Podyjí and the Znojmo Region
Podyjí National Park, Znojmo's wine cellars and the castles above the Vranov dam fit into three days on a single loop along the Dyje River. Znojmo is one of the few towns where a Romanesque fresco, a castle undercroft and a glass of Veltliner fit into one afternoon. Just outside the town begins the smallest Czech national park, with viewpoints into a deeply incised canyon, and above the reservoir stand Baroque Vranov and Bítov Castle. Three days comfortably cover the drive there and back, so a long weekend is all this trip takes and you needn't spend any of your holiday allowance on it.
Take the D1 motorway towards Jihlava and then road I/38 through Moravské Budějovice; you will be in Znojmo in roughly two hours, so the whole afternoon of the first day stays free. The most precious place in town is the Romanesque Rotunda of St Catherine with its fresco cycle of the Přemyslid princes; to protect the paintings a single tour takes fifteen people at most, entries run every half hour and the tour lasts a quarter of an hour — in rain or in unsuitable climatic conditions nobody is let in at all. The current status is shown by the “traffic light” on the website of the South Moravian Museum, but it is safer to book your ticket in advance or to call +420 515 222 311. The evening belongs to the wine cellars and to Znojmo cooking — and to a rest, because tomorrow you go on foot.
In the morning set out for the smallest Czech national park. From Popice a comfortable walking route leads to Sealsfield's Stone, a rocky spur with a view into the incised canyon of the Dyje — you cannot get there by car, and that is just as well. In the afternoon drive over to the château of Vranov nad Dyjí, whose oval Hall of Ancestors ranks among the highlights of Moravian Baroque and which you can already see from the road, holding on to the rock above the river. From May to September the château opens daily except Mondays; in October only at weekends and on public holidays from nine to three, and on weekdays only pre-booked groups are admitted.
Bítov Castle stands on a spur above a bay of the Vranov reservoir and, besides the castle interiors, it holds the famous collection of stuffed dogs assembled by its last owner. Below it the reservoir stretches through a deep wooded valley, so a final stop by the water is the nicest way to close the trip. Until 25 October Bítov is open at weekends only, from ten to four; in the last week of October it opens Thursday to Sunday. You will drive back to Prague the same way through Jihlava; if you set off after lunch, you are home before dark.
Up to 3.5 t (most motorhomes): on the D1 motorway from Prague to Jihlava you need an electronic motorway vignette, which you buy at edalnice.gov.cz or at petrol stations — a ten-day one comes to roughly three hundred crowns, a monthly one to about five hundred and an annual one to two and a half thousand. The rest of the route along road I/38 through Moravské Budějovice to Znojmo, and the whole loop around the reservoir, is free of charge for this category. Over 3.5 t: the vignette does not apply at all, the vehicle must be registered in the mýto CZ system, carry an on-board unit and pay a distance-based toll according to the kilometres driven, the emission class and the number of axles on motorways and selected first-class roads — in that case check your route against the map of tolled sections, because I/38 is the main road to Znojmo. There is no paid attraction such as a tunnel, ferry or mountain road anywhere on the loop, so beyond that you only need to budget for admission to the monuments and for parking in Znojmo.
Camping Vranovská pláž, Vranov nad Dyjí — by the main beach of the reservoir, with 60 caravan pitches with electricity and water hook-ups; the season runs from 1 May to 30 September, reception +420 724 101 725 · Camp Bítov, Bítov — right in the village below the castle, three sanitary buildings with barrier-free access; it runs seasonally from 1 May to 15 September, so do not come outside those dates · Camping Country, Hluboké Mašůvky near Znojmo — a grassy area for caravans and motorhomes with electric hook-ups, open from 1 May until the end of October, so it is the only one of the three that still works for an October weekend; reception +420 733 708 679
Under the visitor rules of the Podyjí National Park camping is not permitted and you may sleep only at a campsite or in a guesthouse; your vehicle belongs in the designated car parks. In Znojmo do not take a large vehicle into the historic centre — the lanes around the castle and the rotunda are too tight for it. Leave it in a car park on the edge of the centre and walk in; it is a few minutes on foot and you spare yourself reversing between the ramparts.
Fill up with water and empty the cassette through the reception of whichever campsite you are staying at — at Vranovská pláž you check in right at the entrance, and at Bítov and Hluboké Mašůvky you arrange it at the reception desk. We have no other verified public point on the Znojmo–Vranov–Bítov loop, so plan your service stop around the season: from May to mid-September all three campsites are open, after 15 September Vranovská pláž remains, and in October only Camping Country at Hluboké Mašůvky.
Adria Compact
The Znojmo–Vranov–Bítov loop runs along narrow winding roads above the reservoir and ends with parking on the edge of town, so the compact dimensions of the Adria Compact will serve you better than every extra metre of length. Four berths are still enough for a family weekend that alternates castles with swimming in the reservoir.
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