Eger: Castle, City History and Routes along the Ohře

Eger, known in Czech as Cheb, combines historic architecture and art with nature and cycling themes along the Ohře. When planning your trip, you can focus on the castle and merchant houses, museums and art, or routes and cycling options. This lets you tailor your stay to the topics that interest you most.

Castle, Church and Špalíček

Cheb Castle is an unusual example of an imperial palace and the only representative of this type of castle architecture in Czechia. It includes a two-storey Romanesque-Gothic chapel dedicated to Saint Erhard and Saint Ursula. Špalíček offers a different architectural accent: its merchant houses, partly built in half-timbering, date from the 13th century onwards. The complex is part of the Cheb urban conservation area and is listed as an immovable cultural monument of Czechia. You can therefore choose between castle architecture and the history of the merchant houses as two distinct historical topics.

The Church of Saint Nicholas and Saint Elizabeth is Eger’s oldest church and is open to the general public. Check the opening arrangements before your visit.

Museum and Art

The Cheb Museum is one of the oldest regional museums in Bohemia; it opened on 15 May 1874. It is located in the Pachelbel House, where Albrecht von Wallenstein was murdered on 25 February 1634. Thus, the museum’s history and a precisely dated event in the city’s history come together in the same building.

The Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb, known as GAVU Cheb, is an art museum focusing on 19th- and 20th-century art as well as Gothic art from the historic Cheb region. GAVU presents a permanent exhibition of Czech art from the 19th and 20th centuries and an exhibition of Gothic sculpture. If you would like to compare art themes, you can choose between Czech art from these two centuries and Gothic sculpture as distinct focuses.

Routes and Recreation along the Ohře

The Krajinka recreational and sports area is located on both banks of the Ohře below Cheb Castle and includes a cycle path. Another way to incorporate nature into your stay is the Goethův naučný lesopark. It lies in Cheb on the left bank of the Ohře, in the direction of Františkovy Lázně. The forest park has well-maintained paths, a maze and a suspension bridge. Several information boards describe the area’s history, the animals that live there and its geological features. Paths through the forest park lead to the Egerwarte viewpoint, also known as Chebská stráž.

Cycling and Events

For route planning, Krajinka and the Ohře Cycle Route offer different options: Krajinka includes a cycle path, while the second section of the Ohře Cycle Route starts in Cheb and runs through picturesque countryside near the river via Kynšperk nad Ohří and Sokolov. This lets you distinguish between a cycle path in a recreational and sports area and a named route section that passes through several specified places.

FIJO is an international festival of youth wind orchestras in Cheb. If FIJO is important to your trip, check the dates and programme in advance.

Discover more destinations: Voitersreuth, Schanz, Lázně Kynžvart, Miltigau, Hohendorf - Abaschin, Trstěnice U Mariánských Lázní, Poutnov, Sangerberg.

Return to the main travel overview: Eger District.