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The are many noteworthy parks and gardens in bohemian and moravian land. Some belong to castles and great estates, others are associated with universities and scientific institutions. This tour will combine visits to some of the greatest and most beautiful parks and impressive gardens in the country with local sightseeing. Special excursions such as tasting of local wines or concert of music add our tours special taste.

Flower Garden in Kromeriz

Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival to Prague airport and meeting our guide. Two hours drive to the pictoresque town Of CESKY KRUMLOV and welcoming dinner in hotel restaurant. Our accomodation is in exclusive five star hotel, which is in the historic main square.
Day 2
We visit the castle,park nad town of Cesky Krumlov. This residence is the largest in Bohemia after the Prague Castle. It was begun in the thirteenth century by the Vitek and was occupied in 1302 by Henry of Rozmberk. The castle grew and underwent a marked change in the second half of the sixteenth century when Krumlov, during the ownership of Vilem and Petr Vok of Rozmberk, was remodellet to become a large Renaissance chateau. The Baroque and Rococo period is best represented in the castles collections and especially in itsbeautiful summer house, the Bellarie, built in 1706-1708, and inthe theatre of 1766-67 which still contains its original rococo scenery. The large park behind the castle is famous for its terraced gardens and is of French baroque design. We also visit the town, have lunch in a historic restaurant and in the afternoon we take a 30 minutes drive to the CASTLE of HLUBOKA nad Vltavou. Hluboka castle was founded by King Wenceslas I in the thirteenth century. In the eighteenth century it was converted to the baroque style by Paul Ignaz Bayer, and in the middle of the nineteenth century it was remodelled for Eleonore Schwarzenburg in a gothic style reminiscent of the English Picturesque Gothic of Windsor Castle. The castle grounds were likewise changed, from 1840 to 1854, into an English park with fishponds, exotic trees, wooded hills and pheasantries. It is one of the most important parks in the Czech Republic. Overnight in Cesky Krumlov.
Day 3
We leave Krumlov and travel to the north-east and stop in medieval town of TREBON. We visit castle and garden. Trebon is a beautiful walled Renaissance town in a region of oak woods, meadows and large lakes. The international importance of the the fishponds and lakes of this area is acknowledged by its status as an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. After two hours we reach the town of TELC, considered the most beautiful old town in the country. The medieval town square was destroyed by a great fire in 1530, but it was rebuilt, and its houses, in the Renaissance and Baroque styles, survive to this day and since 1950 have undergone careful restoration. We visit two gardens in the neighbourhood of the square: The small castle garden, and the larger Italian Renaissance town garden, famous for its orangeries, which lies between the Saint Jacob church and two lakes. Both gardens were built by Zacharias of Hradec to the designs of Baltazar Maila de Romila. We also visit of the casle of Telc The fourteenth century Gothic residence was developed in the sixteenth century by Antonio Vlach and Baldassare Maggi da Avogno into a large Renaissance Chateau for Zacharias of Hradec and his son Adam. This stylistically sophisticated and compact ensemble contains imposing rooms in the Mannerist style and holds rich collections. Later we travel to Brno where we stay for next three days at 4star hotel in historic centre of city. Rest of day free for sightseeing walk and individual programme in cetre.
Day 4
We then travel for one and a half hours to KROMERIZ, where we will visit baroque FLOWER GARDEN(Kvetna zahrada), with its grottoes, mazes, 233metres long colonnade, pavilions and pergolas, covering 10.8 hectares, and set out in geometrical patterns. The garden was designed by Filiberto Lucchese and Giovanni Pietro Tencalla in 1665-1675 for Prince-Bishop Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein- Kastelkovn. There is also a large rosarium, a Dutch flower garden and colonnade with 100 sculptures. Later transfer to BUCHLOVICE, 40minutes away, to visit the eighteenth century italianate chateau. The garden, in the French baroque style, was designed by the chateauïs owner B. Berchtold,an excellent botanist. The park is laid on three teraces and is famous for its tree-soliters and collection of rododendrons and fuchsias. There are also chance to visit wine gallery in te chateaux with rich collection of local wines. Transfer to VELEHRAD( a pilgrimage site with monastery, church and extensive complex from the remains of Romano-Gothic buildings with Cyril-Methodius tradition). Dinner with folk music group may be arranged in wine cellar from 17th century. We return to Brno for overnight.
Day 5
After breakfast we drive an hour to the south to LEDNICE and nearby VALTICE. In this area, which is close to the Austrian border, there are seven castles, two huge parks, two historical towns and several pilgrimage churches, which all belonged in former times to the Liechtenstein and letter Dietrichstein families. We will visit the castle and park in Lednice and later castle and park in Valtice. Valtice castle is the counterpart of the Liechtensteinsï Lednice residence whose present appearance has resulted from a baroque restyling, in which J.B.Fisher was involved, of an older chateau. VALTICE park, begun in 1727, consists of the garden and the English Park linked by avenues. Here there are mythological sculptures, the man-made "Hell" grotto, and rich collections of trees. Several old avenues lead off to nearby villages, and connect Valtice with the park at Lednice. Beetwenn the parks are various historical buildings - a triumphal arch, the temple of Diana, the temple of the of gracies etc. The park complex covers 14.6 hectars. The park of LEDNICE consist of a a baroque garden in a pattern of six large squares with fountains, together with the largest English park in Czech Republic - 270 hectars. The baroque garden was designed by Comino Martini. The English baroque garden was created by architect Franti and botanist Van Der Scott, who brought 36,000 exotic plants to Lednice. The famous orangery of 1843 is due to the English architect Devien. On all sides are extensive vistas. Notable among the buildings in the park are artificial castle ruin called Januv Hrad, a Turkish-style minaret, and a Moorish watertower. There is an artificial lake with 15 islands. The area is a very important bird reserve in which storks and night herons are plentiful. By the park are large pine forests much favoured by hunters. In Lednice is to be found the Czech Republic sole College of Landscape Architecture. In the evening we return to Brno for dinner and spend the night there. It would be possible for us to arrange a private concert of classical or Baroque music with famous Czech musicians.
Day 6
From Brno we travel to Prague, arriving at about 11 a.m. at PRUHONICE, a suburb of Prague, and we have two visits to enjoy here. The old park of Pruhonice lies 10 km south-east of Prague. Created in 1878-1936 by the owner Emanuel Silva-Taroucy, the chateau and the park are in the Renaissance style. The park, one of Europes most outstanding, covers more than 200 hectars and compoises two parts: the garden park near to the chateau, and the forest park. After the chateau, the most notable building is an artificial ruine- the Gloriette. There are rare trees from around the world here - 186 conifers and 847 deciduous trees and a great amount of beautiful flowers. Attractive waterfalls adovn the Botic river. The ownerïs intention was to create a lovely Bohemian landscape stocked with exotic trees. The garden was designed by the leading landscape gardner of the day: F.Thomayer. We will visit the Institute of Gardening with its modern garden which is an example of the best modern practice. We have our lunch in Pruhonice, after which we go into Prague for a pleasant walk from Prague Castle, through the Little Town, over Charles Bridge and into the Old Town Square and back to our hotel. Accommodation and evening meal in 4star hotel in Prague´s centre.
Day 7
Visit to Prague Castle, and lunch nearby. In the afternoon we will visit romantic Royal Garden, which adjoin the Castle. They were closed to visitors for more than seventy years, until re-open by president Havel in 1991. We can also visit Wallenstein and Kolowrat garden. Rest of day free for individual programme. In the evening we may arrange visit of the opera, a National Theatre performance or concerts...
Day 8
We are free to do what we like in the morning, and after lunch in Wenceslas Square we go to the airport for our homeward flight.
 

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