It’s hard to imagine a more laid-back holiday than a cycle ride through the magnificent countryside of South Moravia, discovering its architectural gems, stopping off at wine cellars along the way and enjoying the best the region has to offer. If you prefer more active breaks and want more from your time here, pump up your tyres, oil your chain and head off into a sun-drenched landscape hung with vineyards to seek out unspoilt countryside, flower-filled meadows, lavish chateaux, idyllic little towns and centuries-old wine cellars for an experience you’ll remember for a long time to come.
South Moravia is crisscrossed by 1,200km of marked trails known as the Moravian Wine Routes. As soon as you see the symbol of the wine routes on signposts (the silhouette of a cellar), you’ll know you’re on the right track. The routes run through the unspoilt countryside of South Moravia, which is for the most part gently undulating, with detours to viewing points. It travels past rows of cellars and links the best known wine producing villages. You’ll normally be pedalling along quiet back roads or country tracks across fields and through forests, meaning you can hit the trail on both a mountain and road bike. Before you set off in search of the intoxicating aroma of South Moravia’s wines, grab a map of the route which contains all the information you’ll need, such as the length of the route, type of terrain, level of difficulty and interesting sites along the way. It also shows the individual wine cellars.
Hundreds of kilometres, hundreds of experiences
So all that remains is to choose the right route! So which one will you plump for? How about the Kyjovská route, suitable for more advanced cyclists as it heads across hills with some stiff ascents and long descents? On this route running through the Slovácko region you can sample Moravian Muscat and Pinot gris. Not a great cyclist? No need to worry! You can go for the Strážnická route, which is quite flat and runs through the magnificent White Carpathians. Along the way make sure you taste some Riesling or Silvaner which has an aroma of lime leaves. Nor should you miss the town of Strážnice with its wonderful open-air museum of folk architecture.
Heritage with a vintage aroma
Some 165km in length, the Znojemská route is the longest of them all. Along the way you’ll have the chance to savour a cocktail of aromatic wines blended with some unique cultural heritage. Be sure to take a tour of historical Znojmo, take a seat in the Šatovský painted cellar and visit the impressive Gothic ruins of the monastery in Dolní Kounice. More great experiences are promised by the Mikulovská route, which takes you into the exquisite surroundings of the Lednice-Valtice Park, known as the Garden of Europe for its sumptuousness and declared a UNESCO-protected site. If you like red wines, take the Velkopavlovická route, which passes through the undulating landscape of the Modré Mountains. We can’t list all of the many wine routes, so come and choose one yourself!