Brno and the Castles of the Brno Region
Brno and its ring of castles in three days: Špilberk Castle, Villa Tugendhat, Napoleonic Slavkov and the Renaissance courtyard at Bučovice. The whole route sticks close to the motorway, so the drive out, the sightseeing and the journey home all fit comfortably into three days. It pays to travel between April and October — both Bučovice and Veveří are closed to the public over the winter, and outside the season the trip would come down to Brno alone.
From Prague the D1 gets you to Brno in the course of the morning, so the whole afternoon is left for the city. Špilberk Castle stands on a hill directly above the historic core — the grounds with the ramparts and the viewpoint are open daily from early morning until evening, while the Brno City Museum exhibitions, the lookout tower and the casemates open later in the morning and close in the early evening. In the evening you can walk down to Zelný trh, the market square where vegetables are still sold today and which is ringed by cafés and pubs. If you also want to fit in Villa Tugendhat, book your tour a long way ahead: the interior can be entered only with a ticket bought in advance, Mondays are closed and free slots disappear months beforehand.
In the morning you set off east of Brno. Slavkov — Austerlitz is a Baroque residence around which the Battle of the Three Emperors was fought in 1805; from June to August it is open daily, for the rest of the season every day except Monday, and the château park is accessible every day even when the building itself is closed. If you would also like to see the battlefield, you can stop at the Cairn of Peace above Prace on the way. In the afternoon carry on to Bučovice, where the château was built from the outset as an Italian Renaissance residence — the arcaded courtyard carries ninety columns with hundreds of reliefs and the Mannerist Hare Fountain, Zaječí kašna; opening is usually Tuesday to Sunday, and in October at weekends only.
The last day belongs to the water. Veveří Castle stands on a headland above the Brno Reservoir and ranks among the largest castle complexes in the country; from May to September it is open daily except Monday, in April and October only at weekends and on public holidays. Nicer than driving round is to leave the vehicle by the reservoir and take the excursion boat run by the Brno transport company, which sails from Bystrc right up to the castle. In the afternoon you head back along the D1 to Bohemia.
Up to 3.5 t (that is, most motorhomes): the electronic motorway vignette applies and the D1 between Prague and Brno is a toll road. Roughly speaking, the one-day vignette costs CZK 230, the ten-day one CZK 300, the 30-day one CZK 480 and the annual one CZK 2,570; you buy it at edalnice.gov.cz, at a post office or at selected filling stations, and it is tied to the registration plate. Over 3.5 t: the vignette does not apply — instead you pay a toll based on the kilometres driven and the vehicle must have an on-board unit registered in advance from mytocz.eu, without which you may not enter the motorway. There is no separately charged attraction such as a mountain road or a ferry on this route; you pay only the admission at the castles and châteaux.
Stellplatz Brno, Vinohrady street, Brno-Štýřice — a motorhome stopover with a 230 V hook-up and its own service point, open round the clock · Camp Alpa, Ostrovačice — a family campsite right by the D1 exit, with two dozen pitches with electricity for caravans and motorhomes, open from April to mid-October · Kemp Oáza, Ostrovačice — a campsite in the yard of a former farmstead in the middle of the village, with a swimming pool and a children's playground
Do not plan on overnighting in the wild in Brno. The centre and the inner city have paid zones and multi-storey car parks with low barriers, so leave the vehicle at the stopover or at a campsite and take the tram into the core. At Veveří Castle both the car park below the castle and the one above it are free of charge. In Slavkov you stop a short walk from the château entrance; driving into the château park and the courtyard is prohibited.
The most reliable service point on the route is the stopover in Brno-Štýřice: it has a drinking-water tap as well as a grey-water drain and is accessible round the clock, even if you only pull in for the service and do not stay the night. At Kemp Oáza in Ostrovačice, topping up drinking water, the grey-water drain and emptying the chemical toilet are all included in the pitch price.
Adria Twin Supreme
The whole trip is built on parking the vehicle up and heading into Brno by tram or by boat, which makes the compact Adria Twin Supreme van a natural fit — it drives easily on the D1 and is slim enough both for the stopover in Štýřice and for the narrow roads to Veveří and Bučovice. It comes in two lengths and, depending on the layout, sleeps two to four, so three days work just as well for a couple as for a family with children.
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