Prague - Passau

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!

Hotels: Night in Prague is not included as most of our guests prefer to stay more nights. We recommend to use one of our standard partner hotels (3/4/5* Standard) as our route description, GPS files, maps etc. starts from there. If you decide to book your own hotel additional 20 € administration fee will apply.

Please note we require hotel with 24/7 reception + bike storage room. We do not accept Air B&B accommodation and it will be your responsibility on day 1 to find way by bike to our starting point.  

Our first biking day starts easily and relaxed Vltava river upstream on nice bike trails. After 20 km on flat ground we leave the river and climb over to the romantic Posázaví highlands. For every climb you will be rewarded with nice views of the surrounding country side. At Zbořený Kostelec you can take short hike to a local castle ruin. From here we will continue to nearby Týnec nad Sázavou with it’s romantic gothic stronghold and Romanesque rotund. We will end today’s bike stage by visiting the Konopiste Castle, the summer palace of Archduke Franz Ferdinand D´Este. The assassination of this would-be-king in Sarajevo in 1914 caused World War I.

The second day offers us gentle biking along small side roads and byways through nice and peacefull part of Central Bohemia. The part we bike through today is sometimes called Czech Meran for all the little ups and downs or Czech Siberia for rather chillier climate in the valleys. It offers a lot of fantastic views and descends with the same ammount of climbs on the other hand. After we pass through all this cycling heaven we will end up in Tábor. This mighty fortress served as the headquarters of the czech reformation in 15th century during the Hussite wars. Never conquered it offers a lot to see and a great evening after a demanding ride!

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.

Elevation gain: ca. 520 m

Today is short but very hilly. We bike the whole part in the lovely Šumava (Czech Forrest) mountains. You can admire the lovely views of the gently rolling hills as well as remote churches and views. The somehow raw beauty of the Vltava (Moldau) valley in the morning will be changed by the lake-like countryside near the Lipno lake. On a good clear day you can see the Alps as well as the nearby hills in the rarely still lake. Also, we bike just on the edge of the military training area Boletice.

Distance: 58-98 km

In the morning you can still decide to cut the day shorter by a train to as far as the German borer in Nové Údolí. Of course, you can start from where you stay. Biking from Horní Planá right on the banks of the Lipno lake you will bike along the river upstream through deep woods, peat bogs and meadows of Šumava national park. Near Stožec we will cross former iron curtain to enter Germany. From here the trail joins a dismantled railway - nowadays perfect cycle trail which will take us gently through the hilly area nearly to Waldkirchen. From here it goes gently up and down through the Bavarian rural area with perfect net of small country roads and bike trails untill we reach our destination - Passau right on the banks of the mighty Danube river.

This day is yours to fully enjoy the beautifull town of Passau. 

One day extension is highly recommended. Either by bike, by boat or combined you can follow Danube river downstream to  famous Donau Knee. One of the most scenic a dramatic areas of a whole Danube trail!