Giant Mountains with Kids

Where to Go with Kids in the Giant Mountains in Summer: Garden at the Apartments, Cable Car and the Source of the Elbe

The summer Giant Mountains offer families a combination of comfort and real experiences. While children enjoy the garden with a pool and trampoline, parents can plan a cable car trip to the source of the Elbe or to Huťský Waterfall – and return without exhaustion. From the apartments in Horní Rokytnice, it's a few minutes to the cable car and an hour's walk to the waterfall.

21. 10. 2026 · Apartmány Ilona

🏡 Why Go Anywhere When You Have a Garden

Apartments Ilona are located in Horní Rokytnice nad Jizerou, a quiet part of the village below the mountains. In summer, you can have breakfast on the covered terrace, children spend the day in the pool and on the trampoline, parents sit with a book in the shade. The children's playhouse with a slide and sandbox are strategically placed so parents can see them – which means peace of mind with smaller children.

For families with toddlers or preschoolers, the garden can be practically the entire program. The pool is large enough for splashing and swimming, the trampoline is fun even for older siblings. Parking is free at the house, so the car stays handy – in case someone decides to just go for ice cream.

We live in the house, so we can advise you on what's open, where there's a good restaurant, and how much time to allow for which hike. Simply family accommodation that works even without daily planning of tourist expeditions.

🚡 Cable Car to the Ridge and Further on Foot

The Horní Domky chairlift is about 600 meters from the apartments – so just a short walk. In summer, it runs on weekends and daily during holidays, carrying tourists from the Rokytka parking lot to Horní Domky near the Lovčenka chalet. The ride takes eight minutes, overcomes an elevation gain of 252 meters, and strollers and children under three ride free.

From here, a network of hiking trails opens up. The nearest destination is the Ručičky junction – barely 10 minutes' walk. From there, the green trail continues to Dvoračky, a mountain hut at an altitude of 1140 meters, where a terrace with a view and homemade bakery await you. The route from the cable car to Dvoračky takes about an hour and a half.

From Dvoračky, paths continue further – for example to Labská bouda (Elbe Chalet) and the source of the Elbe, which is another six to seven kilometers along the red trail. For families with older children (say from eight years old), this is a manageable full-day circuit: up by cable car, to Ručičky, on to Dvoračky, back down on foot via Huťský Waterfall to Rokytnice. About ten kilometers in total with refreshments at the chalet.

Horní Domky cable car – 8 minutes ride, 252 m elevation gain
Ručičky – 10 minutes walk from the upper station
Dvoračky – 1.5 hours from the cable car, home cooking
Huťský Waterfall – return descent (1 hour) to Rokytnice

💧 To the Source of the Largest Czech River

The source of the Elbe lies on Labská louka (Elbe Meadow) at an altitude of about 1387 meters, near the Polish border. It's not a natural spring directly from the ground – the actual source is in a peat bog higher up and is inaccessible. The place where tourists go is symbolically arranged: a stone well with water, benches, coats of arms of cities through which the Elbe flows on its journey. For children, it's an understandable destination – this is where the river begins that flows through the entire republic all the way to Germany.

For families with smaller children, this is a more demanding trip – many kilometers on mountain terrain. With older children (from ten years old), it works as a full-day hike with a backpack, snack, and thermos. Ideally, set out in the morning, reach the source, rest, have a snack, and return. The path leads through beautiful countryside, and the feeling that you've reached "the beginning of the Elbe" is often stronger for children than the place itself.

🌊 Huťský Waterfall – Closest to the Apartments

Huťský Waterfall is probably the most accessible of the Giant Mountains waterfalls for families staying in Horní Rokytnice. Water falls from a height of 20 meters, the waterfall is cascading, photogenic, and a comfortable blue trail leads to it. From Apartments Ilona, it's 2.5 kilometers – so easily even with a stroller or smaller children.

A wooden viewing platform leads to the waterfall, from which you can comfortably observe it. It's not Pančavský Waterfall (that one is 30 meters and is further in the mountains), but Huťský is nice, accessible, and the path to it is varied – forest, stream, rocks. For children, it's an ideal length: get there, look, rest, return. Or continue further.

From the waterfall, the blue trail continues up to Dvoračky – that's another about two kilometers of climbing. So you can make a circuit: from Rokytnice on foot to the waterfall, up to Dvoračky, from there to Ručičky and down by cable car or the longest bobsled track in the Giant Mountains, with a length of 1674 m and speeds up to 40 km/h. Or the other way around – up by cable car, via Dvoračky down to the waterfall and to Rokytnice on foot. Both make sense and save your legs.

🥾 What to Pack and How to Plan the Day

Summer in the Giant Mountains means changeable weather. It can be sunny in the morning, clouds come at noon, and a shower falls in the afternoon. With children, definitely pack jackets in your backpack – even if you're setting out in a T-shirt. On the ridges, the wind blows, in the forest shade it's cool, after rain too.

Drinking regime is essential – children in the mountains lose fluids quickly. Take more water than you'd expect, plus a snack. Even if you're planning lunch at a chalet, children will get hungry earlier. Cookies, fruit, energy bars, something salty are good.

With smaller children (up to six years), count on them wanting to be carried or return earlier. The cable car is a great insurance in this – you ride up, try a bit on foot, and if needed, return down by cable car. You're not committing to a whole circuit.

And one more tip: don't plan more than one big destination per day. Either the waterfall, or Dvoračky, or the source of the Elbe. After returning, children will want to go to the pool, trampoline, have dinner and rest. That's normal and actually ideal – a day in the mountains, evening at the apartment.

Jackets and raincoats (even if it's warm)
Plenty of water and extra snacks
Sturdy shoes, even for children
Small first aid kit (band-aids for blisters)

🏔️ Other Places Nearby Worth Visiting

If you don't feel like going to the mountains, Rokytnice nad Jizerou and the surrounding area have other options. Vyhlídkový lesopark Hlídka (Hlídka Viewing Forest Park) on Stráž offers four new viewing structures named Fox, Sheep, Bear, and Miner – all on Stráž hill above the town. It's a nice trip with children, shorter than Dvoračky, and the views are great.

Electric bikes can be rented about 600 meters from the apartments – with older children, you can explore the surroundings.

Harrachov (half an hour) offers a glassworks with tours and Mumlavský Waterfall. In Janské Lázně, you'll find the Treetop Walkway. Both are classic family destinations where you can go if the weather in the mountains is unfavorable.

And when the children are tired or the weather is bad, the garden at the apartments works as a safe option. Pool, trampoline, picnic on the terrace – sometimes the best program is no program.

🛏️ Accommodation from Where It All Makes Sense

Apartments Ilona have the advantage of being located in Horní Rokytnice – so close to the cable car, ski area, starting points of hiking trails, but still in peace. Three apartments (A for 2–5 people, B for 2–7 people, C for 2–10 people) have their own kitchen and bathroom, so the family has its own space. Apartment C on the floor and attic is ideal for two families or a group of friends – it fits up to ten people.

You can prepare breakfast yourself in the kitchenette. After the hike in the evening, you take a shower, children go to the pool, you to the terrace. Parking is at the house, so you don't have to figure out where to put the car.

From the apartments, it's about 600 meters on foot to the Horní Domky cable car, 500 meters to the family slopes (in winter), 100 meters to the skibus stop. In summer, this means easy access to the mountains, but also peace and privacy. Simply a place you can return to after a whole day and rest – which with children you might appreciate even more than the hike itself.

What guests ask most often

Is the Horní Domky cable car in operation in summer?

Yes, the cable car runs in summer – on weekends in May and June, daily during holidays, and then again on weekends until November. Strollers and children under three ride free.

Can small children manage the path to the source of the Elbe?

With small children, we recommend taking the bus from Rokytnice to Zlaté návrší and from there along the yellow trail 3.1 km and back along the red trail 3.2 km via Labská bouda and Pančavský Waterfall back to Zlaté návrší and by bus to Rokytnice. For preschoolers, it's demanding, with children from eight years old it's manageable, with older ones (from ten) it's a standard full-day hike.

How long does it take to get to Huťský Waterfall?

From Apartments Ilona, it's about 2.5 km one way, which means about an hour's walk. Even with smaller children or a stroller, it's doable, the path is comfortable.

Can breakfast be ordered at the apartments?

The apartments have their own kitchens, so you prepare breakfast yourself. In Rokytnice nad Jizerou, there are restaurants and cafes where you can go.