The Moravian Karst is one of the largest karst regions in Central Europe. Its main attraction is the Macocha abyss.
Further, your eyes and feet are invited to walk for a distance of one kilometer, during which you will see various bizarre figures: mushrooms, castles, long needles. And in one place, a colony of stalactites resembles wings, the guides call this figure “Angel Wings”. The journey through the caves is beautiful and fascinating.
Abyss of Macocha
The walk ends at the observation deck of the Macocha abyss. Many tourists by this time are already beginning to freeze. And that's why, going out to the site, the guides always hear the same thing:
It's finally getting warmer!
- What a beauty!
The abyss is considered the largest abyss of natural origin in eastern and central Europe.
There is a legend about how it got its name. Not far from the abyss lived a family in which there were two boys - a stepson and a son. The stepson was healthy, but the son was very sick. The mother, in search of a medicinal drug, turned to the sorceress, and she advised her to kill her stepson, and in return her son would recover. The woman followed this advice, went with the boy into the forest, led him to the edge of the abyss and pushed him. Returning home, she saw that her son was dead, mad with despair, she ran back to the abyss, jumped down and crashed. The stepson, however, remained alive, because he was caught on the branches of trees, and was later found by his father. After that, the abyss began to be called Macocha - stepmother.
On the territory of the reserve you can not move by car, there is no tourist buses. From permitted transport - cable car and boats, and of course your own feet.
Tourists get to the bus stop by cable car. This trip is paid, and in time takes a few minutes. Coming out of the cabin, you will have to overcome 500 meters, where various cafes and eateries are located.
How to get to the Moravian Karst and the Macocha Abyss?
To get there on your own, you need to arrive from Prague at (3.5 hours by RegioJet bus), then to Blansko, the same by bus or train, about 1 hour. Look at the train schedule for the day and time you need. There you fill out a simple form, and everything you need will be displayed.
Next, bus number 226 (see the schedule) will take you to Skalny Mlyn, from where you need to walk 1.5 kilometers. The second option is bus number 232 to the stop Vilémovice, Macocha, rozc., and then walk 2 kilometers.
How do I save on hotels?
Everything is very simple - look not only on booking.com. I prefer the RoomGuru search engine. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and 70 other booking sites.
Oh, Purtugal, Purtugal... Handsome actor Cristiano Ronaldo, rolling on the grass with a grimace of unbearable (supposedly) pain - the cameraman showed this funny moment three times from different angles. Ten minutes, or even less, was not enough for the Portuguese to even the score, and I would have agreed to watch more than half an hour of such football, even knowing in advance that Ballack or Klose would score their penalty, and Simau or Gomes would miss ... And to be honest , then Germany, of course, shows cool and productive football, but for some reason I can’t root for this team.
Anyway, in anticipation of the Croatia-Turkey match, I will continue my story about the Czech-Slovak vacation. We flew to Brno on Sunday, and on Monday, as usual, the Špilberk castle and some other Brno sights are closed, so we had to think in advance about how to spend the first day of vacation without wasting time and profitably. Fortunately, on Mondays in May, the caves of the Moravian Karst are open to visitors - a must-see place for every tourist coming to South Moravia.
Moreover, getting to the Moravian Karst from Brno is quite simple even without a car: from the main railway station to Blansko, and then by bus to Skalny Mlyn. Back in Moscow, using the super convenient site idos.cz, I found out the schedule of trains and buses along the entire route, which was very useful later, so I recommend this site to all those who plan independent travel in the Czech Republic and adjacent territories.
The most famous cave Moravian beauty - Punkva, part of the tour takes place on a boat along the underground river Punkva, exploring the caves includes going to the bottom of the Macocha abyss - in general, very impressive. It is not forbidden to take pictures in the caves (except from a boat, so that carried away tourists do not hit their heads and fall into the water), so fast optics will not hurt - my fifty kopecks did an excellent job here, although a wider angle would be preferable. At the bottom of Macokha, there is terrifying humidity - as if you are in the tropics!
In Punkevna Cave
Various stalactites and stalagmites
Many of the rock formations have unique names, but since the tour was in Czech, all the names have faded from my memory. This stalagmite reminds me of Santa Claus with a bag of gifts :)
Abyss of Macocha. Above is visible observation deck at a height of 92 meters.
The bottom of Macokha. The stream that feeds the underground river Punkwu
Punkva, in turn, feeds two lakes. This one, for example, has a depth of 13 meters!
End of underground journey
Macocha. View from above (if you look closely, you can see both the stream and the lake)
Hiking trails are laid in the surroundings, we went along the green one - to Blansko, and this is eight kilometers through the mountains and valleys. In fact, you just had to go down the picturesque green path to the asphalt road with a fork, walk another 2 kilometers to Skalny Mlyn and explore the Katerzynskaya cave, then calmly take the bus to Blansko, walk around the city there and return to Brno.
But we still decided to continue moving along the green path, and she again took us up the hill. After half a kilometer I could hardly move my legs, then it occurred to me that we would no longer get into the Katerzhinsky cave - it's a shame. But going back would have been even more offensive, and we continued on - up the mountain through the forest, through the field, past the Czech villages ... It's good that twanger prudently downloaded to my smartphone detailed map Czech Republic - after some time we lost the green path and walked only on the map.
True, everything ended happily, we stomped to the outskirts of Blansko, had lunch at a nearby cafe and went to the station. It's a pity there was no time to see Blansko himself - judging by the guidebook, there was also something to admire. However, we walked perfectly, and the weather favored us.
Green trail
Vicinity of Blansko
Husband and poppy. I think it's very cute :)
Moravian Karst - the most famous nature reserve karst caves in central Europe, it is located 30 km north of the city. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit this place, it attracts tourists tired of urban architecture with the extraordinary beauty that nature has created: caves, rocks and precipices, forests and underground rivers.
For travelers in the Moravian Karst created comfortable conditions: infrastructure is developed, the reserve is equipped with information centers, many signs, the possibility of professional support. Good conditions have been created for the elderly, tourists with children, and the disabled.
Caves and main attractions of the reserve
On the territory of approximately 100 km2 there are 1100 caves, but only five of them are open to the public:
- that lead to the bottom of the Macocha abyss;
- , rich in various stalactites;
- , which consists of rare stalagmites;
- , formerly a classified military facility;
- with huge tunnels and abysses.
The main attraction of the reserve is the abyss (Macocha), it is the deepest abyss in Central Europe, its depth is about 138 m. Two special bridges were built to view Macocha, they are located on the edge of the abyss. To climb the Upper Bridge, you should climb the cable car.
The Moravian karst impresses with its unusual variety of karst phenomena, many bizarre stalactites, stalagmites and stalagnates, as well as its unique flora and fauna. Since 1956 this place has been under state protection. Here you can meet representatives of rare species of wildlife. For example, bats live in the dungeons of karst caves, and at the bottom of Macokha you can find a rare plant, the arthropod (Kortuza Mithiolli).
Information for tourists
The reserve is riddled with a large number of tourist signs for the convenience of visitors. There is a trail leading to the Rocky Mill, which originates from railway station, it is called green (light). The yellow track (medium severity) goes from the Stolbno-Shoshuvsky caves. The red (hard) trail leads from the village of Rudice. There is a yellow path leading to the Upper Bridge of Macocha.
In summer, due to the flow of tourists, it is recommended to book tickets to the caves of Moravian Karst in advance. Not far from the central information center, which is located at the entrance to the reserve, for the convenience of tourists there are boarding houses and restaurants, as well as a car park.
In the information center, you can purchase maps of the area, find out about the opening hours of the caves, or get other necessary background information. Here you can also buy a ticket to the Punkva Cave, located one and a half kilometers away, which can be reached on foot or by a special steam locomotive. The cost of a one-way trip is 70 kroons, 80 kroons return.
It will take at least two days to visit all the caves, the entrance to the Moravian Karst caves closes at 17.00. summer and even earlier in winter. If tourists have only one day to inspect the reserve, you can have time to visit the Punkva and Katerzhinskaya caves, take a walk along hiking trails, climb over the Macocha abyss, and also have a bite to eat in one of the local restaurants.
Environmentally friendly vehicles are used throughout the Moravian Karst. In the areas of Empty and Dry trough, travel by car is prohibited; they get here by an ecological train or by cable car.
From the Rock Mill there is also an ecological train to the caves, and from the caves to the upper bridge of the Macocha abyss there is a cable car. In accordance with the time of the excursion, you can use both the eco-train and the cable car, they work according to a special convenient schedule. Tickets can be purchased at the Info Center at Rocky Mill, which can be reached by bus.
It is quite cool in the caves of the reserve, even in summer, it is recommended to stock up on warm clothes before visiting them.
Moravian beauty - perfect place for cycling and walking tours not to mention the beautiful caves and underground rivers.
Moravian Karst(Brno, Czech Republic) - exact location, interesting places, inhabitants, routes.
- Tours for May to the Czech Republic
- Hot tours to the Czech Republic
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In the Czech Republic, as you know, there are many beautiful castles, fortresses, cathedrals and cities, in a word, many man-made attractions. However, even the strongest impressions tend to fade, and perceptions become dull. And here the best way is to change impressions, for example, acquaintance with the natural sights of the region. The brightness of impressions is the best way to refresh a walk through the caves, boating on the underground river and the opportunity to admire stalactites, stalagmites and helictites. You will find all this in abundance in the famous caves of Moravian Karst.
Moravian Karst is one of the largest karst cave systems in Europe and national reserve. It is located in South Moravia, in the vicinity of Brno, not far from the small town of Blansko.
The total length of the massif is about 25 kilometers, and the number of caves exceeds 1000, total area throughout the territory national park is 92 kilometers! The mysterious and typical inhabitants of the dungeons live here - many species of bats and all kinds of invertebrates. It must be said that some of the creatures living here have not been studied in detail so far.
What to see
Of the 1100 caves of the Moravian Karst, 4 caves are currently available - these are Katarzynska, Balcarka, Stolbno-Shoshuvska, and, of course, the most famous and popular - Punkva. Almost all tours start here. Despite the fact that most of the tours are conducted in Czech, at the box office you will be given an audio guide and a booklet in Russian. During the tour, you will be able to see a lot of stalactites, stalagmites of bizarre shapes, as well as helictites - formations growing parallel to the ground.
One of the main attractions is the Macokha abyss (in Russian, Stepmother), its depth is 138 meters, and a piece of the sky is visible from behind the ceiling that once collapsed. A walk along the underground river Punkva, which flows into the lake, is very popular with tourists. Here, associations with the Lake City from Tolkien's "The Hobbit" involuntarily come to mind. Other caves are also worth visiting.
In Katarzynsko you can see vertical stalagmites, in Stolbno-Shoszowska you can wander along the corridors and abysses created by nature, and admire the stalactites in the Balcarka cave. The main thing - do not be afraid of bats!
Fans of beautiful panoramas should take the cable car to the top of the Macocha abyss.
The Moravian Kras has taken care of those who love walking on the surface of the earth, both for pedestrians and for cyclists. There are many routes of varying difficulty and length. All trails are marked, so it is impossible to get lost. And it’s worth taking a walk here, because in addition to the caves in the Mora Kras, there are many clean lakes, streams and forests.
Hotels and restaurants
In Skalny Mlyn, in addition to parking, there are restaurants where you can relax and warm up after a walk through the cool caves. For those who want to stay in this great place longer, it will not be a problem to find a boarding house here.
How to get there
There is a direct train from Prague to Blansko, the journey takes about 3.5 hours (distance about 250 kilometers), from Blansko by bus to the Skalny Mlyn stop, or by taxi, it’s not far, about 10 minutes. You can take a bus from Prague to Brno (from the Florenc bus station), and in Brno take a train to Blansko, the travel time to Blansko from Brno is no more than 30 minutes.
It is most convenient to get by car from Prague along the E65 highway to Brno, then exit onto the E461 road, then exit onto the small road number 379, then follow the signs to Skalny Mlyn, there is parking in Skalny Mlyn.
History of exploration of the Moravian Karst
The first daredevils descended into the Moravian Karst caves at the beginning of the 17th century, when they explored the spacious halls of Vypustek. The rest of the sections accessible to tourists today were first traversed in a century. Of course, there was no talk of any scientific expeditions yet, but the simplest measurements of the size of the caves were made. Speleologists began systematic work on the study of the Moravian Karst in the 20th century, when the Macocha abyss and the Punkven Caves leading into it were crossed. Since then, research has not stopped, and in 1956 the cave system was declared a state reserve.
Tourist routes
Reserve mapFor tourists who came to Moravian Kras, developed excursion routes along the Punkven caves with the Macokha abyss, the Stolbsko-Shoshuvskaya subsystem, the solitary caves of Katerzhinskaya and Balcarka. V last decade the Vypustek cave, previously given over to the needs of the military, also became available.
Punkve Caves and Macocha Abyss
The system got its name from the Punkva River, which flows along the bottom of the Macocha abyss, the deepest in Central Europe. Its depth is 138 m, and its width is 76 m. You can get into it through the Punkven Caves, located 2 km from Skalisty Mlyn, the main information point of the Moravian Karst. At the entrance, guests are greeted by the Front Hall with the Sentinel's stalactite. After examining the outlandish figures, the guide leads the group through a dry siphon corridor to the Clay Halls and the Middle Cathedral, along the upper vaults of which the impregnable Crystal Corridor passes. After the Posterior Cathedral, the dry part of the route ends, and the Wet Road begins, which is overcome by boat. Guests sail through underground lakes to the Fairy Tale Cathedral with picturesque natural sculptures and continue their journey through Punkva.
You can also look into the Macocha abyss on your own, without joining a group. First you need to use the services of the cable car and get to the observation Upper Bridge on a rock near the abyss. The bottom is even better seen from the Lower Bridge from a height of 92 m - from there you can even see the thickets of rare zarzhitsa, blooming from May to July with purple bells. Both bridges were built in the 19th century, when the tourist potential of the Moravian Kras became obvious - the Upper one in 1882, the Lower one in 1899. The river forms two underground lakes, a smaller one, 13 meters deep, can be seen from the bridge, a 30-meter-deep lake is hidden in the traces of the collapse that formed Macocha.
Balcarka cave
In Balcarka, located in the northern part of the Moravian Karst, nature has created the most spectacular stalactites. In addition, many Stone Age artifacts were found here - weapons made of flint and bone, tools created about 15,000 years ago. The entrance to the cave is the Great Portal leading to Wilson's Rotunda. From the Grand Cathedral, guests rise to the Gallery. In the Cathedral of Doom, a stalactite waterfall awaits them. The terrible name is associated with the collapse of the ceiling of the cave, as a result of which the most beautiful figures appeared. In the Research Cathedral, the walls are covered with a milky coating formed by the action of cave microorganisms.
Katerzhinskaya cave
Half a kilometer east of Skalisty Mlyn is the Katerzhinskaya Cave, famous for its stalagmites. Its Main Cathedral, the largest in the Moravian Karst, is so large that musical concerts. Then the Bamboo Forest begins - a cluster of large stalagmites. The Katerzhinskaya Cave got its name in memory of a young shepherdess. The girl wandered into the cave in search of a lost sheep, strayed through difficult passages for a long time and died from cold and fatigue. For solo tourists, the entrance to the Katerzhinsky cave is ordered to avoid repeating the terrible fate of the shepherdess, because it is very easy to deviate from the route without an experienced guide.
Stolbsko-Shoshuvsky caves
The complex is located in the south of the village of Sloup, which means “pillar”, which is why in Russian the system is called both Sloupsko-Shoshuvskaya and Stolbsko-Shoshuvskaya. The second part of the name comes from the town of Shoszówka lying to the east of the complex. One of the halls of the system is equipped with concert hall for chamber music. Among the most spectacular sites are the Elishtina cave and the Nagelova abyss 90 m deep with the Stolbskaya river at the bottom. The total length of the explored part of the caves is about 4 km, 0.9-1.7 km are available to tourists, depending on the chosen route.
Vypustek Cave
The last of the 5 tourist sites of the Moravian Karst opened to the public quite recently, in 2005. Prior to this, Vypustek was a secure military facility. Archaeological excavations show that people lived here 15 thousand years ago. In 1936, the military assessed the security of the cave and organized an armory in it, in 1944 they launched a workshop for the production of aircraft engines for the Germans. In the 60s, the headquarters of the Czechoslovak army settled in Vypustek. This is the most man-made cave in the Moravian Karst: its spacious cathedrals have been turned into a conference hall and well-ventilated bedrooms with a total length of 170 meters.
Information for tourists
Tourists visit Moravian Kras all year round, but the peak of visits is in the summer, when all routes are open. At this time, it is recommended to book tickets in advance to guarantee entry. The main information center is located in Blansko, on the Rocky Mill, or Mlyn, restaurants and souvenir shops are open next to it.
You can fully explore the cave system in 2 days. Tourists who arrived without an overnight stay have to limit themselves to 2-3 routes. The territory of the reserve is closed to vehicles, but a cable car is provided for tourists and ecologically safe train, the cost of a round-trip ticket for which is 80 kroons. It is cold inside the caves, no more than +8 °C, warm clothes and comfortable shoes are required. Moving along the paths of the Moravian Karst does not require special training; visitors in wheelchairs can access the Stolbsko-Soszowskie caves and Vypustek.
Opening hours and cost of the visit
V low season, from October to March, the Moravian Karst reserve is open from 8 am to 3 pm, at the highest the last group enters the caves at 4:30 pm. Balcarka and Katerzhinskaya Cave are closed for the winter, in the rest the number of excursions is limited to 3 per day. The length of the routes is from 600 to 1700 m, the tour time is from 40 to 180 minutes.
Full tickets to Balcarka and Katarzynska cost 100 CZK, to the Sloupsko-Soshuvskie Caves - 110-140 CZK, to Vypustek - 120 CZK, Punkven Caves - 110 CZK on a dry path, 160 CZK - with boating on an underground river. An adventurous route in a group of up to 10 people over 10 years old through the Stolbsko-Shoshuvsky caves will cost 500 kroons per tourist. For standard routes, students and pensioners are provided with a 20-25% discount, children from 6 to 15 years old - 40%.
How to get there
The nearest cities to the Moravian Karst are Brno in the south and Blansko in the north. From Brno to Skalisty Mlyn about 30 km, many tourists get to Blansko directly from Prague in 3.5 hours by train. Buses stop at the point "Rocky Mill". Travelers by car should drive from Prague to Brno along the E65 highway, then along the local road E461, turning onto 379 until the sign for the Rocky Mill, where you can park.
