Znojmo

An old Moravian wine town above the Dyje valley, with an underground labyrinth and a Romanesque rotunda, right next to Podyjí National Park and Vranov Castle.

Znojmo lies in the southwest of the South Moravian Region, right on the Austrian border, about 65 km from Brno and 85 km from Vienna; its old town stands on a rocky promontory above the valley of the Dyje (the Thaya in Austria). One of Moravia's oldest towns, it was fortified with a castle by the Přemyslid dynasty in the 11th century, and the castle's St. Catherine's Rotunda preserves Romanesque frescoes from 1134. Tens of kilometres of cellars dug beneath the old town by townspeople to store wine are now a popular underground labyrinth tour. The core of the old town can be covered on foot in half a day: the town hall tower, St. Nicholas Church and the cliff-edge St. Wenceslas Chapel, and the castle viewpoint; about 2 km south of town, Louka Monastery houses the underground cellars of the Znovín winery. To the west lies Podyjí National Park, where the Dyje winds through deep forested gorges; the Šobes vineyard and the ruins of Nový Hrádek can only be reached on foot or by bike. Further upstream are the clifftop Baroque Vranov nad Dyjí Château, the Vranov reservoir and Bítov Castle. Across the border in Austria you can visit Hardegg, the country's smallest town, and the wine town of Retz. This is one of the warmest and driest parts of the Czech Republic, and May–October is good for visiting; the Znojmo Wine Harvest Festival in mid-September features medieval parades and plenty of tasting stalls, and November is the time for St. Martin's young wine. It's about 3.5 hours by train from Prague and 1.5 hours from Brno; buses between the national park and the castles are infrequent, so driving or renting a bike is recommended. Plan on 2–3 days: one for the old town and cellars, and one or two for the national park and castles. Many castles open only April–October and require a guided tour, so check ahead in winter.

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