On our way back to Czech, my father-in-law took us to two of the most beautiful places in Moravia: Valtice & Lednice. These places are currently protected as UNESCO World Heritage sites. The chateaus in both towns originally belonged to the Lichtenstein family, when they were still ruling the area.
We left our hotel right after breakfast, and the Valtice Colonnade was our first stop.
This structure was situated atop a small hill in the middle of wine vineyards, home of the famous Valtice wine.
Since it was getting close to lunch time, we emptied our food bags and had a little picnic under a shaded area.
Afterwhich, we climbed 89 steps to get to the top of the colonnade.
It was tiring, but all worth it because of the view from the top – the beautiful Moravian countryside.
During the communist era, this structure also served a less desirable purpose. It used to be a lookout tower for the national guards, searching for vehicles trying to cross the Austrian border.
But all that is now just a part of history. This place has now been fully restored, and is one of the important cultural sights in the area.
Next stop was a quick exploration of the town of Valtice.
We also went to the chateau, the structure whose image can be found on the label of Valtice wine.
We didn’t get to go to the museum due to time constraints, but we were satisfied just walking through town and viewing the buildings from the outside.
We then headed out to the Lednice area for lunch. This place is also notable for having one of the most beautiful chateaus in the area.
I’m glad we took my in-laws in this trip. We got to explore not only Vienna but the beautiful Moravian wine country as well.
Next time around, when the kids are a bit older, we hope to go back and stay longer, exploring this beautiful place aboard our bicycles. But for now, I’ll just have to wait.
Czech the Flip 