Prague to Vienna cycling holiday

Planet

We believe that cycling trips are the best way to experience a destination; because you have more time to appreciate the changing landscapes and get to know locals in the villages and towns that you pass through. Travelling by bike has minimal impact on your environment.

This slow style of travel not only affords you more time to appreciate Europe but, just as importantly, positively contributes to the regions that host you. The trip includes cycling through three protected areas (Podyji NP, Trebonsko, and Palava) making it even more important to plan our trip in a responsible manner.

This trip uses the Greenways cycle trails which are a collection of routes linking Prague and Vienna; designed to promote cycling and hiking in the rural areas between these two cities in a sustainable fashion. The project is managed by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation in Brno. It aims to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the region, and through grants supports local projects.

Our Waste Management Policy encourages our travellers to take their own reusable water bottles, coffee cups and reusable stuff sacks to avoid single-use plastics. We follow this same philosophy in our office as well as on the trail: in our London office we have banned single use coffee cups and water bottles. We use recycled paper in our office and we are working towards reducing the amount of paper we use, as well as recycling all of our paper and plastic waste.

In 2000 we developed the award winning Responsible Travel Guidebook, which presented our Travel Group’s comprehensive policies on sustainable travel. Over the years our Responsible Travel Guidebook has evolved to meet the ever-changing landscape of sustainable travel. In March 2018 The Thoughtful Traveller booklet was launched, which is an easy-to-read document that empowers travellers with suggestions about how they can be part of the solution and collectively make the world a better place when they travel. Everyone is encouraged to read the Thoughtful Traveller ebook before departure.

People

Our preferred accommodations we use on this trip are locally owned and not part of big international hotel chains; this way we ensure your tourist spend is staying within the area and benefiting local people. For example, the Penzion Gardenain in Cesky Krumlov is a family run business which has been open since 2000.

We use local guides throughout this trip. The guides are highly experienced, have strong local knowledge of the area and a love and understanding of their country that they are happy to share throughout the trip. This not only provides a richer experience but creates valuable employment helping to keep income within the community.

We encourage you to visit local cafes, and purchase your lunch from local village shops whenever you can on this trip. The trip passes through some of the Czech Republic’s best wine growing areas, so you have the opportunity to enjoy delicious and local wine that perfectly complements the evening meals.

The trip includes famous towns like Czesky Krumlov, with its stunning castle dominating the town below, but also off-the-beaten-track hamlets that so many visitors would not get to see on a standard Czech itinerary. Visiting these small villages helps spread your tourist spend in areas that would otherwise see little economic benefit from tourism, and we encourage you to purchase souvenirs and snacks from the local villages in these areas when you can.