Ostrava — the Industrial Heritage of Mines and Ironworks
Blast furnaces, a descent into a real coal mine and a spoil heap that is still burning underfoot — Ostrava works surprisingly well from a motorhome. The industrial sites lie close to one another, so you do not have to move on every day: you set up a single base and drive out from it for another piece of mining history. The programme holds children's attention too — in Landek Park you go down into the underground of the former Anselm mine, in Velký svět techniky they can touch everything, and in Dolní oblast Vítkovice a panoramic lift takes you to the top of a blast furnace.
The drive from Bohemia will take up much of the day, so leave a single destination for day one — Landek Park in Ostrava-Petřkovice. In the former Anselm mine you descend into an underground exhibition with life-size figures of miners and walk through a collection of mine-rescue equipment that includes a breathing apparatus from 1884. The operator lists the site as open every day from morning until early evening, so even after a long drive you can still fit in both the underground and the collections above it.
Set aside one uninterrupted day for the former ironworks, otherwise you will not get round them. The educational trail up Blast Furnace No. 1 — the present furnace replaced the original one, first lit in 1871, after 1902 — climbs the galleries step by step, and for part of the way you ride a slow panoramic lift along the track of the original skip hoist that once fed the charge into the furnace; right at the top sits Bolt Tower, a 2015 superstructure with a viewing terrace. The U6 route leads through a former power station, and the Velký svět techniky science centre next door has permanent exhibitions, a 3D cinema and a science theatre. On the way you pass the Gong gasholder, today a multi-purpose auditorium.
Důl Michal in Michálkovice is looked after by the National Heritage Institute and can be seen only with a guide at fixed times, so plan your visit in advance — in October it is open at weekends and on public holidays only. The miners' assembly hall, the baths and the machine hall have been left exactly as the miners left them on the last day of operation. In the afternoon add the climb up Halda Ema: it is steep, gravelly and entirely at your own risk, because the heap is still thermally active inside and gas escapes from its slopes. At the top you are rewarded with a view over Ostrava, the Beskydy and the Jeseníky mountains.
Start the last day at Hlučínské jezero, a flooded gravel pit where people now swim, go out in boats and windsurf. In April and October it is more a place for a morning walk along the water than for swimming, so match the time you give it to the month you travel. In the afternoon set off back to Bohemia — the return journey fits into a four-day plan only if you leave early enough.
The whole route stays inside Czechia. Vehicles up to 3.5 t (which covers most motorhomes) need an electronic motorway vignette for the motorways — you buy it at edalnice.gov.cz or at filling stations, and the choice is a one-day, ten-day, monthly or annual coupon; the short-term versions cost in the low hundreds of crowns, the annual one a few thousand, and the current price list is on the website. Vehicles over 3.5 t do not use a vignette at all: they pay electronic toll through an on-board unit of the mytocz.eu system, the rate is calculated from the emission class and the number of axles, and the toll is also charged on selected first-class roads. You will not meet any separately tolled attraction on this route — no mountain road, tunnel or ferry — but budget for separate admission to Landek Park, to Dolní oblast Vítkovice and to Důl Michal.
Camp Landek, Ostrava-Petřkovice (Pod Landekem 64) — pitches for caravans and motorhomes with an electric hook-up, right inside the Landek Park complex; showers and toilets are accessible around the clock and parking is included in the price. There is also a stellplatz with a self-service terminal which, according to the operator, runs all year, so you can get in outside the season too. · Autokemp Olešná, Frýdek-Místek (Sportplex, by the Olešná reservoir) — a caravan section with thirty-five pitches and electric hook-ups, with a view of the Beskydy mountains. Open from 1 June until September; outside that window you will find nobody there. · Autokemp u Hlučínského jezera, Hlučín (Celní 1731/12a, run by Sport a kultura Hlučín) — useful if you want to finish the trip by the water. There are caravan pitches with electric hook-ups, but only the cabins can be booked in advance; pitches are first come, first served, so arrive early in the afternoon. The site runs seasonally.
Ostrava is a big city and you reach the industrial sites along ordinary streets — do not count on staying overnight outside a campsite here; the sites assume that you arrive, park and drive off to a campsite in the evening. You cannot drive up Halda Ema; leave the vehicle down by Slezskoostravský hrad or by the zoo and walk up, and bear in mind that the climb suits neither a pushchair nor less mobile members of the crew. In April and October the seasonal campsites in the area are closed or on reduced opening — the stellplatz at Landek runs all year, so in the shoulder season make that your base straight away.
Deal with water and servicing at Landek: the stellplatz there has a self-service terminal for drinking water and waste disposal and it needs no staff, so it also covers a late return from the city and the shoulder season. Do not count on anything comparable elsewhere on the route — there is no service point at the blast furnace, at Důl Michal or below Halda Ema, only parking. The campsite in Hlučín has its sanitary facilities in two central buildings, but check by phone in advance whether a chemical-toilet disposal point is among them.
Adria Compact
Between Vítkovice, Petřkovice and Michálkovice you are constantly driving through the city and parking on ordinary surfaces by the sites, so you want a vehicle that does not grow out of proportion — the Compact is a low-profile motorhome with a deliberately compact body, and it threads through Ostrava's streets more easily than a long A-class. At the same time it has a full bathroom and space for the whole crew, which counts for more on a four-day trip with children than a narrow van conversion.
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