Brno and South Moravia: cafés, modernism and wine country

Why go

If Prague is the fairytale, Moravia is where Czechs go to eat, drink and relax. Brno has none of the capital's crowds but plenty of character, from Gothic churches to bold interwar buildings, and a young population that keeps its bars and cafés busy. South of the city, the wine country produces most of the country's wine, and village cellar lanes come alive with tastings and harvest festivals in late summer.

Brno's highlights

**Villa Tugendhat**, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1930, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important modern houses in the world. Tours sell out weeks ahead, so book online as soon as dates open. **Špilberk Castle** sits on a hill above the centre with views, a museum and old casemates. **St Peter and Paul Cathedral** crowns the Petrov hill, and its bells famously ring noon at eleven, a story tied to the Swedish siege of 1645.

Under the streets, the **Brno Ossuary** below St James Church is the second largest in Europe, and the **Labyrinth under the Cabbage Market** shows medieval cellars and passages. The **Cabbage Market** itself still hosts a daily market. In the evening, Brno's cocktail bar scene is one of the best in Central Europe, and locals gather at the steps of **Moravian Square** and the pubs around Jakubské náměstí.

South Moravian wine country

**Mikulov** is the gateway, a pretty town below a hilltop chateau and the white limestone ridge of the Pálava hills, with a historic Jewish quarter and cellars around every corner. A short ride away, the **Lednice Valtice Cultural Landscape** is a vast UNESCO listed estate created by the Liechtenstein family, with two grand chateaux, a minaret, follies and lakes linked by avenues and cycle paths. Valtice also houses the **National Wine Centre** in its chateau cellars, the best introduction to Moravian grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Pálava and Frankovka.

Further east, **Znojmo** has a labyrinth of underground passages and vineyards above the Thaya valley, and the **Moravian Karst** north of Brno has caves you can visit by boat along an underground river, near the deep Macocha Abyss.

Food and wine

Moravian food is hearty: goose, duck, sausages and kolache pastries, which many Czech Americans know from Texas and the Midwest. In wine country, order a tasting in a family sklep, a wine cellar, and look for young wine called burčák, a cloudy, half fermented grape drink sold only around the harvest in September and early October.

Where to stay

In Brno, the centre around Náměstí Svobody is ideal. In wine country, stay in Mikulov or Valtice, ideally in a family guesthouse with its own cellar. Book ahead for harvest weekends.

Getting there and around

Fast trains link Prague and Brno in about two and a half hours, and Brno is also an easy train ride from Vienna and Bratislava. Regional trains and buses reach Mikulov, Valtice and Lednice. The region is flat and ideal for cycling between villages, with marked wine trails and bike rental in the main towns, which is the best way to enjoy tastings without driving.