Loket Castle

Loket takes its name from the elbow of the river that wraps almost completely around the rock it stands on, and the geography is the point: from the far bank the castle, the town roofs and the water read as one closed loop. The castle core is Romanesque, with a rotunda and thick walls, extended in Gothic and later periods and used for a long stretch as a town jail before restoration turned it into a museum. Inside there is a porcelain collection reflecting the local industry, an archaeology display and a torture exhibition of the kind that fills many Czech castles. The small square below has arcaded houses, and a riverside path circles the entire rock.

What you actually see

• The river loop - the Ohre curling almost the whole way around the castle rock, seen from the far bank.
• The Romanesque rotunda - the oldest surviving part of the castle, reached inside the walls.
• The porcelain collection - displays of the West Bohemian porcelain industry in the castle rooms.
• The town square - the small arcaded square of pastel houses just below the castle gate.

When to go

April to October for the riverside paths and the open courtyards; the castle runs a shorter route in winter. Summer weekends bring rafting groups and an open-air opera season at the amphitheatre by the water. Early morning gives the best light on the rock when viewed from the far bank.

Honest expectations

The interior is a fairly standard castle museum, and the torture chamber display is more lurid than informative. The climb from the car parks below is steep and cobbled. Loket is small enough to fill quickly on summer weekends, and the square's handful of restaurants get overwhelmed at lunchtime.

Nearby

Karlovy Vary is fifteen kilometres east, and the Ohre valley path continues downstream to the Svatosske skaly rocks.