From Jindrichuv Hradec you can continue on Vienna-Prague Greenway via Pluhův Žďár and châteaux Červená Lhota to Tabor, or you can take a wonderful detour via Southern Bohemia on Rozmberk Heritage Greenway and connect to Salzburg – Prague Greenway.
To cycle via the Rozmberk Heritage Greenway you pass through Trebon Region, locally called Třeboňsko, an area of countless fish ponds, largest of which are Svet and Rozumberk ponds, with deep-rooted tradition of freshwater fish farming dating back to middle ages. This is also a region of scenic forests and meadows, in a way, Bohemia’s Lake District.
Trebon town was a medieval stronghold with fortification walls and moat is still largely intact. Among worthwhile sites to visit while in Trebon is the tomb of the Schwarzenberk family and the Trebon renaissance châteaux.
You may decide not to cycle north to Jindrichuv Hradec once in Nova Bystrice and take a shorter route to Nove Hrady skirting the northernmost point of Austria. The route offers a possibility to overnight at a well-known Hotel Perslak with fine panorama of surrounding countryside. From here the bike trail continues skirting the border passing through deep woods on its way to Chlum u Třeboně, a small town with a nice baroque pilgrimage church and a châteaux.
The ultimate destination for the day is town of Nove Hrady, a gateway to the mountainous border of Southern Bohemia of the same name. The town has a prominent gothic castle, encircled by an impressive moat. It was built in late 1200 to protect one of the trade routes that connected Austria with Prague. Burnt to the ground in 15th century, even destroyed by earthquake two centuries later, it was conquered by Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias’ general sent to quell the rebellion of the Bohemian aristocracy in 1618, war that became known as the Thirty Years’ War and which eventually installed the 300-year rule of the Habsburgs on the Czech lands. The Nove Hrady castle remained in the hands of the Buquoy’s descendants until 1945. Today it is well-maintained and in the ownership of the state.
Nove Hrady also has a striking renaissance town hall and a late gothic Church of St. Peter and Paul that was rebuilt in later part of 1600 and furnished with a remarkable baroque altar. On the outskirts of town is a wonderful nature reserve of Terčino Údolí, Theresa’s Valley. Cycling though the reserve is a scenic alternative to the main road and the trail takes you to a renovated medieval fortress of Cuknštejn on the way out of town toward Horni Stropnice.
