Discover Czech history on cultural routes
Would you like to visit one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage sites? How about exploring a smuggler’s haven from the communist era or discovering industrial constructions that seem to have fallen out of Jules Verne’s novels? You would? Then head to Czechia and discover its cultural routes, enjoying hundreds of well-marked hiking and cycling trails. Many of these routes lead off the beaten path, so you can enjoy your trip to the fullest, minus the crowds, and feel good about being a responsible tourist supporting sustainable travel.
Pilgrim journeys
Unsurprisingly, the Cyril and Methodius Route, with thousands of kilometers of hiking trails in Europe, passes through Czechia, a Slavic country in the heart of the continent. The route refers to the eleven-century-long impact on the history and identity of its people with the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius, known as the Apostles to the Slavs.
Choose from several routes in Czechia, including a long-distance hiking trail that will take you to two UNESCO destinations. This 113-kilometer journey starts at Svatý Kopeček, a large baroque pilgrimage complex near Olomouc, a historic town on the UNESCO list that is also the second stop on the route. Your next steps will lead you to the area of ponds and a chateau in Tovačov, and then to other UNESCO gems, the gardens and chateau in Kroměříž. A highlight of the journey will be the Basilica of Velehrad – a key pilgrimage site in Europe and where the beatified Pope John Paul II made his first official trip as pontiff.
Bike along the Iron Curtain
Spend two amazing weeks cycling along the 800 km long stretch of Ironthe Curtain Trail on the Czech borders with Germany and Austria. Along the Czech parts of the trail, you can enjoy unspoiled scenery, visit museums and other Cold War landmarks. In many sections, this trail uses the former military road, a so-called signal road built along the entire communist border in the 1950s and 1960s. You’ll find cycle paths suitable for experienced bikers and more accessible family routes.
On the route, you can take in the Museum of the Iron Curtain near the border crossing in Rozvadov, the countryside territory of former smugglers in the magical Šumava National Park, drive through the wild landscape of Czech Canada, and even see pre-war fortress fortifications near the Renaissance Slavonice
Discover the raw beauty of industrial heritage
Listen to the authentic stories of steelworkers, miners, weavers, railroad workers, forest wardens or soldiers recounted by their descendants or people who still remember times long gone! Become a miner, hatter or train driver for a while, take a peek inside a blast furnace, ride into a coal mine in a lift that used to carry miners or discover the secret of Czech beer. Follow the Technotrail, part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage, and feel the incredible genius loci of dozens of technical monuments that even Jules Verne would love!
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Velehrad
See where Pope John Paul II made his first official trip as pontiff at the pilgrimage center the basilica of Velehrad.
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Radhost
Take in the statue and chapel in Radhost that honor Saints Cyril and Methodius.
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Ostrava
Enter the modern world on Ostrava Dolní Vítkovice’s Technotrail.>
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Slavonice
Grasp the reality of a historical bunker on the border near Slavonice.
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Iron Curtain Trail, Eurovelo 13
Take time to see firsthand remnants of the barrier on the Iron Curtain Trail.
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