Prague - Vienna Family tour

This day(s) is/are yours to explore the "Paris of the Central Europe,", relax, or have a unique Prague-by-bike tour (see more in our Prague-by-bike section). The tour is guided by Prague natives - who truly love the city and can reveal much more than any travel book – all safely by bike and finished by a mug of good beer in an carefully chosen place. Do not hesitate to ask us for this extra tour – it is our clients favorite! If time is not your worst enemy, we do propose you stay in Prague more days to fully explore its beauty and hidden corners. Feel free to ask us about 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.

Activities: Rafting/canoing
Today starts with a morning transfer (approx 1 hour) to the Sázava river. Here we change into rafting or canoing (option to be choosen at least a day in advance) gear and go for a lovely adventure on the river. Depending on the time of the year and water level we offer 2 different parts of the river. Both offer easy and enjoyable paddling with places to stop for a swim. As the valley always used to be popular for day trips we will meet a lot of romantical cottages, castl ruins, will try conquering the weirs like rafters once did when moving the logs downstream. After we finish, we take a romantical train ride and then transfer to Tábor. This mighty medieval town used to be the craddle and stronghold of the Hussites and a walk along its never conquered walls is a fantastic end of the day!

In the morning we recommend a short walk on the ramparts of Tábor, where you can admire its genius loci. The careful incorporation of the landscape and countryside during its construction resulted in several successful repulsions of sieges during the Religious Wars. Other option could be the local chocolate museum! Start the days sweet! Riding our bikes, we will enter the South Bohemian region. Among the green, calm scenery rest the romantic water castle of Červená Lhota, and the third-largest historical complex in the Czech Republic - the town of Jindrichuv Hradec with its well preserved castle and city center. Today, it is hard to believe that this calm town used to be one of the largest medieval centers in Bohemia! Based on a legend, it is possible to meet Perchta of Rozmberk – the famous “White Lady” ghost!

We leave the South Bohemia and enter the Bohemian - Moravian highlands area. Today’s highlight will be a visit of the Renaissance town of Telc, which is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Telc is considered to be the most beautiful Renaissance town in Europe!  Before we get there, we must travel a rather hilly 45 km, passing by a plethora of ponds and lakes - try to count them all, or just relax amid this peaceful scenery. In Strmilov, we will have a chance to visit an artistic weaving factory and learn more about the process of making wool and linen fabrics, a part of this region for centuries. Nice option for the first part of the day could be a local narrow gauge railway gently winding through the countryside!

Activity: Boat trip, high ropes
Today we yet again start with a car transfer. Approx 1 hour drive will take us to the popular Vranov lake on the river Dyje. Here we take a nice boat ride around the whole lake admiring the natural beauties of the place and both magnifficent castles - Bítov and Cornstejn. In Bítov the boat stops so we have the chance to go for a vistit of the place and see how the knights and princes lived here in the middle ages! After this we bike (2-3 km) to our hotel in the area bellow another mighty castle. In the afternoon there are funny high ropes waiting for us to try something a little different!

This day explores Podyji National Park, enchanting everyone with its untouched beauty. From the ruins of Novy Hradek, as well as from the viewpoint over the majestic medieval castle of Hardegg, we will be able to see where the Dyje River finds its way through the countryside creating unforgettable meanders. A memorial of the Iron Curtain, located in this area, is a quiet eyewitness of somber, relatively recent, times. The bike trail will lead us along the borders of the national park, where no auto traffic is allowed. While descending to the Dyje river through Šobes vineyard, why not pause for a glass of white wine? This place was marked as one of the 10 best vineyards in the world! Our next stop will be the town of Šatov, where we will have the possibility to visit  a uniquely-preserved Cold War fortification, a curiously painted wine cave, cozy wine cellar streets, and an educational path leading through vineyards of old wine varieties. We will conclude the day in the seat town of the Moravian Premyslid Dynasty – in the town of Znojmo.

Activity: Hike (13km) or Bike

Description of the day: In the morning we take our next transfer. Again approx 1 hour drive will take us to the popular Palava area. Our todays hike is to cover the similary named hill. Being the only major hill in a large area it was always strategically important so today we can admire 4 castle ruins during our hike! When tired, we can always stop in a small local village for something tasty! Should it be too hot, we can simply stay bellow the hill by the Nové Mlýny lake for a refreshing swim!

In the end, we get to the fayirytale town of Mikulov full of history and fun!
For those who would prefer a bike, please read bellow!

Distance: 68 km / 42 miles

Description of the day:  In the morning we will leave the town along the river and then continue through fields and vineyards to the Austrian border. The border line will then take us east with a nice stop in the town of Jaroslavice with nice Renesance chateau. Here you first cross the border t Austria and visit the picturesque wine growing area of Galgenberg. From here we follow a nice new bike trail meandering through the peaceful countryside to Mikulov. This hidden gem will capture your attention with its Baroque Castle and wine museum, an historic synagogue and a local curiosity – a gigantic wine cask big enough for a chamber orchestra. 

Today we have reserved for exploring the UNESCO protected Lednice-Valtice area. Since we bike along the two major chateaux - Lednice and Valtice, we can always stop for a renown falconry show in Lednice!

The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape – a landscape which used to belong to the family of Lichtenstein. Under the care of this single family, the swampy area was transformed into a well-thoughtout combination of castles and parks, sometimes called “The Garden of Europe” or “The Garden Paradise”. We will have a chance to visit this place, which combines both indigenous and exotic natural elements to create an outstanding work of human creativity. Since the complex is very large, biking is the recommended mode of transportation allowing you to fully experience this exceptional cultural site along at a leisurely pace.

In case of bad weather you can take a shortcut. Then the distance of the day would be 18 km.

The last half day of the tour in Czech republic will follow iron curtain trail framed with story boards of those, who tried to escape from communistic Eastern Block. After crossing the border we will bike through the Herrnbaumgarten Village, famous for its poetic museum of nonsense, to the wine museum in Poysdorf, where you will have a chance to complete your Central European wine "training"!

The day ends in Poysdorf with transfer by train/car to Vienna. Should you like to prolong it to Vienna by bike, follow Eurovelo 9 bike trail, it will take another approx 70 km.

Vienna:

Same as in Prague also in Vienna night is not included as most of our guests prefer to stay more nights. Therefore we offer large variety of hotels which we are happy to recomend