So ~14 days ago I begun my trip in Brno to Mikulov, join EV13, ride for a week and then return to Slavonice where I was cooking on summer camp for kids.

So on and off (with previous trips) I rode on EV13 from Bratislava to Vyšší Brod.

Tldr: It is amazing route, with little traffic, under appreciated, history, nature and every kind of surface you can imagine.

First few impressions/general feelings:

  • Austrian side is pretty much empty and dead, Austrians in these border regions go on the bike ride to Czech Republic for beer…
  • It is interesting to cross border few times per day, see differences in each country.
  • It is really under used I met 3 people who rode this route.
  • You never know what is ahead - sparsely populated region, nice roads, bad roads…
  • Plan your trip that museums and stuff that you would like to visit are open. I didn’t do that and I didn’t visit anything.
  • don’t trust EV planner on their website, I am apparently insane so can average ~100km/day so 7,5 day trip took me about 6 days.

Austrian part Expect nice asphalt or smooth gravel roads. No traffic for most parts. But nothing in a case of pubs, coffee places, restaurants or stuff like that, just few stores here and there.

Czech part Expect everything, nice roads, more traffic, totally broken asphalt roads, forest roads, trails, panel roads… but nothing that needs full suspension, 35+ mm tires with reasonable tread is enough. Pubs and other places here and there where you can get lunch for about 10€.

Notable places to visit

  • Bunker in Šatov (I posted a pic there ~week ago)
  • Valtice - castle and nice park
  • Znojmo - castle and there are few brewerys
  • Čížov - museum of Iron Curtain and visitor center of NP Podyjí
  • Slavonice
  • Gmünd
  • Nové Hrady
  • Cetviny There are more but I didn’t choose optimal time so most places were closed (like bicycle museum in Retz)

Routing/signage This part of route I took has really good signage from Bratislava to Gmünd, you really don’t need any computer or GPS tracker with maps. From Gmünd to Cetviny look up local routes, on cz side they are well signed and are in a process of putting EV stickers on them. On Austrian side the route doesn’t look entirely finished so get GPX ready in your navigation, I found 2 EV signs on 20 km section.

And few stories along the way

  • I met a guy who emigrated in 80’s from CZ to A, he bitched about how Austrians can’t brew a beer…
  • I rode from Slavonice to border with some German guy (Joseph) and we chatted about how this route has bad surface and of course about Czech bunkers, in Slavonice there is museum of light bunkers I translated for him info sign about their construction.
  • In Novohradské Hory I met totally wet French family, chatted a bit and they asked where they can find some food (restaurant or shop). When I told this to my friend he just said that he was there few months ago and had a beer in both open pubs there lol.

Last thing I want to say is that in Slavonice there is a guy who makes clocks from LP’s. You can visit his shop there and he makes custom orders, so I want something like this but not on tt bike: https://www.dmznamky.cz/Hodiny-Kolo-zavodnik-d1070.htm If someone is interested I will order more of these and ship them in EU if you are interested (first one for free), we can finalize the design together.

Also I will add pics in comments when I get to it.

  • plactagonic@sopuli.xyzOP
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    2 months ago
    • Few castle/church pictures. Hardeg in Austria, Dobrá Voda in Novohradské Hory, and church in Cetviny.

  • plactagonic@sopuli.xyzOP
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    2 months ago

    So I went through few pics I took on the road:

    • It is border region so the nicest and last border crossings first is near northern most point of Austria and the second is my last crossing in Cetviny. There is just something about bridges and borders.

    • Also some border stones/markers. First one was put there when the border formed in 1918 (it may be replica) and the second is in the place where is former border between Bohemia and Moravia (there are older ones but I was lazy to go there).

    • Few beer pics.

    • Somehow I discovered that I have the perfect size of stove and clever use of bunkers (wind cover for cooking)

    • AchtungDrempels@lemmy.worldM
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      2 months ago

      Looks lovely. That fitting can / stove almost seems too perfect to be by chance, the stove looks kinda old, maybe the can sizes just have never really changed? I would think that with eu palettes and packaging norm that may have happened, but maybe not.

      • plactagonic@sopuli.xyzOP
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        2 months ago

        According to packaging I got it in from dad, manufacturing date is 1983. So maybe it didn’t change that much as aluminum cans (they got optimized to use less material). One hiker there really liked it and had to take photo to look it up.

        I just looked up if I can find it somewhere and for what it is it is sold for 550 czk (25€) , modernized stainless version looks like it lacks option to use it with sticks but costs 500 czk (~20€) . It is called Vařík

  • tofubl
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    2 months ago

    Follow the EV13 further north! The Bavarian/Bohemian border region is really awesome (mostly the Czech side). Prepare for a lot of climbing through magical forests.

    I think I might need to go back at some point.

    • plactagonic@sopuli.xyzOP
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      2 months ago

      I really liked it and already want to finish the Bratislava-Hranice section (czechoslovakian part of Iron Curtain).

      Already looked up train connection and the trip home-Hamburg will have to wait. I will probably ride it in few months.

      Šumava scares me a little bit but it will probably be fine.

      • tofubl
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        2 months ago

        Oh man, Sumava. I came across EV13 when I spontaneously had to change plans due to weather and started a 4 day trip in Pilsen, then came across EV 13 on accident and followed it down. My legs were not prepared for climbing to a ski resort. Didn’t look like it on the map. 😅

        You should definitely go, it’s really great.

        • plactagonic@sopuli.xyzOP
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          2 months ago

          Look at my other post linked here (in outdoor community).

          Tldr: Novohradské Hory don’t look like it on the map either lol.

          I met someone on EV7 who then wanted to ride the EV13 (basically the other direction I was going). She complained about climbing and I didn’t have the heart to tell her what lies ahead.

          • tofubl
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            2 months ago

            Oh yeah, done that too. There are three little climbs right before getting into Cesky Krumlov and they really hurt. 😅

            I love Czech cycling paths. You never know what to expect (especially in terms of surface), but it’s always a great time.

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