Mini TR: Day trip from Vienna. The UNESCO World Heritage site that no one knows.
Sep 3rd, 2019, 11:37 AM
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Mini TR: Day trip from Vienna. The UNESCO World Heritage site that no one knows.
If you've seen the Wachau already, and probably also did that easy day trip by train to Bratislava, what else is accessible in appr 1 hour from Vienna.
Last weekend, we tried one lesser known destinations - by car. You can get there also by public transport, but it takes much longer and requires probably bit more planning.
Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lednic...ural_Landscape
Imagine a huge piece of land (100 square miles, I had to google this) in Southern Moravia with two picture perfect palaces and gardens, appr. some 6 miles apart, and just 5 miles away from the border of Austria and the Czech Republic. UNESCO World Heritage site. And just some 60 miles from Vienna.
You would assume that this place was literally overrun with tourists. But even when we visited - on a sunny weekend - the "foreigners' share" was less than 10 percent.
Upside: no lines, hardly any waiting time for the timed tours (appr. 15 or 20 minutes), no bus tours, no cruise ship tours.
Downside: Surprisingly complicated to get any information in any other language than Czech, and to understand the somewhat byzantine system of tours, and where those start, etc. And the "style" of the guided tours (which you had to take to visit Lednice palace) was quite old-fashioned with a tour guide spending 5 minutes in each room reciting each and every detail in a somewhat boring monologue. Leaflets in English and German were available - and the only way to get some info on what is to see inside the palace (unless you know Czech).
Was it worth it? Absolutely. It's a stunning ensemble of parks and palaces - though I would recommend to take only tour 1 (ground floor - the "big rooms"). And spend the rest of the time exploring the park. The park is for free, just in case you're not a fan of palaces' interiors. Actually, we started bit late in Vienna so we missed the "Valtice" part of the area. Next time..
Food: Hospůdka U Korunky, an inn near the Southern edge of Lednice palace premises
Location with Google maps: QRX3+3W Lednice
If not one in our group had insisted that we should give it a try because it had top ratings on Google, we probably would not have chosen it. That would have been one big mistake. I had a dish of chicken breast with spinach and dumplings (the small variant) which was simply excellent.
By the way.. Moravian cuisine is different from Bohemian cuisine which you will find in Prague. So don't expect that big, fat dumpling as a constant feature in Moravia.
Drink: Kofola - the Czech counterpart to Coke and Pepsi, just with a herbal note with less sugar. Ice cold on tap!
Bonus info: The well sign-posted parking lot in Lednice village is easy to find and dirt cheap (50 crowns for the whole day). But: The ticket machines take only 50 crowns coins. So better stop at an ATM first, and then at a gas station to get some change. Or act like the stupid tourist (us) and ask locals to change 2 euros in one 50 CZK coin.
Last weekend, we tried one lesser known destinations - by car. You can get there also by public transport, but it takes much longer and requires probably bit more planning.
Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lednic...ural_Landscape
Imagine a huge piece of land (100 square miles, I had to google this) in Southern Moravia with two picture perfect palaces and gardens, appr. some 6 miles apart, and just 5 miles away from the border of Austria and the Czech Republic. UNESCO World Heritage site. And just some 60 miles from Vienna.
You would assume that this place was literally overrun with tourists. But even when we visited - on a sunny weekend - the "foreigners' share" was less than 10 percent.
Upside: no lines, hardly any waiting time for the timed tours (appr. 15 or 20 minutes), no bus tours, no cruise ship tours.
Downside: Surprisingly complicated to get any information in any other language than Czech, and to understand the somewhat byzantine system of tours, and where those start, etc. And the "style" of the guided tours (which you had to take to visit Lednice palace) was quite old-fashioned with a tour guide spending 5 minutes in each room reciting each and every detail in a somewhat boring monologue. Leaflets in English and German were available - and the only way to get some info on what is to see inside the palace (unless you know Czech).
Was it worth it? Absolutely. It's a stunning ensemble of parks and palaces - though I would recommend to take only tour 1 (ground floor - the "big rooms"). And spend the rest of the time exploring the park. The park is for free, just in case you're not a fan of palaces' interiors. Actually, we started bit late in Vienna so we missed the "Valtice" part of the area. Next time..
Food: Hospůdka U Korunky, an inn near the Southern edge of Lednice palace premises
Location with Google maps: QRX3+3W Lednice
If not one in our group had insisted that we should give it a try because it had top ratings on Google, we probably would not have chosen it. That would have been one big mistake. I had a dish of chicken breast with spinach and dumplings (the small variant) which was simply excellent.
By the way.. Moravian cuisine is different from Bohemian cuisine which you will find in Prague. So don't expect that big, fat dumpling as a constant feature in Moravia.
Drink: Kofola - the Czech counterpart to Coke and Pepsi, just with a herbal note with less sugar. Ice cold on tap!
Bonus info: The well sign-posted parking lot in Lednice village is easy to find and dirt cheap (50 crowns for the whole day). But: The ticket machines take only 50 crowns coins. So better stop at an ATM first, and then at a gas station to get some change. Or act like the stupid tourist (us) and ask locals to change 2 euros in one 50 CZK coin.
Sep 3rd, 2019, 09:07 PM
#4
A gorgeous (and as you write, unspoiled by tourists) destination, agreed. We have biked the Liechtenstein Trial (beginning in Breclav) which passes through the landscape, and have had lunch at least twice at Hospůdka U Korunky. If your travels ever take you to Breclav (worth a half day of touring by car), consider Hotel Celnice for lunch. It's an unassuming hotel at the border with Austria serving unpretentious, delicious food (especially the housemade potato puree).
