Cycling

Polička - ramparts

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Just a few decades ago the bicycle was regarded as no more than a means of getting from one place to another, for example, as a way of getting people and their lunchboxes to work. Then someone came up with the bright idea that bicycles could also be used as a source of enjoyment. All sorts of different bikes appeared on the market and part of the population took up biking as a hobby.

As of 10/2008 there were more than 37,000 kilometres of cycling tracks and routes in the Czech Republic. The territory of the Czech Republic has excellent conditions for the development of this active way of spending holidays. It offers diverse and picturesque landscapes, great natural beauty as well as a wealth of historic monuments that can be visited. Cyclists can use accommodation facilities of all categories. There is no shortage of cycling guides and maps and bikes can be hired at both bike rental centres and in many hotels.

Cycling route markings

The cycling paths are marked by yellow signs bearing the number of the route. Forest paths for cyclists and many local routes are marked by coloured "band" signs. You will also come across other signs where the route is not marked in the way prescribed by the Czech Hiking Club or where the signs mark a route stretching into this country from abroad. Apart from the marked routes, there are also recommended routes that require a map to follow. These often involve a circular route in places of local interest and usually link up to marked long-distance, regional and local routes. One example of this is provided by the South Bohemian Beer Trails.

Greenways

A Greenway is a continuous band of countryside linked by a trail that can be followed on bike, horseback or on foot. The path of the corridor is chosen taking into consideration local needs and traditions. These green corridors usually link the towns and villages of a region and are designed to attract those who favour environmentally-friendly forms of tourism. They are often associated with attempts to develop the regions overall.

Greenway Prague - Víenna, Prague - Tábor - Jindřichův Hradec - Znojmo - Valtice - Vienna, 456 km
Labe Greenway, Prague - Dresden, 153 km (over 200 km right to Dresden)

Prague:

Botič Greenway , Výtoň - Nusle - Hostivař - Průhonice, 24 km
Vltava Greenway , Výtoň - Holešovice - Troja, 13,5 km
Litavka Greenway

Moravian wine trails:

By their sheer extent and mission Moravian wine trails represent a unique network of regional cycling routes linking all the best of wine-making and tourist attractions in South Moravia. The main Moravian Wine route is between Znojmo and Uherské Hradiště, and is linked to ten circular routes each leading through one particular wine-growing district. The trails are almost 1,000 kilometres long and lead mainly through vineyards, orchards and along local roads.

Beer cycling routes

Beskydy Radegast Cycling Track, 53.3 km - a circuit taking in 40 pubs and restaurants devised by the Radegast brewery. It begins and ends in Nošovice. The highest point of the route is at Malá Prašivá at a height of 706 metres above-sea-level. Otherwise the route leads through an easily negotiable landscape by the Žermanice and Těrlicko reservoirs in the foothills of the Beskydy Mountains. The route links up to the Těšín Silesia Euroregion international cycling route and the Beskydy-Carpathian route. There are information boards, bicycle stands, free maps and even postcards of the pubs where you will also get a stamp to prove you have been there.
South Bohemian beer routes - these are recommended signposted routes, which can be taken with the help of special maps for this very purpose.

EuroVelo

Projekt The European network of cycling routes EuroVelo was set up by the European Cycling Federation and aims to connect twelve pan-European routes linking all the countries of Europe and mostly leading along existing or planned routes at national, regional and local levels. A large number of the parts of the route have already been completed and others are being developed with the help of local or national branches of the federation.
Altogether, the EuroVelo network will include around 60,000 kilometres of cycling trails passing through every country in Europe.

EuroVelo n.6, France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic (Cheb, Plzeň, Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava), Poland and Ukraine
EuroVelo n.7, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic (Děčín, Prague, Tábor, České Budějovice), Austria and Italy
EuroVelo n.9, Poland, Czech Republic (Jeseník, Olomouc, Břeclav (in the version Brno, Hevlín), Austria, Slovenia and Croatia

Source: Transport Research Centre, www.cdv.cz