1. Moravian Karst and caves
This place has stunning nature and beautiful caves. There are many caves but 2 of them are the most famous ones, Punkva caves and Sloup-Šošůvka caves.
Punkva Caves
From the car we take a nice walk through the countryside, approx. 2,5 km to the caves where we start the tour inside the cave. Its a flat road, not steep.
The visitors walk through mighty underground spaces and passages decorated with various formations such as stalactites and stalagmites, as far as the bottom of the world-famous Macocha (=Step Mother) Abyss. The abyss is 138,7 m deep, with fascinating ground dimensions: 174 by 76 m. The walk is followed by a motor boat ride along the underground river Punkva. The ride includes a visit of the Masaryk´s Dome, one of the most beautiful caves of the Moravian Karst. There is a possibility to buy some souvenirs or refreshments. After the tour we take a cable car to the top where we can go to the upper deck and look down to the Macocha Abyss. From here we take a walk back to the car. We can either take the cable car and walk the same road back which is not steep or we can walk along a beautiful trail in woods, going down the hill. It’s a 3 km long walk. Its not difficult but it’s not good for a stroller, for example.
These caves must be booked in advance in the peak season at least 3 weeks ahead. MORE INFO
Between these stops there is lunch at a beautiful farm, where there is a variety of veggie and non-veggie dishes. The interior is very cosy made from wood and stone. During summer there is a possibility to eat on the terrace with a breath-taking view.
Sloup-Šošůvka Caves
These caves don’t need to be booked in advance and still you get beautiful experience as in Punkva caves. It’s a large complex of underground domes, passages, abysses and has two height levels. Sloup – Šošůvka Caves is an important place where cave animal carcasses (bear, lion, hyena) have been found. The Nagel Abyss, 80 meters deep, is the greatest underground abyss of this type in the Czech Republic. From the two platform-bridges the visitors can look down to the bottom. Šošůvka area, discovered at the beginning of 20th century is characterised by fragile and colourful stalactite and stalagmite decoration.
- There is a possibility to choose either a short or a long tour.
- The short tour lasts 70 min and it’s 890 m long.
- The long tour lasts 110 min and it’s 1760 m long.
- This trip is 50 min away from Brno, Czech Republic.
- It’s a full day trip. It’s good for families if you can assure your kids will enjoy the tour and won’t disturb other visitors inside the caves.
- It’s very chilly inside the caves, around 7°C (45°F) all year, please wear good shoes and a warm jacket.
2. Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape
The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape is a cultural-natural landscape complex of 283.09 square kilometres in the Lednice and Valtice areas of the South Moravian region in the Czech Republic.
The Lednice-Valtice Area is registered in the list of monuments protected as World Heritage sites (WHS) by UNESCO.
There are many points we can visit in this area. It’s great for walking/hiking or you can use a bike and visit even more fantastic spots.
The top highlights of this area you (must) can see on foot:
Lednice castle
Lednice Chateau is the jewel in the crown of the Lednice-Valtice complex and, at the same time, one of the most beautiful complexes in the English Neo-Gothic style in the whole of Europe. Several tour routes lead through the chateau interior, from representative halls, to the princely apartments, rooms of the small princes and princesses and the Puppet Museum. MORE INFO
Castle greenhouse
It’s a beautiful indoor botanical garden, where you will see a large number of tropical plants. MORE INFO
Lednice castle garden
Beautiful garden that surrounds the castle and creates a nice place to walk. It’s the perfect place to stroll around and enjoy the flowers, fountains and statues. MORE INFO
Minaret
Minaret Lookout Tower is located in the Lednice park about 2 km north of the castle. Around the Chateau Pond there are two leading roads, one of them is the ruins of an ancient Aqueduct. Tourist boats operate here on the Thayariver, and horse-drawn carriages follow the dirt roads. MORE INFO
This whole walk would be approx. 3.5 km.
If you are up to more walking, we can hit one more spot which is called John’s castle.
John’s Castle, called Janohrad, is an artificial ruin of a medieval castle on the edge of the Lednice-Valtice area. Janohrad was designed as habitable and served as a hunting lodge and gamekeeper’s lodge, where the estate gathered at the time of hunts and organised rich feasts.
The walk including John’s castle would be in total 8.2 km.
If you don’t want to walk and you don’t want to miss these spots you can take a cruise from the castle to Minaret and John’s castle.
The cruise is available every day from March (in March except Monday) to September. If weather conditions allow it the cruise is opened also during November and December, availability to be checked before booking this trip.
If you want something even more special, there is a possibility to take a horse carriage ride to Minaret. You can enjoy the same feeling as Prince Liechtenstein used to while riding.
- Moderate walk
- Great for families
- Dogs with leash and muzzle are welcome
3. Open Air Museum Rožnov pod Radhoštěm – Wallachian Open Air Museum
The Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm is the largest museum of its kind in the Czech Republic. It is thematically divided into three areas – Wooden Town, Wallachian Village and Mill Valley – in which the natural landscape houses original timber buildings transferred here from the countryside as well as copies and reconstructions of historic buildings. The museum speaks to visitors of all ages through expositions created on the basis of real stories of individuals or whole families living and working in the Wallachia in the past. MORE INFO
Wooden Town
The wooden town is the oldest part of the Wallachian Open Air Museum. It shows visitors the appearance of a historic square made up of a set of original wooden buildings transferred there mainly from the Rožnov Square and the wider surroundings. Several timber buildings were built according to both existing and extinct models. Here you can see the way of life and making a living in a small town from the middle of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century.
This tour takes 50 min.
The Wallachian Village
The Wallachian Village is the largest area of the Wallachian Open Air Museum. Its segmentation resembles the appearance of many real villages, situated on the slopes of the Beskydy mountains, as we know them from the early 20th century. The collection of wooden buildings gives the visitor an insight into the everyday life of the people of the Wallachian village from the end of the 18th century to the 1950s. Most of the buildings you see here are originals taken from their original locations. You can also find here copies or scientific reconstruction of buildings, built on the basis of historically documented facts. The layout of the farmyards and the interior situation are created according to historical events and real stories of particular families are presented here, which were found during archival and field research.
This tour takes 120 min.
Mill Valley
Mill Valley is a unique set of living buildings and facilities that are in operation thanks to the strength of mountain water, but also human hands.
A visit to Mill Valley offers a unique opportunity to see a water mill, a saw and a washboard in motion. In the iron-mill you will see how a blacksmith worked. Heavy hammers are lowered exceptionally. Also, with regard to the age of the machine, the pressing of the oil takes place only on thematic programs. At the beginning of the tour in the depot from Ostravice you will get acquainted with old means of transport and agricultural machinery from the late 19th and the first half of the 20th century.
The tour takes approximately 60 minutes and can only be completed with a time-based guided tour. At the time of purchase, the visitor can choose a tour time depending on the available capacity. Guided tours take place in July and August every half hour, in other months every hour or according to the current situation.
Radhošť
If you want more adventure, just 15 min away from the museum is a mountain called Radhošť. There is a possibility to walk to the top or take a cablecar. A part of the upper cablecar station is a scenic self-service restaurant. Visitors can buy souvenirs at the local shop. There is also a scooter / snow scooter rental (on the ground floor).
For a trip with children or people who don’t want to walk so much we recommend access from Pustevny, where the cablecar from Trojanovice leads. From there, a blue marked ridge leads westwards over the summit of Radegast and around the statue of Radegast to the summit. It’s a 4 km moderate walk. On the contrary, the most valuable ascent leads from Rožnov pod Radhoštěm along the red tourist trail (7 km with an elevation of around 800 m).
- All day trip
- Suitable for families
- 2 hour -drive from Brno
- If you want to do both the museum and the walk to Radhošť we recommend to start the trip early.
- This trip can be customised to your needs. We can do part of the museum and then the walk to Radhošť or do only the walk, it’s totally up to you.
4. Skanzen Strážnice
The museum is very unique. Besides the presentation of folk architecture and the way people used to live in the particular regions, it also focuses on the viticulture and wine growing that has been typical for the region for ages. The exposition of a vineyard demonstrates the history and the development of wine growing from the past until the present time. It is the only exposition of its kind in the Czech Republic.
The visiting season is enriched by couple of thematic activities that help visitors to get familiar with folk crafts, folk traditions and customs throughout the year. The museum offers practical hands-on sessions as well as a lot of fun and relaxation.
Breeding of domestic animals was and still belongs to the Moravian village. Therefore, also in the open-air museum, one can see rabbits, feathered geese, ducks and chickens…, grazing sheep in the pens, tethered goats or a harnessed cows or horses in heavy field work.
- The tour with a guide takes around 1,5 hours.
- This open-air museum is located 1 hour from Brno.
- This trip is also perfect for families with kids.
- This would be suitable for a half day trip and it can be combined with wine tasting in local wine cellars or our other trip Lednice-Valtice area.
- The Whole Area of the open air Museum has barrier free access, with the exception of a few sites where are max. 2 steps. need to be managed.
