Europe Bike Trip Part 1: Czech Republic

A few years ago, Bruce and I embarked on a biking trip through Eastern Europe with our children and our grandchild Cadence in tow. The journey took us through the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. We decided to feature a series of videos cataloging our bike adventure through Eastern Europe and the highlights of our journey. Here is part one of our journey: the Czech Republic.  
Our journey started in Prague where we spent three days. The Czech capital is a pristine city whose architectural beauty seems to have been frozen in time and immaculately preserved. Simply strolling through the city and soaking up the city’s history is a satisfying way to spend your time in Prague. In addition to admiring the city’s elegance, the boys especially enjoyed Prague’s nightlife. After three days, party time was over for the boys and it was time to start cycling and work off the extra beer weight they had accumulated.

Figuring we were all in fairly good shape, no one trained very hard for the trip. The first day seemed like we were riding entirely uphill and everyone felt their legs. After 77Km we reached the town of Cehti only to discover we had ridden 15km past the town we were planning on staying the night. Cehti had no hotels and our only options were to ride back 15Km or continue for another 30Km to the next town. We were all exhausted, so we sat down in a restaurant to decide our next move. I spotted a large flatbed truck and soon Bruce was negotiating with the driver. Money changed hands and we found ourselves in cars driving to a gorgeous hotel on a lake.

The next day we hopped back on our bikes and boy were we sore! We rode 58Km into the beautiful town of Telc. The city was very colourful and everyone was warm, friendly and welcoming. Towns like Telc highlight the advantages of traveling by bike over train. The town was so small that you would likely miss it on a train tour of the country, but it was definitely one of our favourite places.

We were able to sleep in a bit the next morning and then rode 66km to our next destination, Znojmo. That night we dined at a fabulous restaurant where we all got massive pieces of meat served on swords. After dinner, Rob and Erik were sent to go find the train station and they came back quite quickly saying they had. After a great night’s sleep everyone left the hotel to catch a train. We all quickly discovered that the boys had found the train museum and not the train station. We had to scramble to find the station on time, but in the end we all got on the train safely and began our journey to the next destination.

-Wendy