North and East Moravia from a New Perspective
Tips for Trips has advised what is worth visiting in the cities of Brno, Olomouc and Ostrava in a single day. However, if you do not want to spend your day in towns, follow us to the Moravian countryside. We might not get you to virgin places untouched by humans but you may come across destinations you have so far missed on your journeys.
A Miracle Called Moravian Slovakia
Moravian Slovakia is a wine country with unique folklore. Local people are simply more in touch with folk traditions and customs than anywhere else in the Czech Republic and still celebrate feasts that have almost been forgotten. You will enjoy the journey to Moravian Slovakia especially at the time when the Moravian Slovak Wine Festival and Open Monument Festival takes place in the town of Uherské Hradiště, “Kopaničářské” (mountain cottager) folk celebrations in Starý Hrozenkov or St. Wenceslas feast in the town of Kunovice.
The individual Moravian Slovakian regions, i.e. Horňácko, Moravian Kopanice and Luhačovické Zálesí, are presented in the open-air Village Museum of Southeast Moravia, located in Strážnice. There are many folk and traditional events taking place throughout the year with the best of folk traditions presented by Czech and foreign ensembles. As usual, the greatest attention is drawn by the Strážnice International Folklore Festival, the largest folklore festival in Europe. Also try visiting the Moravian Slovak Year festival in Kyjov!
You can also discover Moravian Slovakia on board one of the tourist boats cruising the Baťa Canal. The River Morava is navigable from the town of Otrokovice up to Strážnice and its banks are lined with many quays with boat rentals. A boat trip can also be combined with cycling: there is an 80-kilometre cycle route running along the banks of the Baťa Canal.
Do You Like Slivovitz?
Slivovitz, or plum spirit, is one of the traditional souvenirs tourists like to bring home from Moravia. Since May 2010 it has even had a museum of its own; you can find it in a former barn, which is a part of a preserved farmstead located in Vlčnov. The exposition, focusing on the history of homemade fruit spirits, displays some thirty pieces of distilling equipment and a number of various objects associated with it, such as containers, labels and documents. There are also text panels, publications, musical and visual screens on display, illustrating the past and the present of the home production of fruit spirits and other liquors.
In May every year Vlčnov also hosts the most famous Moravian Slovak celebration, the so called Ride of Kings. The “king” is usually a 10 to 14-year-old boy wearing a girl’s costume and carrying a rose sealing his lips. The Ride of Kings is an initiation ceremony for the members of his retinue, who will become adults in the municipality. The privilege of accompanying the “king” is granted to them only once in a lifetime. The Ride of Kings has an unforgettable atmosphere and is accompanied by folk ensemble performances and brass band concerts with local renowned doughnuts, slivovitz, wine and a show of ornate folk costumes.
A Journey to Luhačovice Spa with Leoš Janáček
Let us move on from the flamboyant Moravian Slovakia to the quiet valley of the river Šťávnice near the town of Zlín where the largest and most beautiful Moravian spa town Luhačovice was born from many healing mineral springs. Luhačovice gained its reputation thanks to its springs called Vincentka, Aloiska and Ottovka as well as magnificent Art Nouveau spa houses inspired by Moravian Wallachian vernacular architecture and built at the beginning of the 20th century by the architect Dušan Jurkovič.
The composer Leoš Janáček used to visit Luhačovice quite often. In the local Augustinian House, at that time owned by the Augustinian Monastery in Old Brno, he composed a part of the world-famous “Glagolitic Mass” and prepared the outline of his opera “The Cunning Little Vixen“. The Augustinian House was transformed after a full renovation into a modern four-star Wellness & Spa hotel, a place reminding us of the interwar grace and elegance. You can visit its modern wellness centre, but that is just the beginning: the Augustinian house has prepared an interesting tourist programme called Luhačovice: Janáček’s Source of Inspiration for its spa clients who are into art. You will have an opportunity to see where the famous composer stayed, drew his inspiration from, composed and relaxed and you will also learn what his relationship to Brno’s Augustinians was. You will be able to admire other spa houses: Jurkovič’s house, situated on the colonnade as well as Janáček’s favourite places near the town.
Tip for Families with Children: Animals in Lešná
Zlín Zoo, spread out in the park by the romantic chateau of Lešná, is divided according to individual continents: with a slight overstatement, we can say you will travel through Africa, Asia, Australia and America in a single day. You have maybe already visited the zoo but it prepares a number of new things for its visitors every year. One of them is a children’s rope climbing centre with obstacles installed on tree trunks. Your kids will be able to try their agility and courage as well as experience what it might feel like to be an animal living in the trees.
The zoo also features five stylish restaurants, a large children’s corner, a number of attractions and a children’s petting zoo with sheep. The offer is accompanied by commentated animal feeding, a scenic train, pony and camel rides and a souvenir shop.
To Forests and Mountain Tops
If you are looking for the beauties of nature where hardly anyone comes, travel along the border further north, to the Beskydy range, near Jablunkov.
The most famous and well preserved virgin forest Mionší in Beskydy is located on the slopes rising above the valley of the river Lomná, between Horní Lomná and Dolní Lomná. It is not by accident that this most extensive complex of beech and fir cover was preserved in the Beskydy range: the transport of logged wood from a remote valley was so complicated that it simply survived in isolation from the devastating logging that started in the 19th century. The hunting paths of a seven-kilometre-long circular natural trail will take you around the protected area. Please note: as the main goal is to preserve the peace of the legendary forest’s inhabitants, it is only accessible from 1 June to 15 September.
Another remarkable destination is Trojmezí, the place where the Czech, Polish and Slovak borders meet. Trojmezí is marked by three granite monoliths and you get there by following a two-kilometre yellow hiking sign from the village of Hrčava; you can visit the local village museum, the wooden church of St. Cyril and Methodius, built in 1936, and Lourdes Cave with a spring. Take a cable car to Javorový vrch (“Maple Peak”) to take a walking or biking tour on the mountain ridge of the Těšínské Beskydy! From here you can continue to Mosty u Jablunkova, where you can enjoy a ride on a bobsleigh run and other attractions. Jablunkov also offers refreshment in the Ameryka waterpark and an exceptional experience in the beer spa located in the mountain Wellness Hotel Bahenec.
A third trip by the Rytířská stezka (“Knight’s Trail”) will bring you to a mountain called Velká Čantoryje. Where did the knights come from? An old legend says there is a medieval troop hiding in the heart of the mountain which will come to help local people if they find themselves in danger. The ten-kilometre nature trail will lead you up to the peak of Velká Čantoryje with an altitude of 995m where you can climb to a lookout tower offering views of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A two-seater chairlift leads under the peak from the Polish side where you can also find a bobsleigh run and a refreshment shop.
More tips for trips and holiday in the Czech Republic are available at www.tipsfortrips.cz.
Bara Ticoalu
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