Mlada Boleslav is an industrial district town in the lower Jizera region. As early as in the 10th century there used to be a duke castle below which a serf town was founded later. The town was the property of various noblemen and in 1600 Mladá Boleslav acquired the status of a town which was granted to it by the emperor Rudolf II. The town was on the decline due to the Thirty Years War and the fires in the 17th century and started to flourish again only in the 19th century.

Industrial factories were founded, the most important of which was the Laurin and Klement factory producing bicycles and cars which was set up in 1895. In 1925 the car factory merged with the Skoda concern and today it is a share holding company Skoda - Volkswagen (there is a factory museum).

The castle was built in the place of an older duke castle in the 14th century. It was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Renaissance style and in the 18th century it was turned into barracks. The castle has been housing a museum since 1972.

The Old Townhall (today it is a seat of the District Office) was originally of the Renaissance style a dated back to 1554-59. On the back side of the building, figural grafitti have been preserved.

The archdeacon Church of Ascension of Virgin Mary dates to the beginning of the 15th century. The church has a late Gothic vaulting and was adapted in the Baroque style.

There are monuments of contemporary architecture in the town.

Our trail starts at the marked road-fork in Komenskeho square. Follow the red trail through the Mirove square where there is a baroque Church of St. Jan of Nepomuk. It dates back to 1727, was closed down in 1787 and renewed again in 1816. Walk through the Namesti Republiky square and then you will reach the edge of the town at the Klenice brook.

Cross the highway together with the blue trail and go to the edge of the forest below Chlum where on the left you can see the basalt Karluv vrch (Charles' Hill) with a building on its top. Continue along the red trail past the gamekeeper's lodge called Pod Chlumem and walk up the cart track. The track was built in relation to the planned building of the view-tower on the top of Chlum which, however, never happened.

On the promontory you will reach a massive rampart called Svedske sance (Swedish ramparts). These are the remnants of fortified settlement where Swedish troops camped during the Thirty Years War. From the ramparts, there are views of distant Prague, Rip, Ceske stredohori, Bezdez and other hills of Macha's country, Lusatian Mountains and Jested Ridge. Not far from this military settlement there is one of the highest places in the ridge of Chlum (365 m above the sea level, 168 m above the Jizera river surface).

Continue along the red trail till you reach the Chloumek village where we recommend to take the short trail to the promontory called Na Hradku (At a Small Castle). In the Middle Ages there used to be a fortified settlement which was destroyed during the Hussite wars. Near this short trail there is also the Smetanova myslivna (Smetana gamekeeper's lodge) where the music composer Bedrich Smetana used to go to see his brother, the gamekeeper Karel Smetana. The composer met his future wife Bettina Ferdinandova here.

When you return from the short trail, follow the red trail along a small road to Vinarice. In the village there is a Renaissance mansion from the beginning of the 16th century, rebuilt around 1630. The red trail will lead you to Dobrovice which acquired the status of a town in 1558. In the town there is a townhall with a tower dating back to the 17th century and a former Renaissance mansion from 1578. The larger part of the mansion was turned into a sugar refinery which was founded in 1831. Not a long time ago, the sugar refinery was reconstructed and belongs to the most up-to-date ones in Bohemia.

You can finish your trip in Dobrovice and return to Mladá Boleslav by bus or by train from the station which is 2 km away. Our main trail continues from the square along the yellow trail through Bojetice back to the Chlum Ridge to the telecommunication tower where there is the highest place of the ridge, called U Doubku (At an Oak Tree - 367 m above the sea level).

Following the yellow trail, walk down the forest road to the road-fork Nad zákoutím, where you will turn left and follow the blue trail. Walk through the forest and later along the road till you reach the former spa called Bozi Voda (God's Water). The spa was founded in the 18th century near a spring the water of which tasted of iron. It used to be a favourite place of trips of people from Mladá Boleslav. The spa was abandoned after the Second World War and today only the newly adapted shelter near the spring can be found.

Continue along the blue trail which continues together with the red one before you enter the town. At the edge of Mlada Boleslav the trails divide and our trail follows the blue one through the municipal park called Stepanka. The park was named after the Belgian princess Stefanie, the wife of the Austrian crown prince Rudolf. Continue along the blue trail, cross the little river Klenice and walk up to the centre of the town to the starting point in Komenskeho square.