Prague - Linz

Arrival to Prague, check-in to hotel. This day is up to you to explore Prague by yourselves, relax or have a unique Prague by bike tour (see more in Prague by bike section). The tour is guided by Prague born guides who truly love the city and will show you much more than Lonely Planet highlights and moreover – all of it done by bike and finished by a mug of good beer in carefully chosen place. Do not hesitate to ask us for this extra tour – it is the most beloved one of our clients! If time is not your worst enemy, we do propose to stay in Prague more days to fully explore the beautiful spots and hidden corners of it. Please do not hesitate to ask us for more nights or other attractions!

NOTE - Hotels: We require at least one night before departure at one of our partner hotels, as this allows us to arrange the pre-tour meeting, bike storage, and luggage pick-up.

The first day of your journey takes you out of Prague and through the lovely Berounka river Valley to the Brdy highlands. This mild forested hills are one of the legendary and popular area for weekend trips and hiking for Prague locals, still full of the romantic “trampers” spots and “villages” also a lovely natural spot with many endangered species living here. Biking over this area will bring you to Dobříš, once the seat of the wealthy Colloredo-Mansfeld noble family today a sleepy but charming town at the edge of the highlands serves nicely as your first night outside the bursting Prague!

Another demanding but lovely day. Today you will enjoy the peacefull and merely uncovered central parts of the Vltava river valley and surrounding parts. Most odf today you spend on small roads and partly outside of all bike signs. First you will slowly traverse to the Vltava/Moldau river itself getting some of the great views of the countryside. You reach the river on the border between 2 dams – Kamýk and Orlík. Crossing the mighty Orlík dam is one of the breath-taking views. From there on you explore the tiny villages on the lake shore. Much recommended is a small detour to the mighty looking Orlík castle right on one of the cliffs above the lake. Finally you get to the confluence of Otava and Vltava rivers where you can explore the once super important royal castle of Zvíkov with its prime position right above the confluence. Also, you can try the local microbrewery!

We will enter the South Bohemian region today. It is well known for its hospitality, fish farming and architectural style called the folk Baroque. The stage will lead us through picturesque villages of this region and we will visit the village of Zaluzi with a well-preserved open-air museum of folk architecture. In the Borkovicka Marshland, besides admiring this natural wonder, you will learn more about peat mining. In Dolni Bukovsko, we will stop by an early Gothic church of the Birth of Virgin Mary with precious Gothic mural paintings. The highlight of today’s stage is the visit of neo-Gothic castle in post-Tudor style in Hluboka nad Vltavou. This fairytale-like building can be easily identified by its numerous big and small towers with in noticeable yellow color. The castle is beautiful not only from the outside, but the inside hides treasured items from the Schwarzenberg collection, which are carefully arranged in 141 rooms of the castle.

Just after breakfast, we will go up the stream of the Vltava River to the South Bohemian metropolis –  Ceske Budejovice. Besides the well maintained main square with a Baroque fountain and the Black Tower, this town is famous worldwide for production of the Budweiser Budvar beer. Only one sip of this golden drink gives you a proof that beer making in Bohemia with its several hundred-year old traditions is the true national treasure. Further we will visit the old monastery of Zlata Koruna (Golden Crown), which has its origins in the 13th century when it became an important center of education and ruling power of its time. At the end of the day, we will enter the town sometimes called the “Pearl of Renaissance” – Cesky Krumlov. We will admire a complex of more than 300 historical buildings surrounding a Renaissance castle, which used to be the residence of the most significant aristocratic families in the times of the Bohemian Kingdom. After Prague, Cesky Krumlov is the most popular tourist destination in the Czech Republic. Visiting this town will definitely be the highlight of this entire bike tour from Czech Republic to Passau.

This day is probably the most difficult ones of the whole bike tour as you will be bikinghigh above the Vltava river. On the other hand, if you will climb all the hills, you will be rewarded with wonderful views to the surrounding country side! One of the great stop along the way is romantic Rožmberk castle situated on mountain and overlooking the river. 

In case you would prefer more relaxed option, it is possible to take a train from Český Krumlov to Lipno dam and from here more or less along the river through the popular holidays area. Both trails meet in Vyšší Brod. Best of all local places of interest is the ancient monastery with many fantastic relics with the famous Cross of Záviš atop which is rated as one of the 3 most valuable relics in the whole country.

 From here, we will continue over the Sumava National Park, which is sometimes nicknamed “the green roof of Europe”, to former Iron Curtain Area through so called "dead zone". After crossing the border we will pass lovely rural villages along the Austrian-Czech border via Reichenthal all the way rolling down most of the part with a great panorama-view on the hilly world of the Mühlviertel In Reichenau we will join with famous Danube-Cycling route via Gallneukirchen and St. Georgen along the river Gusen. After 10 km of cycling along the river we will finally arrive at Linz.

This day is yours to fully enjoy the beautifull town of Linz. One day extension is highly recommended. Either by bike, by boat or combined you can follow Danube river upstream to the famous Donau Knee. One of the most scenic and dramatic areas of the whole Danube trail!