Go directly to where everything grows, ripens, is bred, processed and prepared. Enjoy gastronomical wanderings in the agricultural area of the southern part of the Vysočina Highlands.

Take a peek into the kitchens of farmers who know how to turn their hard work into delicious results. Milk, honey, meat, vegetables and also beer await you. There are several small village museums to experience culture and sections of forest with raspberries and blackberries ideal for relaxing in the fields. For connoisseurs, there is also a new cycle path and a luxury wellness hotel in the château on top. Let's go tasting!

Route description or Where to go

Set off from the car park in the centre of Hrotovicealong the farming trails of the Vysočina Highlands. At the beginning of the 1990s, the youngest place to gain town status, the municipality is run from the local château and is the centre of a small region between the Jihlava and Rokytná rivers. The first stop, the Kurtin bee farm in neighbouring Račice, can be reached by a detour, as the main road 152 is unfriendly to cyclists due to heavy traffic.

From the town, take cycle Path 401 and after 2 km turn left along the dirt road to Račice. The ancient-looking village has the aforementioned farm on the outskirts, which can be reached by carefully following the footpath around the main road. From the small honey kingdom, head across the region to the farmers in Jaroměřice. Through Odunec and Zárubice you will reach the forest complex Na Skalném. The highest mountain in the area hides a world of forest silence and tranquillity, which is an interesting change in contrast to the field landscape.

You can circumnavigate the entire mountain massif on a pleasant paved forest road until you reach the mysterious-looking Ostrý dvůr villa. You will reach Příložany by a dirt road from Horní dvůr. The private Farmers’ Museum with a collection of old farming tools awaits you at House number 8. And just across from the village pond you have a farm shop and a pub.

Then take the old dirt road to Boňov. The unassuming village will surprise you with its picturesque character and preserved rural architecture, which makes it a village conservation area. The fronts of buildings, gables, entrances and fence walls almost create the colour of the South Bohemian countryside. You will then arrive by road to the equally picturesque Ratibořice. Just outside the Ratibořice Court 1 is a famous goat farm with milk and dairy production, as well as agrotourism services.

And at the other end of the village you will come across a rabbit farm. And so the picturesque area around the village green paints a picture almost historically faithful to the way life has worked here for centuries. From Ratibořice, take the dirt road again in the direction of the Na Skalném radio transmitter for the last time, and that will be the end of your farm exploration. Follow the road you come across at the edge of the forest and head for some history. Already on the way through Boňov you can see references on the houses to the residents' cooperation in helping paratroopers during the second world war.

Through Lipník you will reach Dolní Vilémovice, the home village of paratrooper Jan Kubiš, the assassin of Reinhard Heydrich. His family house is now a museum and a testament to an unfortunate time. After Vilémovice, you will return to the present - a long comfortable tarmac road will lead you to Valeč, where a dilapidated château, now transformed into a luxury hotel resort, experienced its resurrection. Would you like to be pampered? Just go beyond the gate...

Do you prefer an authentic Austro-Hungarian brewery? Continue along the new cycle path directly to Dalešice to the famous temple of beer. Apart from the brewery pub don't forget the museum. And then it is only 2 km along the road to return to Hrotovice. When the cycle path is completed, it will be even easier. Hopefully soon...