Reading Time: 4 Minutes 41 Seconds
Kersko is a small village in a forest close to Nymburk, in Central Bohemia, ~25km from Prague.
This quiet place became famous largely because of Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, who bought a cottage there in 1965 to live peacefully with his cats and focus on his writing.
In 2014, the Bohumil Hrabal trail was created throughout Kersko to let visitors explore locations connected to the author’s life in the area.
You can walk or ride your bike along the trail, which winds through the beautiful forest and includes information boards.
What to see in Kersko
Several places around Kersko relate to Hrabal’s life.
You can visit them all while enjoying the natural oasis of this forest, with different types of trees, clean air and peaceful atmosphere.
Most of these sites are located along the main road – a concrete slab path built in 1934-1935 during Kersko’s development and locally nicknamed “Betonka”. It was paved with asphalt in the 1970s and remains the backbone of the village today.
Hrabal’s cottage
The cottage where Hrabal lived with his wife and cats opened as a museum in 2024 and displays restored original furniture and belongings from that era.
To be able to visit it, you need to book a guided tour and buy a ticket (it can be done online or on the spot).
This year (2026), the cottage was officially recognized as a Cultural Monument.
Very close to the cottage stands the bus stop “Hrabalova“, marked by a wooden sculpture of two cats.
The installation honors Hrabal’s deep love of cats – he famously lived alongside some 25 cats in and around his property.
Hrabal’s Hájenka
Another important place is the Kersko gamekeeper’s house (Hájenka Kersko), also called Hrabal’s Hájenka.
Built in 1935 as a wooden structure, it started as a café and is now a restaurant.
The building became well-known after appearing in the 1984 film “Slavnosti sněženek” (The Feast of Snowdrops) by Jiří Menzel, which was based on Hrabal’s novel of the same title.
The Forest Atelier
Close to the hájenka is the Kuba Forest Atelier, a ceramic workshop, gallery, and shop that opened in 1992.
Every year at the end of May the atelier hosts the “Hrabalovo Kersko” (Hrabal’s Kersko) festival in its garden, featuring meetings with authors, theatre plays, concerts, and discussions.
You can check the Kuba Atelier website for details about upcoming events, workshops, and opening hours.
During summer, the garden has a children’s playground and a snack stand.
Other places worth seeing
Further along the road is the mineral spring of St. Joseph. The water is rich of iodine and lithium and the locals call it “Kerka”.
Behind that is the restaurant “u Pramene” and a tennis club.
Set back from the road, among the trees, the Bistro Kersko combines a restaurant and a guesthouse with inviting garden seating and elegant interiors.
They serve Postřížinské beer, produced by the Nymburk brewery and named after Hrabal’s novel “Postřižiny” (Cutting it short).
Further ahead, at the local cemetery of Hradištko, Hrabal is buried with his family.
The tomb was designed by sculptor Aleš Hnízdil and features a stone column with a carved arm emerging from it. It is recognizable by the many cats statues and icons around it.
The grave design was inspired by Woody Allen’s 1984 film “Broadway Danny Rose”, which Hrabal admired.
He also wanted a reproduction of Hieronymus Bosch’s painting “The Ascent of the Blessed” included, which depicts the tunnel where souls are guided by angels.
In the cemetery, you can also find the graves of people Hrabal wrote about in “The Feast of Snowdrops.”
How to get there
If you travel by car, you can park in front of the hájenka or in front of the restaurant at the spring.
During high season those spots might be full, and in that case you can opt for the parking area further south-east, if it is not already occupied by trucks.
If you travel by bike, you have several alternatives, a few are described below.
- Option A: get off at the tiny train station of Třebestovice (with connections from Poříčany or Nymburk) and then cycle through the Kersko forest.
If you miss the connection in Poříčany, you can add a few km by riding from there. Just be aware that this section is entirely on road with fast moving car traffic, even though the limit is 70km/h, and it crosses the highway entrance and exit. - Option B: cycle from Nymburk through Písty, with sections along the Labe/Elbe river.
- Option C: start in Lysá nad Labem and either ride along the river bank (almost completely offroad, with some narrow sections), or on the road.
- Another variant is to ride the whole way from Prague.
You can check this article about riding to Nymburk for inspiration and adapt the route to reach Kersko instead.
If you travel by foot, then option A is the best one.
Start in Třebestovice and reach Hrabal’s cottage through the forest.
