KUDYZNUDY.CZ

However, this region is not just a haven for all romantics. Ever more visitors are coming to the region to enjoy hundreds of kilometers of local biking trails and dozens of hiking and educational trails. The more demanding mountain cyclists come to local forests to enjoy the perfect local conditions for adrenalin sports. Water sports enthusiasts may water-ski or ride wakeboards in Stráže pod Ralskem. By the way, together with Mimoň, Stráž is the ideal starting place for wild-water rides on the Ploučnice River. Rock cities hidden among coniferous woods in the former military zone have been attracting climbers and mountaineers. The forested landscape is also popular among mushroom pickers.

• Castle Bezděz – the symbol of Mácha’s Country, a uniquely preserved royal Gothic castle with a palace, burgrave palace and a magnificent early Gothic chapel standing on the top of the hill (604 meters). A 35-meter-high castle tower offers a fabulous view of the surrounding scenery.
• Mácha’s Lake – or rather the largest Czech pond, founded by Czech king Charles IV (1366). A popular summer resort with beaches, water slides, beach volleyball courts, a water sports center, boating trips and bungee jumping.
• Staré Splavy – or the Old Weirs, is the recreational center of Mácha’s Lake. In 1936, Mácha’s monument was unveiled at Jarmila’s Cliff, the first ever monument devoted to a Czech poet in north Bohemia. The monument was thrown into the lake by the Nazis, and was pulled out of the water after the war. Today, the monument is situated in Hůrka at Bělá pod Bezdězem.
• Starý Berštejn Castle – ruins of a 15th century castle with a preserved castle tower and remains of the fortifications.
• Brandenburg Cave – a large rock cliff situated in an interesting area of rocky ravines and marked forest trails west of Staré Splavy. Other interesting locations: the Dlouhý Důl, Vůbčářská, Selská and Černá ravines.
• Doksy – a recreational and spa center near Mácha’s Lake. The oldest house in the village, the so-called Hospitálka, acts as Mácha’s Museum.
• Houska Castle – a Gothic-Renaissance residence, one of the best preserved royal castles of Ottokar II. Precious medieval wall paintings installed in the interiors. According to legends, the castle chapel stands right above the gateway to hell.
• Králův Stolec – or the King’s Throne, is a rock formation in forests between Doksy and Břehyně, where King Charles IV allegedly rested after hunting trips in the deep local forests, observing the pond, which he founded.
• Chateau Zákupy – a Renaissance chateau later restored in the Rococo style. The archduke Franz Ferdinand d’Este married his wife countess Žofie Chotková in the castle’s chapel in 1900.
• Ploučnice Gap – situated in the village of Noviny pod Ralskem, this is the underground raceway of a former iron mill and an interesting technical monument. The river flows through a 150-meter-long double artificial channel cut out in sandstone and flows out in a place called Jezírko. A popular starting point for canoeing trips along the Ploučnice River.
• Ralsko Castle – a ruin of the former sentry castle at the border of the former military training zone, offering an interesting view of the former military zone Ralsko with a 3-kilometer-long runway, as well as a view of the panorama of Bezděz, Central Bohemian Uplands, Lučice and Jizera Mountains, the dominant  features of Bohemian Paradise and Mácha’s Region.
• Stohánek – a sandstone block, a miniature table mountain, accessible only by a stairway cut out in the rock. At the top you can see the remains of a hermitage from the 18th century.
• Děvín – a ruin of a castle founded in 1250 by the Markvatice family. Damaged by Swedes in the 17th century and gradually dilapidated ever since. The ruin is listed in the registry of cultural monuments. One of the largest winter sites of bats in the region.
• Česká Lípa – the administrative, economic and cultural center of the region. A town with many valuable monuments, including, for instance, the Lipý water castle, which was opened to the public in 2003 and which acts as the site of a wide range of community and cultural events. The former Augustinian monastery established in 1627 by Albrecht Valdštejn houses the Ethnographic Museum and a gallery with a large historical and natural science collection. You can also visit a public aquarium with more than 80 species of fish from all around the world.