Along the Lichtenstein trail – to see UNESCO sights

Route tracking:

Valtice – Rendez-vous – Three Graces – Janův castle – Lednice – Border chateau - Hlohovec - Valtice

Characteristics:

An easy ride through Lednice-Valtice area offers a unique landscape experience which, thanks to its outstanding value, is listed in the UNESCO world heritage site. Romantic structures as well as parks and gardens appear unexpectedly in the middle of the forest, which the Lichtensteins build here at the southeast region of Moravia.

Route parameters:

Route difficulty: Turista
Length: 27,9 km
Choosing the right bicycle: Krosové
Tourist area:
Maximum / minimum altitude: 210 m.s.l. / 160 m.s.l.
Total elevation: m
Total of vertical meters ascended: m

Description:

The town of Valtice is not only the former seat of the ancient Lichtenstein dynasty and an architecture jewel in the Lednice-Valtice area crown, but it is also a major wine town.  The trip may be started by a visit of an impressive Valtice underground or the Salon vín, which offers a tasting of the best 100 wines of the Czech Republic in the castle cellars. As an access road to the Lichtenstein trail we can use a cycle trail no. 5045 running from Valtice square past a two-spire church of Ascension of Virgin Mary towards Lednice. At the end of the town the trail leaves the road and runs on an easy dirt road towards decorative parks and impressive buildings in the countryside.

  

Shortly after you enter the forest you will see a romantic building in the shape of a Roman Triumphal arch – Temple of Diana, which, thanks to the meetings of hunters in the past in these forests, is called Rendez-vous. The hunters also used the newest structure in the area – St. Hubert chapel. From this building, dedicated to the patron saint of hunters and shooters, the trail continues along a forest road towards Nový dvůr.   

  

At the crossroads, where the markings for the main trail go to the right, take the road straight on to reach a Classicist crescent building. At the axis of the crescent stands a sculpture of Three Graces. The beauty of Greek goddesses of Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite in front of the folly was carved by Martin Fischer from a single piece of stone. The view from the sculpture over Prostřední Lake to Rybniční zámeček (Fishing chateau) reveals the composition approach of the Lichtenstein builders. After coming back to the main trail you ride past an Empire style farm Nový Dvůr, which became famous by horse breeding of the Lichtensteins. The trail runs past the Temple of Apollo at the lake shore through Valtice avenue of trees eastward. The following part of the trail can be flavoured with a detour around Janohrad (John’s castle). Located at the bank of the river Dyje, the folly, which is an imitation of a medieval ruin, will celebrate a 200-year anniversary this year. Janohrad is a crossroads of cycle trails and also a stop for cruise boats to Břeclav. A quiet hard surface road at the river Dyje bank along floodplain forests will take you back to Lednice in a few minutes. You may rather need hours to visit all sights that Lednice offers. Lednice castle, greenhouse, and a large Baroque park represent a unique building and landscape artistry activities of the Lichtensteins in South Moravia.       

 

As a reminder of advanced winemaking in the region under the Palava hills on the way back to Valtice the Lichtenstein coat of arms will be accompanied by a green cellar entrance of the Mikulov wine trail. But before we can find out more about the busy wine tourism activity in Hlohovec cellar colony of Šulaperk, there is a short part on the road and a shady trail along the water towards Border chateau. A former borderline between the Margraviate of Moravia and Archduchy of Lower Austria ran through the middle of the chateau, which was composed as an architecture jewel in the surrounding monumental landscape. The ground floor of the chateau houses a restaurant whose excellent cuisine and a magnificent view are the best invitation for a late lunch.   

 

The uphill among the cellars of the traditional Moravian village of Hlohovec runs towards Šulaperk, a renowned wine cellar colony, which was born at the beginning of the 19th century. Try a glass of Hlohovec Frankovka or Green Veltliner from Stará Hora vineyard, the last five kilometres to your destination in Valtice will become shorter and more joyful. If you still have any energy left at Valtice square and you still miss the dominant of Valtice in your itinerary, take a two-kilometre climb to Reistna colonnade, whose gallery offers a panoramic view of the town and the landscape in Lednice-Valtice area.   

   

Recommended points of interest:

Valtice: chateau, Valtické underground, Salon vín of the Czech Republic, Reistna colonnade, Rendez-vous, Three Graces

Lednice: chateau, Minaret, Janův hrad (John’s Castle)

Hlohovec: Border chateau