off to a bad start for people. The main car park is about 300 metres from the entrance to the rocks, and it’s the only official one – the operator doesn’t even number it, it’s simply the “car park by the entrance”. And its capacity is limited.
| Car / motorcycle | Peak season (1 July–31 August) | Main season (1 March–30 June and 1 September–30 November) | Low season (1 December–28 February) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online in advance | 200 CZK (about €8.3) | 180 CZK (about €7.4) | 80 CZK (about €3.3) |
| On site | 250 CZK (about €10) | 220 CZK (about €9.1) | 100 CZK (about €4.1) |
A caravan or motorhome costs 600 CZK / €25 online in peak season (850 CZK / €35 on site), and a coach can only be paid for on site at 850 CZK (about €35). The parking ticket is valid all day, but watch out – between 21:00 and 7:00 it switches to an hourly rate of 100 CZK (about €4.1) per hour. And losing your ticket costs 1,000 CZK (about €41), which is the kind of amount that makes you keep an eye on it.
Book your space in advance. The operator says it bluntly: “Parking spaces are limited – a reservation is required!” And that’s not an empty scare tactic. When I checked the booking system on 30 August for a date four days later, there were only 24 parking spaces left for the whole day. You book at the same place as your tickets, at adrspasskeskaly.cz/online-vstupenky, under the parking spaces tab.
The reservation is tied to your number plate, and the barrier reads it automatically. If you type the plate wrong or arrive in a different car, the barrier won’t open on its own – so keep the QR code from your booking handy, and staff can sort it out with that.
Our tip: we bought our parking online in advance, for 180 CZK (about €7.4) at the time, though it’s 200 CZK (about €8.3) now. It was the best part of the preparation. Not only did we not have to worry about a space or a queue, but we didn’t have to hunt for cash either. We honestly don’t carry loose change around with us, and standing at the barrier counting out coins with a few cars behind you is exactly the start to a trip you don’t want.
This one honestly pleased me and I want to mention it properly, because it’s easy to miss on the website. The operator states it consistently in three places:
Parking is free for vehicles with a parking permit for the transport of people with disabilities. In that case, there’s no need to book a parking space online.
In other words: with a parking permit, you don’t have to fight your way through the booking system at all. You just arrive and park. It’s not quite as generous when it comes to admission, though – a holder of a Czech ZTP disability card pays full admission, while a holder of a ZTP/P card pays a reduced rate, but the companion of a ZTP/P holder gets in free.
| From | By car | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Prague | 179 km / 2 h 09 min | an alternative route is 167 km, but with a restriction along the way |
| Hradec Králové | 71 km / 1 h 12 min | the fastest option |
| Wrocław (PL) | 112 km / 1 h 46 min | Adršpach is a popular day trip for Poles |
If you want to avoid the switchbacks, there’s a longer route via Náchod and Teplice nad Metují (roughly 78 km from Hradec, a few minutes longer). My take: if I were driving alone, I’d pick this one.
By train it’s a neater option than you’d expect – the Adršpach stop is about 100 metres from the entrance to the rocks, closer than the car park. The catch is that there’s no direct train from either Prague or Hradec Králové, and you always have to change. The fastest train-only connection from Prague takes 3 hours 29 minutes, and from Hradec Králové 1 hour 39 minutes (checked on idos.cz for Friday 4 September 2026 – do check the timetables for your own date, of course). A connection in 2 hours 58 minutes does exist, but it’s a combination of a bus to Trutnov and a train from there. The bus stop is about 250 metres from the entrance, and there’s a left-luggage office right at the station.
If you’re planning a trip from the capital and Adršpach feels like too much for one day, take a look at our tips for day trips from Prague.
Adršpach Rocks charges admission and has a booking system with hourly time slots on top of that. It sounds complicated, but it works simply – and above all, it works.
| Category | Peak season (1 July–31 August) | Main season (1 March–30 June, 1 September–30 November) | Low season (1 December–28 February) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 200 / 250 CZK (about €8.3 / €10) | 180 / 230 CZK (about €7.4 / €9.5) | 120 / 170 CZK (about €5 / €7) |
| Child 3–15 years | 140 / 190 CZK (about €5.8 / €7.9) | 120 / 170 CZK (about €5 / €7) | 90 / 140 CZK (about €3.7 / €5.8) |
| Student under 26, senior 65+, ZTP/P | 160 / 210 CZK (about €6.6 / €8.7) | 140 / 190 CZK (about €5.8 / €7.9) | 100 / 150 CZK (about €4.1 / €6.2) |
| Family (2 adults + 2 children) | 550 / 700 CZK (about €23 / €29) | 490 / 640 CZK (about €20 / €26) | 340 / 490 CZK (about €14 / €20) |
| Dog | 50 / 100 CZK (about €2.1 / €4.1) | 50 / 50 CZK (about €2.1 / €2.1) | 50 / 50 CZK (about €2.1 / €2.1) |
You can get tickets online HERE and we warmly recommend it.
The difference between buying online and at the ticket office is 50 CZK (about €2.1) per adult, and a full 150 CZK (about €6.2) for family admission. Watch out for one detail: on the day of your visit, online prices are the same as at the ticket office – the discount only applies if you buy in advance.
You buy your ticket for a specific hour, and you can go in any time during the following hour-long window. The operator describes it like this: an 8:00 ticket lets you in any time between 8:00 and 9:00. Once you’re inside, nobody hurries you – you walk the circuit at your own pace.
Something you won’t find in the price list, but which we checked in practice: they really won’t let you in early. We tried it. 😃 The system is meant to spread visitors across the whole day and take some of the pressure off the busiest hours between 10:00 and 14:00 – which means that if you pick a slot at eight, or an afternoon one instead, you’ll have noticeably more peace and quiet.
Did it work? For us, yes, though not miraculously – there were still plenty of people at the start of the circuit. But it was manageable.
Booking isn’t formally compulsory, but in practice it is. You can also buy a ticket at the counter, but you risk a queue – and more importantly, a hard rule applies: if the online tickets are sold out, you can’t buy them on site either. Turning up on spec at eleven in the morning in August is a gamble I wouldn’t take.
The latest you can cancel is 7 days in advance and you don’t get your money back, only a voucher valid for six months. The ticket and the parking are cancelled as two separate amounts, and they can’t be swapped for each other.
| Period | Walking circuit |
|---|---|
| Peak season (1 July–31 August) | 8:00–20:00 |
| Main season (1 March–30 June, 1 September–30 November) | 8:00–18:00 |
| Low season (1 December–28 February) | 8:00–16:00 |
The main circuit is 3.5 km long and marked in green. The official websites slightly contradict each other on timing – the FAQ says 2.5 hours, while elsewhere on the same site it says “allow at least 3 hours”. Our take: budget three hours and you won’t be disappointed.
From the entrance to Malý vodopád it’s 1.3 kilometres over flat ground, and it’s a step-free route – officially confirmed, both a pushchair and a wheelchair can manage it. You do have to come back the same way, though; there’s no way to loop back round along this stretch.
And this is exactly where people bunch up the most. It’s not that Malý vodopád is the prettiest spot in the complex, it’s that it’s the most accessible. When we walked past, families with pushchairs were standing there and the kids were watching the water run down the rock as if it were a show. Honestly, for a small child, it is one.
Along the way you pass named formations you can read about on signs: Džbán with a six-metre window, Homole cukru, which is 13 metres wide at the top and just three at the bottom, Gotická branka from 1839, Krakonošův zub with a flood-level mark carved into it from 23 June 1844, or Čertův most with an arch 21 metres high.
Velký vodopád is 16 metres tall and its flow is regulated because of the lake above it. In winter it freezes into an icefall. It’s not far from Malý vodopád, but – and this is the part I remember best – the only way to reach it is a single path, and it has a lot of steps on it. So picture one stream of people going up, another coming down, and everyone trying to look patient.
I’d recommend sturdy, non-slip footwear. Not for style, but to stay in one piece. 😃 The steps tend to be damp, and in a queue of people there’s no room to choose where you put your foot.
An example of a typical staircase in the gorge – there are plenty like it on the circuit.
Above the waterfall lies Skalní jezírko (the rock lake) and you can take a boat trip across it. It’s a roughly twenty-minute ride and costs extra:
| Boat trip | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult | 100 CZK (about €4.1) |
| Student under 26, senior 65+, ZTP/P card holder + companion | 70 CZK (about €2.9) |
| Child aged 3–15 | 50 CZK (about €2.1) |
Heads up: the boats can’t be booked in advance and are paid for exclusively in cash, in crowns. It’s the only place in the whole complex where a card is no use to you at all. If you don’t normally carry change – like us – you have to bring it specifically for this. Dogs aren’t allowed on the boat.
This is the sand quarry a short way from the entrance to the complex, not Skalní jezírko, where the boats run. The two are easy to mix up.
The two of us at the sand quarry, on the way back to the car.
Beyond the waterfall the path splits people into two camps. Those who say “that’s enough for me, let’s take it easy”, and those who have to see absolutely everything, whatever it takes. We were obviously on team “you only live once” – and I say that with a touch of exaggeration, because for plenty of people it’s a perfectly normal walk. For me it was, at moments, an inner battle for survival.
The turn-off onto the so-called Nová partie takes you to viewpoints over Milenci, over Velké panorama, over Starosta and Starostová and to Cukrovarský komín. And also to a number that will change how you plan your day: on Nová partie alone there are roughly 850 steps. On the whole rock-town circuit there are almost 2,000.
I won’t lie to you. Before the final viewpoint you climb steep wooden steps, with two metal pipes standing in for a handrail as your only safety net. Oh, and it’s above a gorge – in my head, above a deadly drop. There’s no stopping, because another batch of adventurers is right behind you. So either you give up at the start, or you end up like me: my watch showed a heart rate of 192 and another fifteen minutes at the top before you can walk it off.
But those views. Up there, a line from a Czech film kept coming back to me: “the Alps will impress you, sure, Karel, but this…” We genuinely found peace up there, and finally understood why people do this. And in the end, I was really glad we went.
Between the viewpoints over Starosta and Starostová, the circuit squeezes through a spot called Myší díra and it’s the narrowest lane in the whole rock town – 50 centimetres.
Fifty centimetres sounds harmless on paper. In reality I had to raise my arms above my head to squeeze through. As someone with claustrophobia, I didn’t enjoy this part one bit, and honestly I was glad it was short. If you’re the same: breathe, it’s a few metres and then it opens up again. If your claustrophobia is severe, it’s one argument for sticking to just the easy part of the circuit.
This is what a typical narrow passage through the rock town looks like. We didn’t manage to photograph Myší díra itself – there were too many people and too little room.
We hadn’t noticed this mentioned anywhere beforehand. A little way off the path below Milenci, tucked into a rock crevice, is Skalní kaple – a wooden sign with its name, a metal gate, a crucifix and dozens of small memorial plaques. According to the operator, it commemorates the tragic death of Josef Emanuel Nádherný, who died here in 1929 while climbing Milenci; the other names on the metal plaques belong to climbers. It’s tucked into a rock cave above Řeřichový potok, about sixty metres from the path.
This is the section you might be tempted to skip in a guide. Don’t.
There are no toilets anywhere on the whole walking circuit.
The operator states this on the interactive map, and means it. The same goes for the fact that there’s no food or drink anywhere on the circuit – the only option is the seasonal stalls in front of the entrance to the rocks. And here I have to be honest, even though it won’t be a popular opinion.
I’d recommend walking straight past those kiosks. You can smell burnt oil from a distance, and the prices struck me as pretty steep – in August 2024 we saw chips going for around 100 CZK (about €4.1), and judging by what the people ahead of us got, it wasn’t worth it. Other stalls sold ice lollies and lángos (fried dough). Nothing you’d really want before a hike, basically.
And in fairness, two things: the kiosks are run by third parties, not the rock administration, so there’s no official price list, and my figures are from 2024, not this year. And the operator’s own website points visitors to “real” restaurants in the area, which says something.
Our recommendation: eat beforehand or pack a snack, and save a proper lunch for one of the nearby restaurants after you finish. Bring water with you, you can’t buy any on the circuit.
A practical plus: right at the entrance there’s an information centre with a Česká spořitelna cash machine, another cash machine (Moneta) is in the building opposite the car park, and in summer there’s a currency exchange there too. You can’t pay in foreign currency anywhere in the complex, though.
The complex sits in the most strictly protected zone, and the list of prohibitions reflects that. The rock wardens hold official public-authority status and can issue a fine under the Nature Conservation Act.
| Option | What’s included | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Low-budget (2 adults, low season, online) | entry 2× 120 CZK (about €5) + parking 80 CZK (about €3.3) | 320 CZK (about €13) |
| Standard (2 adults, peak season, online, with the boat) | entry 2× 200 CZK (about €8.3) + parking 200 CZK (about €8.3) + boat 2× 100 CZK (about €4.1) | 800 CZK (about €33) |
| Family (2 adults + 2 children, peak season, online, with the boat) | family entry 550 CZK (about €23) + parking 200 CZK (about €8.3) + boat 2× 100 CZK (about €4.1) and 2× 50 CZK (about €2.1) | 1,050 CZK (about €43) |
| Unprepared (2 adults, peak season, on site, with the boat) | entry 2× 250 CZK (about €10) + parking 250 CZK (about €10) + boat 2× 100 CZK (about €4.1) | 950 CZK (about €39) |
Calculated from official price lists verified on 30 August 2026. The difference between the standard option and the unprepared one is 150 CZK (about €6.2) – and on top of that, the queue.
For us, the most interesting line is the last one. A hundred and fifty crowns isn’t a sum that would make anyone plan ahead, but it’s exactly the tax you pay for “it’ll work out somehow”.
Adršpach can be done as a day trip, but if you want to add the Teplice Rocks or Vlčí rokle (the Wolf Gorge) as well, it’s worth staying overnight. Accommodation is right in both Dolní and Horní Adršpach, most of it within a few hundred metres of the entrance. After that hike I wouldn’t want to drive anywhere else – and next time we’re staying overnight here.
Chosen from our own experience
If you want to combine both rock towns, it makes sense to stay on the Teplice side.
Have you ever thought to look at a map and see how close Poland is from here? Honestly, it hadn’t crossed my mind until this trip – and it’s a shame, because it’s one of the best things you can do while you’re at Adršpach. Adršpach sits practically on the ridge right at the state border – the nearest Polish town Mieroszów is 8.9 km and fourteen minutes by car, and Wrocław is 111.8 km, just under two hours away.
And it’s not a one-way street. When we looked into what organised trips to Adršpach exist, it turned out that most of them set off from Wrocław, not from Prague. For Poles, “Skalne Miasto” (the rock town) is a completely standard day trip. So since you’re already here, turn it around and make Adršpach your gateway to Poland – or the other way round.
Adršpach: The Chronicles of Narnia Tour from Wrocław – from about €105, skip-the-line entry, small group
From Prague to Adršpach with a boat trip – the only option departing directly from Prague, 11 hours including transport
From Wrocław to the rock town – a trip with a driver, from about €92, three hours of free time to explore at your own pace, small group
We think Wrocław is one of the most underrated cities in Central Europe, and it’s perfect for two days – we’ve written up what to see there in our Wrocław guide. With kids we recommend adding the largest aquarium in Poland, at the zoo there, which won us over more than we expected. And you’ll find more tips in our Poland section.
Summer, or autumn?
Summer (July–August) is both the most expensive and the busiest, but the boats are running and the complex has its longest opening hours, until 20:00. We went in August and don’t regret it, though next time I’d pick the very first slot of the day. In the afternoon the sky clouded over above the rocks and it drizzled for a while, and you can feel it straight away on the steps: both the sandstone and the wood get slippery.
Spring and autumn are, for us, the best compromise – admission is 20 CZK (about €0.8) cheaper, and so is parking, and the boats still run from May to the end of October. Autumn colours in the sandstone gorges are also something you don’t get in August. If you’re planning a spring weekend for two, we have a separate roundup of tips around Czechia.
Winter is by far the cheapest option – admission 120 CZK (about €5), parking 80 CZK (about €3.3) online – and Velký vodopád freezes into an icefall. But the complex closes as early as 16:00, and a barrier closes the Chvaleč hairpin bends whenever they ice over. A winter visit calls for good shoes and some slack in your schedule.
Arriving without a reservation in peak or main season. Not only do you risk a queue and a full car park – if the online tickets for that day are sold out, you can’t buy them at the ticket office either.
Relying on a card at the boats. You can pay by card everywhere in the complex except at the boat. Cash only, in crowns.
Setting off without water and food. Three hours of climbing without water is not a good idea, and there’s nowhere to buy anything on the circuit.
Planning the Teplice Rocks on the same ticket. They are two different operators with two separate entries. The exception applies only to walking through Vlčí rokle.
Go, if you like grand scale, want one of the most photogenic places in Czechia, and don’t mind that another 400,000 people a year know about it too. For families with small children, the step-free section to Malý vodopád is ideal, giving you a proper experience without a single step.
Think twice, if you have serious claustrophobia – Myší díra really is 50 centimetres wide. If you struggle with heights and exposure, because the steps on Nová partie run above the gorge and the railing is more symbolic than real. If you have problems with your knees or your fitness, because there’s no way around the two thousand steps. And if you’re looking for solitude in nature, you won’t find it at Adršpach in August – there are better places for that. Somewhere like Prachov Rocks: smaller, less famous, with three circuits from 1.5 to 3.5 km, so you can pick the length to suit your mood. Parking there also costs 100 CZK (about €4.1), not 200 CZK (about €8.3).
The good news: the demanding part is optional. The first 1.3 km along flat ground to Malý vodopád is a worthwhile trip in its own right, and nobody’s forcing you to go any further.
It was. Even with a heart rate of 192, even with me squeezing through Myší díra with my arms over my head, even with that hairpin bend where it looked like we wouldn’t fit past an oncoming car.
Adršpach is one of the few places where visitor-number regulation genuinely makes sense, and you can see it working. The time slots work, booking your parking online saves you the stress right from the start, and the rest is down to your own two feet. If I had to give just one piece of advice: buy your ticket and your parking in advance, and pick a morning slot. Everything else you can improvise.
And if you’re already this far up in the north-east, don’t stop at the border. Adršpach and Wrocław are two hours apart – more trip ideas around Czechia are in our Czechia section.
Formally, no – you can buy one at the ticket office too. Practically, yes – it’s 50 CZK (about €2.1) cheaper, you avoid the queue, and above all, if the online tickets for that day are sold out, you won’t get one on site either.
In peak season (July–August) it’s 200 CZK (about €8.3) online or 250 CZK (about €10) on site for a car. In the main season it’s 180 CZK (about €7.4) / 220 CZK (about €9.1), in low season 80 CZK (about €3.3) / 100 CZK (about €4.1). The ticket is valid all day; between 21:00 and 7:00 it switches to 100 CZK (about €4.1) per hour.
Yes. The operator states that parking is free for vehicles displaying a parking permit for the transport of people with disabilities, and that in that case there’s no need to book an online parking space. For admission, though, a ZTP holder pays full price, a ZTP/P holder pays a reduced rate, and a companion accompanying a ZTP/P holder gets in free.
Yes, but only for the first 1.3 km from the entrance to Malý vodopád. This section is step-free and flat, but you have to go back the same way. You can’t get any further round the circuit with a pushchair – Velký vodopád, the rock lake, the viewpoints on Nová partie and Myší díra are not step-free.
The main circuit is 3.5 km. Official sources give 2.5 to 3 hours – allow three to be safe, especially in season, when there are queues on the steps.
Adult 100 CZK (about €4.1), reduced 70 CZK (about €2.9), child (3–15) 50 CZK (about €2.1). You can’t book ahead – tickets are bought on site only, and only in cash, in crowns. The trip takes about 20 minutes and runs from May to the end of October, daily from 9:00 to 16:45. One thing to watch for: the ticket to the rocks is valid until 20:00, but the boats stop hours earlier, so with a late slot you won’t get to ride one at all.
No, neither. Sort out toilets and food before you go in. The only refreshments are seasonal stalls in front of the entrance, run by third parties.
No. The Teplice Rocks are run by the town of Teplice nad Metují and have their own price list and their own car park (150 CZK / €6.2 per day for a car). The exception applies only to the through-route: if you walk through both rock towns in one go via Vlčí rokle, you only need a ticket for the one you enter through.
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