Prague-České Budějovice-Linz-Salzburg-Villach-Ljubljana

when you fail to plan, you reach Salzburg

Czech train conductors still cause us some problems and we had to pay again for the trip from Prague to České Budějovice.  To make matters worse, the train had to stop halfway due to some reason unknown to us and we had to take the bus for the remainder of the journey.  Problems did not just stop there.  When it was time to get on the next train, we got on the wrong train (my fault!) that was going in the opposite direction, to Prague!  So we quickly got off the next stop and cycled back to the main station and waited another 2 hours.

After all this, we had smooth sailing with no more conductor problems.  We passed by Linz but had to stop in Salzburg for a night since the next train did not have anymore bike spaces.  Being stuck in Salzburg for one night was actually the best thing that could have happened since it is in my humble opinion, the nicest city in our bike journey so far!

We first unloaded our bicycles at the hostel we chose to stay in and then quickly went to the Salzburg castle.  While finding the way to the tram that brings people up to the castle, we passed by a concert hall and it was jam packed with men in suits and ladies in nice dresses.  As we continued towards the hot of the hill, we found Mozart's statue and a super huge nice fountain in a nearby street.  There are so many distractions before we actually went up to the castle.

The evening view from the castle as amazing.  The picturesque view is in my opinion due to the fact that Salzburg is in a valley with nicely coloured buildings and it gets better when night falls and the street lights turn  on.

After the castle, we continued cycling around the streets and had dinner quite late.  When the shops were all about to close.  The next morning, we continued our journey on the high speed Austrian OBB rail to Villach, crossing the Alps and some of the most scenic sights of the towns, villages and grazing grounds in Austria.  After Villach, it is only a short trip to Ljubljana and we reach it at about two in the afternoon.  Our bicycle journey restarts here again.

The Hills of Czech Republic

what goes up, goes up more and falls down really fast.

 Poland and south-eastern Germany were relatively flat plains and easy compared to the hills of northen Czech Republic.  Liberec seemed close on the map, about 60-70km south of Görlitz.  The few hills we had to pass meant that we needed more time to reach the city.  Finally at about 9pm, we were at the city, with the help of a fellow local cyclist.

He led us the correct way to Liberec to meet up with the next couch host, Jakob.  Jakob is a student in the local university and is currently doing a summer job at a local company.  He brought us around the city center and to his favourite pub for a beer before heading back to his home for a good night's sleep.


The next morning, we left for Mlada Boleslav, home of Skoda Auto, the Czech car manufacturer.  We went over a few more hills and down an almost equal number of valleys with breathtaking views of the surrounding towns and villages and also the symbol of Liberec, Ještěd.  We also had a long break for lunch since the weather was really too hot to cycle in Sychrov.  We also passed by the regional brewer, Svijany.


Afterwards, the terrain to Mlada Boleslav became flat and so we really could cover a lot of distance.  In the city, we met with Zdenek, the next couch host in the center of town.  He is an amazing guy who works in the research arm of Skoda Auto.  We went around the city visiting the old 1000 year old castle turned museum and some parts of the city in close proximity to it.


Since my travel partner had a really bad case of the flu, I visited the Skoda Museum the next day with Jirinka, Zdenek's girlfiend.

Yes, my bike is still alright.  With its thin wheels, I can travel far and fast!

Jested from far. Try to see it.

We had to continue the journey to Prague by train.  Oops... I know, we cheated here.  We arrived at the main train station soon the next morning so we had almost the whole day to visit Prague.  It was my second trip so I knew most of the important spots to visit.  On the first and second days in Prague, we explored most of the old town and Prague castle.  We got ripped off while having lunch in the old town, in a small cafe near Karlov most - Charles bridge.  Never will I eat in that area again.


Luckily, I remembered a few places to eat which Martina, a Czech friend once showed me on my first trip there.  We were supposed to leave Prague the next day but...

You must have bike reservation.  Go to ticket office...

This is a story worthy of another blog post.  Let us just skip one day.

They were playing a nice improvisation of Metallica - Nothing else matters.

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