Calendar of Guided Walks and Excursions for the Public in 2009

We would like to invite all visitors to take part in our traditional excursions and other events organised by Podyjí NP Administration (all excursions are with commentaries  in the Czech language, except for joint events organised with the Thayatal NP Administration, which are bi-lingual: Czech and German).

  25-4 Saturday – Afternoon excursion to visit interesting geological features in Podyjí (organised in co-operation with the South Moravian Museum in Znojmo)

Guide: Jaroslav Šmerda – South Moravian Museum in Znojmo

Meeting point: 12.40 at the bus stop in Havraníky (a bus leaves from M. Horákové St. in  Znojmo at 12.20, the return bus from Havraníky to Znojmo is at 17,38).Route: The first part of our trip leads across the wavy plateau on the eastern edge of the Dyje Massif, where various relief forms have developed on the granite.Then we descend into the canyon-like valley of the Dyje river with a multitude of rock formations, the river meandering in a loop around the Šobes vineyard and an abandoned meander at Lipina with remnants of older gravel terraces. Participants on this walk will be able to také part in the „Cleaning Up the World Day“ and give symbolic thanks that they can spend time in the wild nature. Around 10km of mildly demanding walk.

Recommended equipment: Suitable clothing and footwear, something to eat and drink, small change for the bus fares.

Focus: Geology

 
 

 9-5 Saturday – Welcoming the Dawn Chorus (Songbirds)

Guide: Martin Valášek – Podyjí NP Administration

Meeting point: 6.00 Havraníky – by the pond on the north-eastern edge of the village.

Route: Walk through a varied landscape – around 9km of easy terrain, returning by 10.00.

Recommended equipment: Strong shoes or boots, binoculars.

Focus: Listening to bird song and bird identification

Note: This trip will not take place in bad weather.

 

 23-5 Saturday and 24-5 Sunday – European Parks Day – Public events on the Czech and Austrian sides of the border (in co-operation with Thayatal NP) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the declaration of the first national parks on the European continent. 

 23-5 Saturday – Landscapes from various viewpoints.

Guide: Lenka Reiterová – Podyjí NP Administration

Meeting point: 9.00 in front of the Podyjí NP Visitor´s Centre in Čížov (please park your cars in the car park before the village).

Route: Čížov – Hardeggská vyhlídka (vantage point) – Hardegg – Maxplateau – Reginafelsen – Hardegg – Široké pole (meadow) – Čížov, max. 12 km of quite demanding terrain with a return around 14.00.

Recommended equipment: Strong shoes, something to eat and drink, maybe binoculars.

Focus: A walk around the vantage points in the surroundings of Čížov and Hardegg with discussions on human perceptions of landscapes and on how people and landscapes have influenced each other throughout history.

 

23-5 Saturday – Concert in the Čížov Chapel

Begins: 19.00 Čížov Chapel

Entrance fee: Voluntary

Programme: Traditional opening of the Čížov Chapel with music and song to celebrate European Parks Day. Approx. 1 hour concert by the Znojmo group Mosty (Bridges), including songs from the Rennaisance, Baroque and Classicist periods, secular songs, black American spirituals.

 

24-5 Sunday - European Parks Day in Thayatal NP (organised in co-operation with NP Thayatal Administration)

Guide: Markéta Frindová Jelínková – Podyjí NP Administration.

Meeting point: 10.00 at the Nationalparkhaus in Hardegg (by car from Znojmo via Hnanice and Niederfladnitz directly there or on foot or by bicycle more than 5km from Čížov).

Programme: Games and learning for children and adults all day long, finishing around 18.00.

Focus: All day programme for families from the Czech Republic and Austria on the newly-opened playgroud next to the Austrian visitor´s centre (more detailed programme will be available after 1st May at www.np-thayatal.at).

 
 6-6 Saturday – Frog finding excursion (organised in co-operation with the South Moravian Museum in Znojmo)

Guide: Antonín Reiter – South Moravian Museum in Znojmo

Meeting place: 8.00 Mašovice by the church.

Route: Mašovice – Podmolí and back, visiting several wetland localities of various types, around 8 km of easy terrain, with a return by 13.00.

Recommended equipment: Suitable shoes, binoculars, net for catching aquatic animals, something to eat and drink.

Focus: Amphibians and other aquatic and wetland animals.

 

 20-6 Saturday - Forgotten forests

Guide: Robert Stejskal – Podyjí NP Aministration

Meeting point: 9.00 Hnanice – by the former barracks.

Route: From the barracks towards the state border and a different route back, around 8 km of medium difficulty terrain, returning by 15.00.

Recommended equipment: Strong shoes, long trousers.

Focus: Examples of former grazing forests, coppice forests and forest steppe localities around Hnanice, with a focus on their flora and fauna.

 
 11-7 Saturday – Stories from the river…

Guides: Kateřina Feikusová – Podyjí NP Administration, Claudia Wurth-Waitzbauer - NP Thayatal Administration

Meeting point: 9.00 Hardegg – bridge across the Dyje river on the border (by car via Austria to the place, on foot or by bicycle from Čížov on the Czech side, around 4km).

Route: Along the red-marked tourist trail through the valley of the Kajabach stream, upstream to the meadow below the Hermit´s Rock (bring your own packed lunches), still following the red trail to the Hardegg Lido (refreshments on the grass), around 10 km of medium difficulty terrain, returning by 15.00, transport back to the meeting point will be provided.

Recommended equipment: Binoculars, strong shoes, enough to eat and drink.

Focus: This joint Czech-Austrian excursion will tell you stories from the life of a river. On our journey upstream along the river we will learn about the importance of its tributaries

(Crayfish Valley on the Kajabach) and the role of dead wood in the river. We will also witness how life on and in the river was influenced by the building of the Vranov Hydro-electric Plant. Have you ever tried Land Art? Help us to decorate the banks of the Dyje at the Hermit´s Meadow! At the end of our trip in Hardegg, we will remember old times, when the river was the main source of pleasure for local people all summer long (picnic at the lido).

 

 25-7 Saturday – Outdoor musical matinee (Held in co-operation with the organisers of the Znojmo 09 Music Festival – In Vino Vivaldi)

Approx. one-hour excursion into the countryside led by Podyjí NP Administration staff with an outdoor music performance at the end. Start time, detailed programme and entrance fee will be published after 1-7-2009.

 
 8-8 Saturday – Lesná  (Liliendorf)Guide: Jan Kozdas – National Heritage Institute Brno

Meeting point: 9.00 Lesná, car park by St. Terezie´s Church

Route: Lesná – former lido - Lázeňský rybník Fishpond – former Wild Boar Preserve – Lusthaus Hunting Lodge - Čížov – Avenue of trees planted by the Beautification Association from Liliendorf – back to Lesná, max. 7 km of medium difficulty terrain, returning by 13.00.

Focus: Landscaping and parkland adaptations in the countryside.

 
 22-8 Saturday – What you didn´t know about the church in Konice and the surrounding heathlands

Guides:Silvestr Kozdas, Robert Stejskal (Podyjí NP Administration)

Meeting place: 9.00 Konice, by the church.

Route: Konice (church, vicarage, cemetery) and the surrounding heathlands, 5 km of easy terrain, returning by 13.00.

Focus: This excursion is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the building of the St. Jakub´s Church in Konice and will combine a guided tour of the church with a visit to the blooming heathlands around the village.

 

 5-9 Saturday – European Bat Night (organised in co-operation with the South Moravian Museum in Znojmo, Czech Society for the Protection of Bats and the Moravian Regional Museum)

Guide: Antonín Reiter – South Moravian Museum in Znojmo

Meeting point: 19.30, 20.30, 21.30 Jevišovice, Courtyard of the Old Castle, we ask visitors without small children to come on the later times, there is limited parking in front of the castle, so we recommend that you park elsewhere in the town (eg, by the Sýpka restaurant or on the square by the Town Hall).

Route: The Old Castle in Jevišovice, the Jevišovka stream valley below the castle.

Recommended equipment: Torch or flashlight.

Focus: Bats living in buildings and in close proximity to humans.

 

 19-9 Saturday – On the trail of Ernest Hallamassek

Guide: Tomáš Vrška – Podyjí NP Administration

Meeting point: Zadní Hamry, by the chapel.Route: Zadní Hamry – Ledové sluje (Ice Caves) – Vranovská brána Gate – Hřebenová cesta Trail – Hřbitovní potok Stream – Zadní Hamry, around 8 km of very difficult terrain, returning around 14.00.

Recommended equipment: Strong shoes, something to eat and drink.

Focus: This excursion commemorates the 150th anniversary of the drawing of the first map of the Ice Caves by Ernest Halamassek – the Senior Forester of the former Vranov Estates. We want to remind you of the importance of this forestry expert, and introduce you to the work of other important people working in this field. Examples of forest management in the western section of Podyjí NP.

 
 3-10 Saturday – Wandering the slopes of the Leisberge Hills in the Weinviertel in Lower Austria (organised in co-operation with the South Moravian Museum in Znojmo)

Guides: Mgr. Zdeněk Čižmář  (Znojmo Town Hall), PhDr. Jiří Kacetl (South Moravian Museum in Znojmo)

Meeting point: 8.00 Znojmo, car park by the Ice Hockey Stadium.

Route: Znojmo - Seefeld (Baroque chateau - exterior) - Mailberg (Johanite chambers in a Rennaisance-Baroque chateau, battlefield from 1082AD) - Oberleis (hill fort) - Buschberg (hill fort, military radar, refreshments in Buschberghütte) - Asparn an der Zaya (interesting museum of prehistory in a Rennaisance chateau) – return via Laa an der Thaya to Znojmo

Length of the trip, around 100 km by bus.

Recommended equipment: 4 Euros for the museum entrance fee, 1 Euro for entrance to the viewing tower at Oberleis.

Note: Advance reservations necessary by 20-9-2009 – contact Petra Formanová (e-mail: formanova@nppodyji_cz, tel: 515 282 257)Fee: 150 Czech crowns (to pay for the bus).

Focus: Small historical monuments in Lower Austria.

 

 17-10 Saturday – Around Nový Hrádek

Guide: Martin Škorpík – Podyjí NP Administration

Meeting point: 9.00 Podmolí, car park by the pond.

Route: Podmolí, Žlebský rybník Fishpond, promontory below Nový  Hrádek, Nový Hrádek, Ostroh Headland, Faltýskův mlýn Mill, Lukov, around 12 km of very difficult terrain, returning by 14.00.

Recommended equipment: Strong shoes, food and drink for the whole day.

Focus: Geomorphology, botany, dendrology, forests, zoology, history.

 
 31-12 Thursday – New Year´s Eve Excursion

Guide: Tomáš Vrška – Podyjí NP Administration

Meeting point: 12.00 Mašovice, U Lesa Pub.Route: Mašovice – Andělský mlýn (Angel´s Mill) – Mločího potok (Salamander Stream) valley – U Ještěrky (By the Lizards) – Mašovice,  around 6 km of very difficult terrain, returning by 17.00.

Recommended equipment: Good shoes or boots, torch or flashlight for a safer return).

Focus: Farewell to the year 2009 in the winter nature.