Picture a pond founded back in the 13th century, ringed by reed beds, peat bogs and wet meadows, with a sandstone plateau covered in pine and beech forest rising just beyond - this is Břehyně-Pecopala, one of the first Czech reserves included in the Council of Europe's network of biogenetic reserves. It's a place where nature truly calls the shots, offering refuge to rare birds and plants found almost nowhere else nearby.

The reserve's landscape is wonderfully varied - from the still waters of Břehyňský Pond, through reed beds and marshy meadows, to the sandstone plateau of Pecopala with its basalt summit reaching 451 m above sea level. In spring and summer the pond area buzzes with nesting birdlife, autumn mist drifting over the water lends the place an almost mysterious air, and in winter the frozen pond has occasionally revealed traces of the ancient pine forest that once stood here before the pond was built. It's a spot for those seeking quiet and genuine wildlife encounters away from the crowds.

How to get there

• Hradčany - yellow-marked trail (circular route around Lake Mácha), easy difficulty, leads to the Břehyně pond sluice
• Cycling route 3045 also passes nearby

Practical information

• Motor vehicles are prohibited within the reserve
• The area is protected under the Ramsar Convention and is part of the Natura 2000 network
• An important nesting habitat for the Eurasian bittern, common crane and white-tailed eagle
• Visitors are advised to stick to marked paths due to the fragile ecosystems

Interesting fact: in the winter of 2009/2010, when the pond was drained and frozen, scientists discovered peat-preserved stumps of an ancient pine forest on its bed dating from before the pond's creation in the 14th century, and in 2014 a camera trap confirmed the presence of a wolf in the area.