A Tandem Tour of CZ and Austria

Hluboka nad Vltava to Cesky Krumlov (via Ceske Budejovice) by bike (34 miles biking)
Day 5: Wednesday, May 26, 2004

The day started out well -- sunny and fairly warm, with some light cloud cover. One of those "happy to be alive and on a biking tour" sort of days. The Pension was comfy and quiet the night before, and we were surprised when plates of very good scrambled eggs were set before us at breakfast. After saying goodbye to our hosts we packed up and headed out, back through town and the way we came yesterday. We picked up bike route 12 just past the main part of town, where it turned toward Ceske Budejovice (also known as Budweis in German, home to the original "Budweiser" beer) and followed the river. The route ran along a pleasant, flat bike path through woods and past small lakes, where the early morning fishermen pointed at us and clapped, then led us out of the woods to a riverside path that paralleled the Vltava. From Hluboka to Ceske Budejovice is about eight very easy miles, and we took our time enjoying the scenery and the beautiful weather.

We were tempted to turn into the city when we first came upon the town walls and an obvious "gate" in the walls, but we dutifully followed the bike path signs that pointed to the city "Zentrum." We were starting to wonder if we made the wrong choice when the signs suddenly directed us to turn left through the walls. We rode a heavily cobbled street that in short order deposited us directly in the main square of the town, which is dominated by the imposing "Samson's Fountain" from 1727 in the center. The square is the largest in CZ and is surrounded by impressive buildings from centuries past. The town hall, in particular, is beautiful. It's topped by four statues and is guarded by rain gutters in the shape of dragons. On the bottom level of the town hall is a visitor center (with maps and other useful books) and a toilet (get the key from the visitor center). The town's cathedral is average, but worth a look. Ceske Budejovice would make a nice lunch or overnight spot. Since we were there pretty early (around 10:00 a.m.), we contented ourselves with pushing the big bike around the streets and looking at some of the stores. Of course, we had to sample the local pastries, which were up to our high standards!

We followed the same cobblestone street out of town, crossed a bridge over the Malse River, and then immediately turned right onto a bike path through a park with a nice overlook of the town. We rode past the planetarium and an open-air theater and finally turned to the left and started following the Vltava again past the Budvar ice hockey arena.

The trail was somewhat narrow here, and shortly thereafter turned to dirt as it followed the river behind industrial sites, then turned back to pavement until the small town of Borsov. In Borsov Rt. 12 appears to go straight across the Vltava on a bridge, but actually bears left on a road paralleling the river (the Rt. 12 marker didn't have an arrow here). Shortly thereafter the route abandons the flat valley and climbs fairly steeply (about a mile or so) to a plateau. After a short time it descends again and changes into rolling hills through pretty countryside.

After a while we climbed into the small town of Zlata Koruna (which has a monastery that can be visited), and then started climbing fairly steeply for about 3-4 kms. On the map it appears that the route really takes the long way to Krumlov, so we decided to head downhill a bit toward Srnin and ride the main road (#39) into town. It's a busy road, with no shoulder, but not too bad. After a short climb we were rewarded with a long downhill into Krumlov (past several large grocery stores and around two roundabouts).

The routing into the old part of Cesky Krumlov was unclear. We came to an intersection with a left-turn lane at the bottom of the hill and an overpass immediately following it (a small bridge). Just past the bridge on the right is a bus station. The bridge has ramps for pedestrians and bikes, and crossing over it deposited us at the outer edge of the old town ("Hostel 99" is right here, as well as several pensions that are recommended in some guidebooks). It would have been helpful to have had a decent map of the town!

At this point we were somewhat confused about where we were, and walked the bike down the cobbled pedestrian street until we got to the area around the castle. Ginny walked down the hill a bit to get our bearings, and came back to report that we were close to the bottom of the hill and the Vltava River. We then noticed a tourist information center near the castle (one of two in the town), and stopped in to get a map of the town and see if we could get some lodging info. They would book rooms for us, but didn't have much info to take away (we usually don't like to book rooms without seeing them first).

Just outside the info center we met a nice couple from the Netherlands, who were interested in our tandem. Turns out they have friends in the USA that live about 10 minutes from us! We got a bit uneasy when he began to ask us about the war on terrorism and Iraq, but he surprised us by opining that the best way to deal with the situation would be to bomb the entire area until all the Muslims were dead. Hmmm... so much for the tolerant Dutch! On all our trips in Europe we routinely have met people from the Netherlands. Most are attracted by the tandem, and are eager to talk about biking and our travels.

When we finally figured out where we were, we decided to take a break and eat lunch at a nearby pizza restaurant. We saw a pizza place down the small side street (Klasterni Street), directly opposite the castle access road, and headed down to check it out. "Nonna Gina" pizzeria turned out to be very good, with pleasant service. We both got a Pizza Salami and a soda, for 100 crowns each (about $3.80 USD). After lunch we walked around looking for lodging and probably spent an hour or so since we were so indecisive. We were being a bit picky since we planned to stay for two nights in Krumlov; we really wanted a small B&B/Zimmer-type place, but were not having much luck finding one.

We finally found a B&B at #107 Parkan Street, a side street that parallels the river near the bridge in the middle of town (there are several B&Bs along this street). 1200 crowns a night got us right on the river, with access to a second-floor balcony and a nice patio right on the ground level. The room was large and had its own bathroom (although we had to go out of the room to get to it). The other rooms in the place were taken by a group of German motorcyclists from the Munich area. The price was a bit high for a B&B (some hotels in town are about the same), but worth it for the secluded riverside location right in the middle of town. The house had a large garage in the basement with plenty of room to park the tandem. The B&B is run by a husband and wife, but we dealt mostly with the husband, as the wife did not seem to speak English or German. We communicated mostly in German with the husband, but I think he might speak a little English, too.

We unpacked, cleaned up, and got ourselves organized a bit, then headed out to explore the town. We found a small grocery store (on the street near the castle), and checked at the castle office for tickets for the next day. Unfortunately it had just closed (open 9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m. in the off season, which we were in, but is open to 6:00 in summer), but we did look around the interesting courtyard and checked out the bears in the castle's bear pit. Apparently the bear pit goes back to the 1700s, when having a bear pit was a sign of a noble's power. It's a fairly barren enclosure, and we felt bad for the bears that were in it.

We had asked our B&B host for dinner recommendations, and he suggested Restaurant Mastral, which I had also read about on the Internet prior to our trip. It's tucked away down a small passageway just to the right of the tourist bureau on the main square. We sat at one of the tables outside the restaurant and enjoyed an excellent dinner. We both started with soup (I tried the regional specialty garlic soup, which is strong but good), followed by entrees featuring copious quantities of meat. The total was 400 crowns (about $15 US).

After dinner we walked around the now-deserted streets, enjoying the ambiance of the old town without the hordes of bus tourists that had been in evidence earlier. To cap the night off we stopped at a riverside cafe and split a plate of warm apple strudel with ice cream. We then headed back to the room to do some laundry (and update this epic). In bed by 10:30.

Daily costs 5/26 (in CK): B&B: 1200; lunch: 220; dinner: 400; snacks/drinks: 145; dessert: 50. Total: 2015 ck ($76 US).