By Bike

Dear friend of nature and lovers of cycle trails,

Podyjí is undoubtedly an ideal locality for cycle tourism. Wonderful nature, rugged terrain, villages with a special character, border castles and chateaux, deep forests and sunny meadows and heathlands all help to form a unique backdrop for cyclists who don’t only want to ride with their heads down over the tachometer but who want to get to know the countryside and feel its natural harmony.

 

Inside the national park on the Czech side of Podyjí you can find many well-marked cycle trails, which are signposted with the standard coloured rings and direction indicators by the Czech Tourists Club. In the national park cyclists mostly ride on forest tracks and farm tracks and along the former asphalt service road, which ran alongside the “Iron Curtain” until 1990. For this reason mountain or cross bikes are most suitable for use in Podyjí.

 

On the Austrian side cycling is possible on roads and trails outside the actual Thayatal National Park, but we can recommend cycling in Austria to you. The trails pass through picturesque countryside with plenty of woods. The variety of farms and fields divided by hedgerows remind us of the Czech landscape before the period of collectivisation.

 

On both sides of Podyjí in 1992 four themed cycle trails were set up in the Znojemsko – Retzer Land region with the logos of each trail. These are the Podyjí National Park – Thayatal Trail, the Six Towns Trail, the Sagas and Myths Trail and the Vineyard Trail and these trails cross the national borders at the tourist border crossings.

 

More and more cyclists visit the area every year. As there are no large recreation areas in the national park and its surroundings these cyclists are mostly the real admirers of the beauty of the territory.

 

At the most interesting localities in the national park you can find trilingual (Czech – German – English) information panels which are part of the field information system. Wooden tourist shelters serve visitors as a place to relax or shelter from bad weather. There are no rubbish bins (trashcans) in the park, so we request that you take your rubbish home with you.

 

In many places in Podyjí National Park you can find signs with the heading “Pomoc v nouzi” (Emergency contacts – Hilfe für den Notfall) with the phone numbers of the emergency services. If you get into trouble the relevant service (Ambulance, Police or Fire Brigade) will be able to find you according to the number on the signpost.

 

We wish you a pleasant stay in Podyjí National Park and a safe and happy return home.