Ceský Sternberk: Castle, Culture and Excursions

Český Šternberk combines a castle with an unusual continuity, distinctive cultural features and several options for an active stay. The castle was founded around 1241 by Zdeslav of Divišov and remains in the possession of the founding family to this day. This creates a place for your travel planning where history, cycling, a walking excursion and a climbing area can be combined into different daily itineraries.

Český Šternberk Castle and distinctive cultural features

During a guided tour of the castle, you will see 15 richly furnished rooms on the second floor. The castle also houses a unique collection of 545 prints from the time of the Thirty Years’ War. A special feature lies to the south: the castle’s southern outer bastion, known as Hladomorna, now serves as a viewpoint. The tour therefore combines interiors, a historical collection and a viewpoint into its own cultural focus.

Cycling and half-day tours

Two different routes through Český Šternberk are available for days spent cycling. Cycling Route 3/C, approximately 30 km long, passes through the town. The Posázavská Cycling Route No. 19 also passes through here; it runs mainly along comfortable paths and roads in Classes II and III.

An excursion on foot or by bicycle can be taken as a half-day tour. This allows you to include not only a longer cycling trip but also a shorter active block in your stay, without losing sight of the cultural focus around the castle.

The Český Šternberk stop is about a ten-minute walk from the castle courtyard and thus provides a practical reference point for planning a day around the castle.

The climbing area on the Sázava

The Český Šternberk climbing area lies on the right bank of the Sázava, south of the municipality of Malovidy. It is a comparatively young area with new routes secured with expansion bolts or rivets. This adds an independent riverside activity to the castle, collection and cycling routes.

From Český Šternberk railway station, the climbing area is most easily reached on foot by following the tracks downstream towards Rataje nad Sázavou. Stříbrná stěna is the highest wall in the climbing area visible from the station and offers beautiful long climbing routes; however, the lower sections are rather brittle. These differences are relevant when selecting a suitable climbing section within the area.

Which type of stay suits you?

When choosing where to stay, you can decide on the focus of your day: a castle tour and collection, a cycling route or a half-day tour on foot, or the climbing area. Those wishing to combine several of these themes can arrange the order according to the desired alternation between culture, exercise and climbing. This keeps the accommodation decision oriented towards the planned experiences without reducing Český Šternberk to just one type of trip.

More places for your travel planning

Lštění, Děkanovice, Studený, Skalice, Teplysovice, Netvorice, Lešany and Nova Rabyne

To the higher-level travel overview: Okres Benešov.