Cave tour in the Moravian Karst and Brno

We had spent the night at the hiking parking lot next to the Macocha Abyss, in order to start our cave tour in the Moravian Karst early the next morning.

The Punkva Caves have been accessible to tourists since the beginning of the 20th century and all paths inside are well developed.

The caves are very popular among visitors: many one-hour tours are offered, but they are usually fully booked early. We had booked our tour six weeks before our trip and got the last two tickets in the morning.

Once again, the tour was only in Czech, but this time there was no information available in other languages. So, we contented ourselves with admiring the formations in the cave and following the crowd.

The Punkva Caves form a 30 km long and branched labyrinth of caves and passages, of which we only saw a small part.

We covered part of the way through the caves in a boat. Our boat guide also explained some things and seemed to be very funny: the other passengers often laughed at his jokes, which we unfortunately did not understand.

On the way there, we chose the approximately 35-minute route to the caves. On the way back to the parking lot next to the Macocha Abyss, we wanted to take more time and chose a longer route.

We also passed several other entrances to caves, but they were not as large and developed as the tourist ones.

When we returned to the Macocha Abyss, we went to the two viewpoints.

From here, we could look at the spot where we had stood on our tour earlier.

The Macocha Abyss was formed by the collapse of a rock layer above the caves.

Our journey continued to the second largest city in the Czech Republic and capital of Moravia: Brno.

We only made one attempt to find a parking space near the city center. Then we drove a few kilometers further and parked at a reservoir, from where a tram went directly to the center.

Then we started our tour of the city center, which led us through the large Freedom Square with impressive buildings and many restaurants and cafes.

We continued through the curious portal of the town hall in one of the next streets: one of the turrets is completely crooked. Master Pilgram, who made it in 1511, is said to have received too little pay and sought revenge with the crooked construction.

From the town hall, we arrived at the Cabbage Market, the largest square in the city. The daily market was taking place there.

A few steps further, we climbed Petersberg with the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The Capuchin Monastery is also not far away. There is an underground crypt there, where mummified nobles and monks can be seen.

But we decided to stay outside and strolled further through the streets of the old town.

Finally, we went to the Spielberg, which is located right next to the old town.

The citadel is located on the 288-meter-high mountain. The fortress was built in the 13th century and later expanded.

It was once the seat of the Margraves of Moravia and now houses various museums.

From the citadel, we walked back to the tram stop and took the tram back to our camper van.

We drove on to the small wine village of Boretice, where we had dinner at the wine tavern of Jedlicka Winery and tried some delicious wines from the region.

So that both of us could enjoy the wine, we were allowed to spend the night in the parking lot of the wine tavern.