South Moravia

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South Moravia is a region of the Czech Republic.

Cities

BrnoLargest city in Moravia, Moto GP Grand Prix every year takes place here; the Cerna Pole district is home to Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat Villa, a key work of modernist architecture.
Blansko
KroměřížHas a nice palace and gardens.
LuhačoviceMoravian spa
MikulovA town with a wonderful old castle and Monastery.
Novosedly na MoravěVillage in the Moravian wine region, you can go on a great horseback trip through the vineyards.
Rakvice
Znojmo
ZlínCity in South Moravia, the famous Bata shoe company started and developed here before the World War II; interesting functionalistic architecture.

Understand

Brno aside, Southern Moravia is most famous for its wine. Except for the Czechs though, this fact is not very well known, so not many tourists make the trip to the region. The area has experienced a sharp decline since the 1990s, leaving many towns derelict. However the area from Kyjov to Hodonín is particularly wealthy in both vineyards, private cellars and manor houses. For a weekend adventure, the Mutěnice Wine Region is particularly enjoyable. The rural area outside of Brno though has particularly high unemployment and also has done little to attract foreign tourists so contact with the English and German speaking world is a lot more rare than in Prague. Expect to use your phrase book and knowledge of Czech a lot more than you may be used to. Also expect a lot of friendly hospitality.

Talk

In contrast to Prague or Brno not many people here speak English. Like most Czechs though, they do like to study and most people will be willing to make a strong effort to communicate in the English that they do know.

Get in

Wine Region

By car

You can drive on the motorway from Brno to Bratislava and about 15km before the border exit towards Hodonín.

The best way to get to the wine region is to take a bus to Hodonín from the Brno bus station. The cost is under 50 Kč, the buses run almost hourly and the trip takes under an hour. You can either get off in Hodonín and catch any number of local buses from there, or get off in Mutěnice about 5 km outside of Hodonín which will put your right in the middle of the wine region. The bus does not take the motorway, but instead travels the old back road. Feel free to hop off in any of the villages that suite your fancy.

There should also be frequent buses and trains to Kyjov from Brno.

Get around

The local bus system in Southern Moravia is quite extensive. The bus tables are a bit confusing at first so be sure and ask for assistance, but once you've mastered the bus system you can get from village to village very easily.

See

Lednice-ValticeOne of the largest artificial landscapes in Europe dotted with Palaces and Follies. Sometimes it's an adventure to find all the monuments, since many of them are hidden in the forest. There's an Arabian minaret as well as an antic temple or colonade, a castle and even arch of triumph. Some of these monuments are in one place, but others are located kilometers apart. Thus it's better travel by car or on the bike.
Moravian TuscanyBeautiful countryside woth small to medium mountains, very much resembling the Italian original. Worth visiting to take magnificent photos.
PálavaLimestone Pálava Hills are characterized by well preserved steppe ecosystems. There are some remarkable archaelogical sites, such as Dolní Věstonice where the Venus of Dolní Věstonice was found.

Do

Moravian KarstLarge region with natural caves.

MacochaOne of the most popular caves in the area.

PodyjíA national park with near-natural forests along the deep Dyje (Thaya) River valley.

Ratíškovice draisines/handcarsPedal a three-km track on a draisine and visit a small rail museum "in a wagon".

Eat

South Moravia is famous for pickled gherkins, made around Znojmo. Various dishes from pork and cabbage are eaten in the region, as well as pies with plum jam and sweet cottage cheese. The favorite drinks are wine and apricot brandy. See an article about South Moravia specials

Drink

Dolní KouniceWine cellars etc.
Mutěnice Wine RegionSome of the best vineyards in the Czech Republic and well off the well beaten tourist path.
Other traditional wine cellars in the wine region