Itinerary Highlights Map / Profiles Time to go Accommodation What’s included / Price Booking
8-day / 7-night walking tour
Day 1) Vienna – Valtice – Lednice – Mikulov (11 km / 7 miles)
Arrive by train from Vienna to Breclav. On the platform meet our representative who will drive you to Valtice where you get the tour briefing, information materials and navigation tools. Start your tour in the world’s largest designed landscape protected as UNESCO World Heritage Site walking from Baroque Valtice Chateau past the romantic follies through the forest and by the centuries old fishponds to Lednice where you will end your day of walking with the visit of Lednice Chateau and park. In the afternoon short transfer to Mikulov, a historic town surrounded by vineyards.
Overnight in Mikulov
Day 2) Mikulov – Moravian Karst – Sloup (9 km / 6 miles)
After a car transfer from Mikulov you will get to the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area. Walk mildly ascending through the charming limestone canyon famous for its caves and abysses, amongst which Punkevni Caves with the underground Punkva River are the best known. The Macocha Abyss, 138 m / 453 ft deep, it is the deepest of its kind in Central Europe. Equally interesting Sloupsko-Sosuvske Caves can be visited just before you reach your hotel in Sloup.
Overnight in Sloup
Day 3) Sloup – Hruba Voda – Olomouc (14 km / 8.5 miles)
Start the day with a car transfer through picturesque Hana plain to Hruba Voda in the valley of the Bystrice River. From there go over hills and through woods to Svaty Kopecek (Holy Hill), the site magnificent pilgrimage Baroque Church, a landmark for the whole region, giving a fine view of the region. Then get a short car transfer down to Olomouc, the most famous town for historic monuments in Moravia. A trip to the Premyslid palace or St. Wenceslas Cathedral is an experience not to be missed; the ornate Trinity Column in the square is enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Overnight in Olomouc
Day 4) Olomouc – Lipnik – Teplice (15 km / 9.5 miles)
After a car transfer to the Becva River valley start walking from Lipnik nad Becvou along its old town walls and the Jewish cemetery. Then go up to imposing Helfstyn Castle, one of the largest castle ruins in Europe, and continue along the forested hill range to the spa town of Teplice nad Becvou. There you have the opportunity to stroll the spa grounds and sip the invigorating waters, or to see the Zbrasovska aragonite cave and nearby Hranicka Abyss, with estimated depth over 1,000 m / 3,280 ft the world’s deepest flodded cave.
Overnight in Teplice nad Becvou
Day 5) Teplice – Hukvaldy – Stramberk (19 km / 12 miles)
Get a car transfer to Hukvaldy, the birthplace of the composer Leos Janacek, a lovely small town famous for its ruined castle. Then stop in Koprivnice, home of automobile works featuring a technical museum displaying unique Tatra cars of revolutionary design, including the world’s first mass-produced streamlined cars and unstoppable off-road trucks. Arriving to Stramberk, a small town famed for its spectacular castle tower, you can try local culinary speciality “Stramberk Ears“, commemorating a bloody incursion by the Tatars in 1241. The local museum presents the work of Zdenek Burian, whose paintings depicting the Stone Age are commonly found in textbooks and museums around the world. The nearby Sipka Cave is a world-known Neanderthal site.
Overnight in Stramberk
Day 6) Stramberk – Nydek – Vendryne – Cieszyn (16 km / 10 miles)
First take a car transfer to Beskydy Mountains Landscape Protected Area and start walking from the village of Nydek uphill to Velka Cantoryje mountain on the Czech-Polish border (995 m / 3,264 ft). There is a challet with refreshments and a tower with a great view of Silesian Beskydy mountain panorama. Continue downhill through deep mountain forest to historic lime kilns in Vendryne which is the pick-up point for your car transfer to a border twin town of Tesin: Cesky Tesin on the Czech side, and Cieszyn on the Polish side.
Overnight in Cieszyn
Day 7) Cieszyn – Wapienica – Jaworze – Oswiecim (13 km / 8 miles)
After a car transfer to Wapienica at the Polish side of Silesian Beskydy mountains start walking uphill through the woods to the top of Blatnia Mountain (917 m / 3,009 ft). After enjoying the round view continue down to Jaworze, from where you will be taken by car to Oswiecim (Auschwitz). The nearby terrible concentration and extermination Nazi camp Auschwitz-Birkenau has become UNESCO site to commemorate the sad chapters of Europe’s history.
Overnight in Oswiecim.
Day 8) Oswiecim – Krakow
Before leaving Oswiecim you can pay visit to the Auschwitz museum and then continue by car to the magnificent city of Krakow. Enjoy the charms of Wawel Castle, the Old Market Square, the Kazimierz Jewish Quarter, the town walls, Royal Way and many fine cafes and restaurants everywhere.
Corr. RR