Znojmo Cycling Trails

Jevišovicko with a Hero Commander

North of Znojmo, you will find the beautiful, rugged area of Jevišovicko. The local trails lead through a forested countryside, they pass ponds and meadows, and almost the entire area is a part of the Jevišovka Nature Park. This year in the summer, a brand-new cycling trail was marked there, linked to the personality of Jean Louis Raduita de Souches from La Rochelle in France. This commander and expert in fortification managed to mobilise the entire town of Brno in 1645 and to resist the Swedes, whom they were twenty times more, for more than three months when they besieged the town.  He managed to hold the surprisingly last bastion of resistance before Vienna and was called “the greatest Brno resident” for his actions. He received a count title, a marshal cane, and even became a secret counsellor in Vienna. He settled in South Moravia and he chose the Jevišovice estate to be his home, considerably improving it.
The new cycling trail, 55 kilometres long, follows places linked to this person and to the natural beauties of Jevišovicko. The trail runs through an undulated countryside past châteaux, old mills, and farmsteads, along meadows and ponds. The trail can be divided into a north and south loop or supplemented with quest games using QR codes (ciphers). The trail can also be done on a motorcycle with minor adjustments, or by car along district roads with minimum traffic.

Beer 12 in the Bítov Area

North of Znojmo, past the popular recreational area of the Vranov Water Reservoir, a loop trail called the Beer 12 has recently opened. It is 12 kilometres long. It starts and ends at the Hasičský Brewery at the centre of Bítov where you can reward yourselves with the appraised Tesák beer or enjoy gourmet beer specialities at the U Tesařů Restaurant - beer cracklings, non-alcoholic beer lemonade, or beer jelly. And that is not the only beer stop along the trail. In the old Bítov Castle, you will find the preserved equipment of the original castle brewery, which is accessible as a part of one of the guided tours. 

Along the trail, you can look forward to some romantic views of the rocky bays of River Dyje, the majestic Bítov Castle, the ruins of Cornštejn or the Lake of Love, until you reach the Straw Bridge. This originally Romanesque bridge is one of the oldest stone bridges in the country. Its name refers to the straw roof that could be set on fire at the time of war, which would prevent the enemy troops from getting closer to the Bítov Castle.

A part of the cycling trail traces the ethnographic Jindřich Daun Educational Trail (about 6 km) and you can stop, for example, at the ruins of the Neo-Gothic rotunda called Henrichsruhe. The romantic building was used by the Bítov lords as a resting place when they hunted animals in the surrounding forests in the 19th century. Today, the pleasant local forest trails are a popular destination with hikers or joggers.

Znovín Scooter Loop Trail

The south suburbs of Znojmo, called Louka, are adorned with the monumental Baroque Louka Monastery. Its tours, the wine and visitor centre with a museum of winemaking and cooperage, a unique art gallery and extensive cellars are managed by the famous winery, Znovín Znojmo. The famous winery has been a pioneer of wine tourism in the Czech Republic for a long time. In addition to 14 popular Nordic-walking trails, going through the picturesque countryside of the Znojmo region, past vineyards, as well as the Podyjí National Park, there is now also an easy scooter loop trail. It starts at the Louka Monastery, where you can leave your car at a free car park by the municipal swimming pool and set off on the loop trail along River Dyje, about 4.5 kilometres long (a shorter version is 3.5 km).

On one side of the river, you will ride along a narrow-paved road between neat gardens, enjoying beautiful views of the town of Znojmo, the preserved medieval walls and the picturesque area below the castle, opening in front of you above the river surface. On the opposite bank, you will mostly ride through the countryside, rewarded with romantic sceneries along the broad and peaceful water surface. You can cross the river either over the Sedlešovice bridge (nor far from the Louka Monastery) and then back across a footbridge where the medieval walls appear above your head (the shorter trail), or across the recently repaired bridge below the dam of the Znojmo water reservoir. You will find some refreshments at the camping ground U Staré vodárny, where you can also rent a boat and all the equipment needed to navigate the river.

The Znovín Scooter Loop Trail is almost all flat and along a road with none or only minimum traffic. It is ideal not only for scooter fans, but also for children who are learning to ride a bike, or for walks with a stroller. Moreover, opposite the car park in front of the municipal swimming pool, you will find the rental and service of bikes and scooters operated by the cycling club of Znojmo.

Through the Land of Wine and Iron Curtain

Hrušovansko is an area east of Znojmo, which is an imaginary waystation between Znojmo and Mikulov, towards Pálava. It is a famous wine and fruit-growing region with sunny slopes and only slightly undulated countryside. It is ideal for easy cycling and family trips with children. The marked trails mostly lead through a farming countryside, with little traffic. You can try cycling trails such as Along the Stretch (44 km) or Among Fields and Vineyards (25 km). You can also follow the Mucha Cycling Trail (20 km) in the footsteps of the famous Art Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha who lived in the region in his youth. Or you can go all the way to the Austrian border along the cycling trail called Hi, Neighbour! (38 km). Some parts of the trails are also suitable for trips on foot.

Along the border with Austria in the south, which used to be a part of the strictly guarded zone called the Iron Curtain, you will ride along paved and gravel roads that were used by the frontier guards. The military bunkers and fortresses that formed a continuous network of the Czechoslovak border fortification will remind you of the 1930s, before WWII. If you prefer long-distance trails, you can connect to the Greenway Prague-Vienna trail, or EuroVelo 13 – the Iron Curtain Trail. It leads through the places where the East and the West were divided and connects twenty countries along its length of about 10,400 kilometres. It goes across Europe, from the Barents Sea on the border of Russia, Norway, and Finland, to Bosporus on the border of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. It is the longest cycling trail in Europe, and it commemorates the border that divided Europe politically, ideologically, and physically for almost 40 years. 

Moravia Cycling Trail

If you leave Znojmo in the north-east direction, you can use the Moravia Cycling Trail. The beautiful and easy trail, suitable both for cyclists and hikers, leads in a triangle between Miroslav, Moravský Krumlov and Jevišovice. It passes through eight villages, members of the Moravia Villages Association. The cycling trail is 45 km long and it is suitable for mountain or trekking bicycles. You can start anywhere, and you can also make the trail shorter, or divide it into two smaller loops. The trail is in the shape of the number 8, with an intersection in Horní Dunajovice.

You will pass many old landmarks along the trail, in particular, village churches, crosses and chapels; the countryside is charming and slightly undulated. There are a few places worth a visit that children will also appreciate. For example, the rest area of Pustý zámek near Trstěnice, the ruins of the castle in Žerotice, water reservoirs in Výrovice or Horní Dunajovice suitable for swimming, or the large château park in Višňové. You will also find wine cellars and wine alleys, as well as numerous fruit orchards (especially apricots) along the trail, which is a part of the wine-growing sub-region of Znojmo.