Kings & Castles Tour CKC250C
Our second last day of driving took us from Slovakia to Hungary and started with beautiful sunshine and the most amazing curves. After just half an hour, we reached our first highlight: “The painted houses in Čičmany.” Located in a small community in Slovakia, these houses are a unique example of folk architecture and art. The facades of the wooden houses are decorated with white geometric ornamentation, often depicting traditional motifs, and have been preserved as cultural heritage for generations. Then the curve extravaganza continued to our second highlight: the fairytale-like “Bojnice Castle” – also known as “Weinitz Castle” – home to the most visited museum in Slovakia. Then it was curves, curves, curves again until we reached our third highlight, the legendary Edelweiss picnic in the small village of Bohunice, where our tour guide awaited us with a fantastic buffet. Refreshed, we set off again and after just under an hour, a quaint ferry ride across the Danube was planned, which unfortunately fell through because the old ferryman had since retired – a great pity. Instead, half an hour further downstream, we crossed the beautiful Maria Valeria Bridge, which also marks the border with Hungary. In front of the bridge, we had a fantastic view to the "Esztergom Basilica" (also called "St. Adalbert Cathedral"), which is the largest church in Hungary. Another hour later, we wound our way through the heavy rush hour traffic to our destination for the day, our hotel in Budapest. After dinner, we took a short walk to aid digestion. Tomorrow, we will explore the two beautiful parts of the city, Buda and Pest, on foot.
Today we have a very long day of driving ahead of us. We leave Krakow and head towards Zakopane, the Polish winter sports resort in the High Tatras. Shortly before Zakopane, we turn off and visit the extraordinary wooden church in Dębno. After a quick coffee stop at an old fortress, we cross the border into Slovakia and drive clockwise around the High Tatras. The higher we climb, the more beautiful the view and the roads for motorcycling become. To escape the rain, we descend into the valley and come to a great stretch of road. This is ideal for a free ride, and we meet up at the top, at a hut, for another coffee break. Some of us like the route so much that we ride it again. But now let's continue on to Rajecke Teplice, where dinner is waiting for us at the hotel.
Today was another one of those bad weather days, so we decided together not to get on our motorcycles and instead treat ourselves to a free and relaxed day. We tour guides prepared for the next few days without any stress, and our guests shuttled between the laundromat, shopping center, a quick nap, the hotel restaurant, and the tattoo studio... In the afternoon, the weather cleared up a bit and, just in time for dinner in a typical Polish “Restaurace,” where we indulged in the finest local dishes, it was more or less dry everywhere again...
Today greeted us with sunshine, and in terms of distance, it was going to be a rather short day. First, we had about 60 km of highway ahead of us, which we covered in a short time, and after 1.5 hours we had already reached half of our daily route. Time for a coffee break, for which we chose a small town with the almost unpronounceable name “Pszczyna.” We enjoyed coffee and very fine cake in the beautiful main square. Our next stop was “Auschwitz I Concentration Camp,” where we spontaneously took part in a guided tour that had actually been planned for our rest day tomorrow. We skipped the second part of the tour through the second concentration camp, “Auschwitz II Birkenau” – we had seen and heard enough. It was good that we were able to get back on our bikes afterwards and clear our heads on the ride. We enjoyed a late lunch from a small food truck right on the roadside. Then we rode the last few kilometers to our really nice hotel in Krakow. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Today's route offers little in the way of sightseeing, but plenty of beautiful motorcycle routes. Our first stop is Novo Mesto, a beautiful little town with an equally beautiful market square. The cafes there invite us to take a short break. We continue on to the Eagle Mountains, a small but beautiful mountain region right on the border with Poland. Narrow, winding roads lead through dense forest, with virtually no traffic and magnificent scenery, and we never know exactly whether we are in Poland or the Czech Republic. We leave the mountains and arrive in Moravia, where we wind our way through endless wheat fields. It's not just the bumpy roads that give us the feeling that time has stood still here. Our hotel for today is located in Stary Jicin and was once the entrance to the castle, whose ruins still stand defiantly high up on the hill.
We said goodbye to the beautiful city of Dresden and set off for our destination for the day, Lazne Belohrad in the Czech Republic. As it was going to be a long day's drive, we took first the highway to Görlitz, Germany's easternmost city, where we took our first coffee break in the beautiful old town. Today was the Görlitz City Festival, so there was a lot of hustle and bustle everywhere as the market stalls were being set up and decorated. After enjoying fresh fruit juices, coffee, and regional desserts, it was time to get back on the road. On the outskirts of Görlitz, we crossed the Polish border and left Poland after about an hour's drive, heading back towards the Czech Republic. At the general request of the guests to skip lunch, we continued on from there on excellent roads and through beautiful landscapes—apart from a fuel stop and a bathroom break—nonstop to our hotel. After a great buffet, we ended the evening with a nightcap and various motorcycle stories on the hotel terrace.
We leave beautiful Prague and first head for Melnik. The Elbe and Vltava rivers meet near the former royal city, as does the Vltava Canal. Here we also visit the ossuary, where the bones and skulls of 10,000 to 15,000 people have found their final resting place. After Melnik, traffic becomes lighter and lonely country roads invite us to enjoy some sporty motorcycling. These roads take us to Jetrichovice, where Kurt is waiting for us with a wonderful picnic. Refreshed, we head towards the Elbe River and shortly thereafter cross the border into Saxony, Germany. Our next stop is the Bastei. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Saxon Switzerland. From the Bastei, the narrow rock reef drops steeply about 190 meters to the Elbe River. It offers a wide view of the Elbe Valley and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. We leave the magnificent rock massif and drive to Dresden, our destination for today. Our hotel is located on the edge of the picturesque old town, and on the way to dinner, we can discover the beauty of Dresden. It is hard to believe that this romantic city was almost completely destroyed at the end of World War II.
Even though we all love riding motorcycles, in Prague you should take advantage of the day to discover this beautiful city. The Prague City Hall Clock (built from 1410), Charles Bridge (built from 1357), Prague Castle (from 900), and St. Vitus Cathedral (from 1344) are just a few of the highlights of Czech beauty. But there are also hidden treasures. A tavern dating back to 1375 invites us to take a lunch break, and the quaint service is an experience in itself. At the end of our trip, everyone agreed: “Prague, the Florence of the East, is a place you have to experience and discover on foot.”
Despite the beautiful sunrise, rain was forecast for today, and one of our customers had to buy rain gear before we finally set off for Prague. But first, we made a little detour via the small town of Český Krumlov—in German: “Krummau”—over which the beautiful, mighty Krumlov Castle towers. The detour was worth it, because after a leisurely coffee break in the historic old town, the bad weather cleared up and we were able to continue our journey with one less layer of clothing. We rode our touring motorcycles through seemingly endless combinations of curves through beautiful forests, between fields and meadows, and through countless beautiful, romantic little villages before reaching our destination: PRAGUE, the famous and historic capital of the Czech Republic.
As always, everyone can hardly wait to finally get on their motorcycles, start the engines, and set off. But a short briefing is necessary so that the participants know what to expect on each day of the trip. And then we're finally off. We leave the old imperial city of Vienna and the Danube, but soon return to it at a historic location opposite the ruins of Dürnstein Castle. The castle is famous because the English King Richard the Lionheart, who was returning home from the Third Crusade, was held captive in Dürnstein or a neighboring castle from December 1192 to March 1193 on the initiative of Duke Leopold V under Hadmar II and then handed over to the German Emperor Henry VI. Every Robin Hood fan remembers what impact this had. A few kilometers further upstream, we cross the Danube by ferry, which is a cool experience. We follow the beautiful Danube to Maria Taferl. The terrace where we have lunch offers a fantastic view over the Danube and the Vienna Woods. Here we leave the Danube and will only see it again in Hungary, almost at the end of this journey. We drive along deserted roads towards the Czech border. The old, abandoned border crossing is a welcome photo stop. We continue on to Budweis, a beautiful little Bohemian town and our destination for the night. The conclusion after the first day of driving? With four such great people and such good drivers, being a tour guide is twice as much fun.
After getting to know each other, a welcome briefing, and the subsequent handover of the motorcycles, we strolled to the famous Vienna Prater to treat ourselves to a no less famous, original Wiener Schnitzel. It was a very cozy, cheerful evening, and there were plenty of funny motorcycle stories to tell. Our four guests had all been on Edelweiss tours several times before and were therefore very much looking forward to the next 14 days full of beautiful landscapes and typical Eastern European food and drink.