This tour will take you to the pearls of Czech Republic: Prague, one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe; Cesky Krumlov, the Trebon ponds and woods of Czech Canada; the Renaissance towns of Trebon and Telc; the vineyards of South Moravia; the cultural centers of Znojmo and Mikulov. You spend the last night of the tour in Vienna, Austria. Czechia is such a beautiful country, and this tour across southern Bohemia and Moravia was just fantastic. However, it is very hilly for the first few days. 50 miles per day with some very steep hills the first couple days. The countryside starts to flatten out more after you reach Znojmo. Once outside Prague, most folks do not speak English, so some knowledge of Czech and/or German is very helpful. Vlastimil, the local tour operator for Ave Travel, was very responsive and helpful. I did ask for and received a GPX file to preload into my Garmin, as navigation is always a challenge on bike tours. Further, the local tour company recommended a couple of Czech specific apps which you can use to predownload the local maps for use when you arrive, and this was extremely helpful, if you have an international cell plan for your phone. The GPX file included alternate routes instead of a single path, as this tour has optional legs that you may or may not want to go on. This negated my ability to use the navigation on my Garmin edge, since it couldn't know which route i wanted to take, and could only tell me when I was off course. As others have mentioned, there was no opportunity to see our rented bikes and make sure they were appropriately sized prior to being picked up by the van for our transfer to Cesky Krumlov. Two of the four bikes we rented could have used newer tires; however they were clearly equal to the task of getting us across the CR. This tour has some wonderful highlights - Prague, Cesky Krumlov, but also is a bit monotonous. I enjoy riding in more varied scenery that this tour offered. However, the bike path network within the country is extensive (and I was impressed). The accommodations and food were basic to nice. The Czech people were very kind and down-to-earth. Our guide, Jitka, was always helpful and informative. This tour is consistently hilly and is a true level 3 in that sense. I would recommend this tour to a intermediate level cyclist, who is well traveled and wants to experience the less traveled side of Europe. We had a wonderful experience on this tour and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Our guide, Milan, and our driver, Henry, were exceptionally helpful, friendly, and professional throughout the journey. Milan enriched the experience by providing extensive historical context and fascinating insights about the places we visited, which made the tour even more memorable. The cycling route was excellent and very scenic. Some sections, particularly the hilly terrain, were quite challenging, but the rest of the route was manageable and enjoyable. The effort was definitely worth it, given the beautiful landscapes and rewarding experience. Overall, this was an outstanding tour, and I would definitely do it again. Highly recommended! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This route combines roads without traffic, a few sections with traffic, paved path as well some short off-road sections. You may also choose alternative routes which offer longer, possibly off-road, or shorter routes only on pavement (which will be suited for electrically assisted bikes). Your operator will provide these details to you upon arrival in your tour documents. The tour is frequented by sections of rolling hills, and there a few short steeper hills on which you may need to push your bike. There are also many long, flatter sections.
Hotel
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