Activities in Znojmo and surroundings

The town of Znojmo

A few steps from the palace

Eight centuries of history on a rocky spur above the Dyje — Gothic arcades, Baroque façades and lanes that open without warning onto the canyon. Step out of the palace and you are already in the middle of it, on Horní náměstí. In 2026 the town marks its eight-hundredth anniversary.

The Znojmo Catacombs

In the old town — a few minutes on foot

Some twenty-seven kilometres of passages run beneath the town, dug out by burghers over centuries — cellars, escape routes, ingenious traps. It stays around ten degrees down there, which makes it as good a refuge in the rain as in high summer. Adrenaline routes can be booked for anyone wanting more than the standard tour.

The Town Hall Tower

Obroková street — ≈ 5 minutes on foot

Eighty metres of late Gothic raised between 1445 and 1448, now fully restored. The gallery at the top gives you the whole of Znojmo — roofs, town walls and beyond them the green cut of the Dyje. You can see the tower from the palace over the rooftops, which makes the climb rather compulsory.

Pudelek (Marcin Szala), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rotunda of St. Catherine

The castle spur — ≈ 10 minutes on foot

A small Romanesque rotunda on the castle spur holding Přemyslid frescoes from 1134 — one of the most precious painting cycles of its age in Central Europe. To protect them, entry is strictly regulated: small groups, short time slots only. Plan this one ahead rather than on a whim.

Entry is governed by the climate conditions inside the rotunda — usually open roughly May–September and only in limited time slots. Book ahead.

Znojmo Castle

The castle spur — ≈ 10 minutes on foot

What remains of the Přemyslid castle on the spur above the river is now in the care of the Znojmo museum. The displays tell the story of castle and town, but the site itself earns the visit — the canyon opens below the windows and the town brewery stands right next door.

The town brewery and brewing exhibition

By the castle — ≈ 10 minutes on foot

Znojmo is not only about wine. The brewing exhibition by the castle recalls a long municipal brewing tradition, and next door they pour what is being brewed here today. A fair counterweight to an afternoon in a wine cellar.

The Znojmo Wine Enotheque

In the old town — a few minutes on foot

The whole Znojmo sub-region in one room — a self-service tasting where you pour your own samples from dozens of local growers. The ideal first evening: find out what you like, then go looking for that particular cellar.

Hradiště — St. Hippolytus

≈ 2 km — a walk of under half an hour

The best view of Znojmo is not from Znojmo but from the spur opposite. Under two kilometres on foot and the town lies open in front of you — walls, towers and the rock it stands on. Late afternoon is best, when the last light hits the façades.

The Znojmo viewpoints

Kraví hora on foot from the centre — Sealsfield's Stone along trail C1

A handful of rock terraces are scattered above the canyon — Kraví hora just above the town, Sealsfield's Stone further into Podyjí on marked trail C1. The reward is always the same: the river far below, forest on both sides, not a fence in sight. They string together nicely into one afternoon.

Znojmo wines

Vineyards and cellars just outside town

The Znojmo sub-region is white-wine country — Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon — with vineyards beginning almost at the last houses. Cellars sit beneath the town and in the villages around it, many within walking or cycling distance along the wine trail. Ask us at the palace which vintage to go for.

The Blue Cellars of Nový Šaldorf

≈ 3 km — on foot, by bike or by car

A whole lane of cellar façades cut into the sandstone slope and painted the traditional Šaldorf blue — one of the most photogenic spots in the Znojmo area. Three kilometres from the palace, so you can walk there and (rather more carefully) back.

Louka Monastery and Znovín tastings

Znojmo-Louka — on the southern edge of town

A vast Baroque Premonstratensian complex on the southern edge of Znojmo, today the home of the Znovín winery. Guided tastings take place under the vaults of the historic cellars, and in summer the monastery hosts the Znojmo Music Festival. Stone, cool air and wine in a combination that is hard to find elsewhere.

Znojmo Music Festival concerts take place at the monastery in July; tasting dates are listed in Znovín's events calendar.

The Šobes vineyard

≈ 12 km — on foot or by bike only

Šobes sits in a bend of the Dyje in the middle of the national park and counts among the best-sited vineyards in Europe — bare rock, the river on three sides and a south-facing slope above it. You can only reach it on foot or by bike, across a suspension bridge and through the forest. In season a tasting stand waits right among the vines.

The tasting stand at the vineyard usually operates roughly from May to September. The vineyard is reachable on foot or by bike only.

Podyjí National Park

Begins at the edge of Znojmo

The smallest Czech national park begins at the edge of Znojmo and is inseparable from its river — incised meanders, rock walls, steppe and heath all in one place. Four decades as a sealed border zone paradoxically saved its nature. At the end of summer the Havranice heath turns purple and the park looks like somewhere else entirely.

The heather on the Havranice heath usually blooms in August and September — the park's strongest weeks.

Čížov and the Iron Curtain

≈ 18 km — by car, bike or bus

At Čížov an original stretch of barbed-wire barrier and a watchtower have been left standing — a few hundred metres of the Iron Curtain exactly as they were. It is an unassuming place, and all the stronger for it. The national park's visitor centre is right beside it, and the long-distance cycle route along the old frontier passes through.

Martin Kreil, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Thayatal National Park

≈ 22 km — via Hardegg

The Austrian half of the same canyon, declared a national park in 2000 — together with Podyjí it forms a single protected valley across the border. Trails run along the rim and down to the river, and the valley is one of the few places where the wildcat still lives.

Hardegg

≈ 22 km — ≈ 35 min by car

Austria's smallest town — a few dozen houses beneath a castle set on a rock above a bend of the Thaya, right on the border. From the castle walkways you look into both national parks at once. A footbridge crosses back to the Czech side, so you can arrive on foot and leave by bike.

The castle is usually open roughly from April to November; the town itself and the footbridge are accessible year-round.

Vranov nad Dyjí Chateau

≈ 20 km — ≈ 30 min by car

A Baroque chateau perched on a rock above the river — the image on every second postcard from the Dyje valley, and still it works every time. Guided routes lead through the state interiors, and the Vranov reservoir begins directly below the cliff. Best combined into a single day.

Chateau tours normally run from April to October.

The Vranov reservoir

≈ 20 km — ≈ 30 min by car

A sandy beach, boat hire and pleasure cruises that carry visitors beneath the chateau rock — the Vranov reservoir is the summer release valve for the whole Znojmo region. Swim in the morning, cruise in the afternoon, the chateau above it all. The water warms up earlier here than elsewhere in Moravia.

Pleasure cruises run roughly from May to September; the beach operates in the summer season.

Bítov Castle

≈ 30 km — ≈ 40 min by car

One of the oldest castles in Moravia stands on a spur the reservoir wraps around on three sides. Romantically remodelled interiors, long curtain walls, and below them a bay where boats moor in summer. Only a short way upstream from Vranov.

The castle is usually open roughly from April to October.

Cornštejn ruin

≈ 28 km — ≈ 40 min by car

A sprawling ruin on a rocky ridge a short way from Bítov — walls, gates and towers you are free to wander through. Precisely because nothing has been polished back into shape, Cornštejn feels more convincing than many a restored castle. The view from the highest point is among the best in the Dyje valley.

The ruin is usually open to visitors in the summer season.

Jevišovice

≈ 15 km — ≈ 20 min by car

The Old Chateau above the town and just below it the oldest dam in Moravia, completed in 1897 — a masonry wall that looks more like a fortification than a piece of waterworks. A quiet destination for an afternoon when you would rather not go far.

Moravský Krumlov — the Slav Epic

≈ 30 km — ≈ 40 min by car

Alphonse Mucha's Slav Epic — the cycle of monumental canvases he worked on for close to twenty years — is on display at the Krumlov chateau, and by agreement it stays there until 2031. Allow a whole afternoon; anything less is not enough for work on this scale.

Retz (Austria)

≈ 15 km — ≈ 18 min by train

A wine town just over the border, with a postcard square and a windmill above the vineyards. Beneath the whole town runs the Erlebniskeller — a labyrinth of historic cellars visited with a guide. The train from Znojmo takes under twenty minutes, so you can go just for a glass.

The Reblaus Express

Boards at Retz — ≈ 15 km from the palace

The heritage railcar from Retz to Drosendorf runs slowly enough that you can watch out of the window the whole way — vineyards, woods, halts where nobody gets off. Bicycles travel free, so you can ride out by train and come back along the cycle trail. Connections run from Znojmo.

2026 season: 1 May – 26 Oct, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays plus selected Fridays. Connections from Znojmo at 8:57, 12:57 and 14:57; bicycles travel free.

Cycling around Znojmo

The routes run straight through Znojmo

Three major routes pass through Znojmo: EuroVelo 13 along the line of the former Iron Curtain, the Prague–Vienna Greenway and the Znojmo Wine Trail. The terrain rolls, the rewards come often — a cellar, a viewpoint, a border crossing where nobody has stood for decades. Bikes can go on the train to Austria too.

On the water: the Dyje and the town beach

Zámecká Dyje on foot from the centre — the run below the dam ≈ 20 km

Below the Vranov dam the Dyje can be run by raft or canoe; in Znojmo you can hire a rowing boat or paddleboard on the Zámecká Dyje, and there is a town beach at Louka. The canyon stretch inside the national park is closed to boats — nature takes precedence there, and rightly so.