Moravian Wine Route

South Moravia is where the Czech Republic keeps its warmest, most sensuous landscape. Often compared to Tuscany, this 30-kilometre route between Mikulov and Lednice passes through Europe's most northerly wine-growing region of significant scale, where the climate, soil, and topography converge to produce wines of genuine character. The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape, covering nearly 300 square kilometres, has been shaped over five centuries by the Liechtenstein princely family into one of the most elaborately designed park landscapes in Central Europe, earning UNESCO World Heritage status in 1996.

Mikulov itself is one of the most beautiful small towns in Moravia, with a white baroque castle rising above terracotta-roofed streets and the gentle Pálava Hills stretching behind it. The Pálava Hills form a limestone biosphere reserve where rare orchids, steppe grasslands, and century-old vines grow on south-facing slopes. The Plže—traditional wine cellar alleys—are among the most photogenic features of the region, particularly in the village of Pavlov, where rows of low whitewashed cellars with thatched roofs line a gentle hillside above the Nové Mlýny reservoirs.

For a VW T3, this is an almost perfect route. The terrain is flat to gently rolling, with no gradient that will cause any concern for a vintage engine. The roads are excellent and unhurried, the villages are compact and easy to navigate, and parking near the main attractions is consistently good. The only challenge is pace: there are so many tempting wine-tasting stops, farm stalls, and panoramic viewpoints that covering even 30 kilometres can easily take a full day. That is precisely the point.

The Moravian wine region is at its finest in late September and October during the harvest season. The vineyards glow with colour, the air smells of fermenting must, and local wine cellars open their doors for the burčák season—a young semi-fermented wine drunk in large quantities at roadside stands. The Lednice Palace gardens are spectacular in May when the wisteria blooms, and the flamingos on the ornamental ponds are visible from the towpath. Avoid mid-January to mid-February when many cellars and restaurants close for the winter break.