Southern Moravia

Visitors are attracted to this region for its legendary hospitality and the openness of the local people, as well as for the rich folklore tradition associated with the wine industry, established here by the Romans. The capital of South Moravia (and Moravia) and the second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno is the proud custodian of a quite unique UNESCO-listed building - the functionalist Villa Tugendhat. The Lednice-Valtice area, the largest landscaped park in the world, also features on the list of World Cultural Heritage Sites.

Mother Nature has been generous to the region, and the Moravian Karst with its incredible dripstone caves, the Pálava biosphere reserve, the White Carpathian Mountains and the Podyjí National Park are all must-sees. Architecture fans shouldn't miss the Early Gothic Porta Coeli Monastery in Předklášteří u Tišnova, the fairytale Gothic-Renaissance Pernštejn Chateau and Slavkov u Brna, where a re-enactment of a famous Napoleonic battle takes place every year.

Where to from boredom...?

Brno

This is a city where the functionalist style of architecture took a firm hold. Sights include the UNESCO-protected Villa Tugendhat, the Brno trade fair grounds and the Avion, one of the narrowest hotels in Europe. The most prominent buildings are the neo-Gothic Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul and Baroque Špilberk Fortress.

Mikulov

Above the town rises a Baroque chateau which looks out across the Pálava Hills. The town’s old square with its rows of townhouses is dominated by the Dietrichstein Mausoleum. One of several precious Jewish monuments is a synagogue of the so-called Polish type, the only one found in Moravia.

Moravian Karst area

This is a large karst area with four caves open to the public. The most frequented is the Punkevní Cave, named after the underground river which fl ows through it, and along which visitors travel in small boats. The tour takes you to the bottom of the almost 140m-deep Macocha Abyss.

Podyjí National Park

The smallest national park in the country is centred around the valley of the River Dyje which meanders through a landscape of cliff s and rock faces. Many rare plants and animals such as the otter and the marmot thrive in the unpolluted environment of this protected area.

Archaeology around Mikulčice

This unique and well preserved fort dating back to the Great Moravian Empire (early medieval period) is the largest archaeological fi nd relating to the early Slavs in the country. A walk through the exposed foundations of several churches, palaces, rotundas and basilicas can be concluded at an exhibition of fi nds dating back to between the 7th and 9th centuries.