Ceske Stredohori

The Ceske stredohori is what remains of a volcanic field active around thirty million years ago: several hundred hills, most of them the hardened plugs and necks of volcanoes with the softer surrounding rock eroded away, standing as cones and domes across about a thousand square kilometres either side of the Elbe. Milesovka at 837 metres is the highest. The geology gives the region its character - basalt and phonolite weather to rich soil, the slopes face south, and the climate is among the warmest and driest in the country, so there are vineyards, orchards and dry steppe grassland with plants otherwise found much further south-east, including several found nowhere else in the Czech lands. It has been protected since 1976. The hills are walked on marked ridge routes, and the combination of small cones, orchards and wide views is unlike any other Czech landscape.

What you actually see

• Several hundred volcanic cones - hardened plugs left standing as the softer rock eroded.
• Vineyards and orchards - on warm south-facing basalt slopes.
• Steppe grassland - plants at the north-western edge of their range.
• Milesovka - the highest cone at 837 metres, with an observatory.

When to go

April to October; May for the orchard blossom. Two days.

Honest expectations

The hills are small but the climbs are steep and often unshaded. Summer is hot and dry here by Czech standards. Public transport reaches the valleys, not the ridges. Some reserves restrict access.

Nearby

Porta Bohemica and Litomerice are on the Elbe; Rip is south.