Czech Greenways Cycling Tour
Exercise, Adventure, Culture and Great Beer!
Going on a Czech Greenways Cycling trip is a fun way to improve your fitness, protect the environment and steep in the rich culture of Eastern Europe.
The most satisfying kinds of trips are those that engage your mind, body and spirit. The Czech Greenways Club offers a cycling tour that also includes hiking and river rafting. It additionally features stops along the way to protected UNESCO sites, delicious meals and drinks, and fascinating company.
By the end of the eight days, you will be physically fit and full of culture!
The History of the Czech Greenways
This environmentally -aware organization was founded in 1989 and is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Czech Greenways in New York. Their aim is to preserve the land for its ecology and history, while creating a network of bicycle paths around the region from Vienna to Prague. Trails stretch for 250 miles through the countryside, through old town squares, down the remnants of the Iron Curtain and around castles and churches. The Club offers a wide range of tours, from walking sojourns to birdwatching and horseback riding, art and culture jaunts to fishing expeditions. However, their cycling tour from Valtice to Prague is particularly well organized and memorable.
The Tour Package
The tours are priced in Euros, but the currency in the Czech Republic remains the koruna. Thus, the prices for food, gifts and other expenses are still much cheaper than much of the rest of Europe. For the equivalent of about 1800-2000 Canadian dollars, you will reap the benefits of a fully bilingual (and charming!) guide, accomodation in delightful pensions and hotels, buffet breakfasts and three course dinners (with several lunches also provided), bus transfer, Trek bike rental, detailed maps, guided tours, and wine tasting. Every day you will ride or hike between 19-33 miles, depending on your fitness level. A van is always available if you prefer to rest and take in the scenery.
What You Will See and Do
Beginning in the Lednice-Valtice region, you will cycle through gentle forests, glimpsing the romantic structure of follies as you ride. A picnic is provided in the middle of a copse planted with mythic statues. Heading into Miklova, you pass through an ancient Jewish cemetary and finish with a tour of the winery. The following day, you will hike into the forests and river canyon of the National Park, viewing the Vranov Castle and the remaining shreds of the Iron Curtain. A tour of a Renaissance castle is included the next day along with a cycling trip to the medieval town of Telc.
In the town of Jindrichuv Hradec you will visit the third largest castle in the Czech Republic after cycling through the Moravian Highlands. From there, the next stop is Trebon, a medieval city only accesible across a moat. You then head out to one of the most exciting parts of the tour, Czesky Krumlov, with its medieval castle, festivals, art galleries and a tour of the oldest Baroque theatres in Europe. You can also go on a river rafting trip here down the Moldau. The tour finishes in Prague where you can take as many days as you want to appreciate the ancient and highly cultured city. The best time to go on this tour is in the Spring or the Fall, when it is not too hot or crowded. It's the experience of a lifetime!
