Another fairy-tale town in the Czech Republic: Cesky Krumlov. Photo: Bryan Bland
Prague is arguably the most beautiful city in the world, a city that has miraculously escaped development and destruction over the centuries, and where every building, not just a few isolated historical monuments, is photogenic. Little wonder that it was chosen as the location for the filming of Amadeus. Every May in this breathtaking setting of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings there is a feast of music—the Prague Spring Festival—with hundreds of events at over 30 venues. In addition, the three magnificent opera houses offer a selection of the world’s greatest operas in the most sumptuous settings imaginable.
We’ll combine the wonders of Prague with three other delightful areas in the Czech Federal Republic. Two of them are in Bohemia: Trebon, a beautiful walled town of pastel-colored Baroque houses lost in a countryside of large lakes, oak woods and buttercup meadows; and the Sumava Mountains and their primeval forests, a border area that was closed for 40 years to all but wildlife. Our third location outside of Prague is Lednice, in Moravia, an area still loomed over by 12 ancient castles (one of which will be our home for three nights), miles of unspoiled parkland, and impressive monuments and bird reserves. In these areas we’ll be entertained by pipes, pianos, and folk ensembles rather than grand opera, but the most memorable music to our ears will be the calls and songs of Pygmy and Tengmalm’s Owls, Nightingale, Golden Oriole, River and Marsh Warblers, and Common Rosefinch.
Day 1: The tour begins this morning in Prague, followed by the transfer by coach to our hotel in the Sumava Mountains. We’ll begin our birdwatching in the evening, venturing out to look for owls. Night near Volary.
Day 2: We’ll spend the whole day birding the Sumava Mountains and their primeval forest, undisturbed for forty years. Specialties include Black Grouse and Corncrake, and highlights from previous years have included Lesser Spotted Eagle, Ural Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, and Common Rosefinch. Night near Volary.
Day 3: We’ll continue birding in the local area, where Hazel Grouse, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Firecrest, and Crested Tit are all possible. Later we’ll drive to the amazing fairy-tale town and castle of Cesky Krumlov, a place that settled down to sleep sometime around the Renaissance and then forgot to wake up. After checking in at our attractive hotel in the twelfth-century lake-town of Trebon, we’ll enjoy a lakeside and woodland walk in search of woodpeckers and warblers. Trebon is an enchanting place, where every day seems like Sunday afternoon and the familiar songs of Wood Warbler and Golden Oriole blend with those of Fieldfare and Collared Flycatcher. In the evening we’ll go out into the stands of wetland pine to look for Woodcock, Tengmalm’s and Pygmy Owls, and Nightjar. Night in Trebon.
My time in the Czech Republic will be very fondly remembered. It was a great travel and birding event. I would recommend it to my birding friends who love great music or to anyone who would like to have a richer birding/travel experience. ”
Bernadette Chapin, May 2011
Day 4: The Trebon basin is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and an internationally important wetland of 500 ancient fishponds with an interconnecting network of canals and avenues of old oaks. Our pre-breakfast walk here should provide us with White Stork, Icterine Warbler, and Syrian, Gray-headed, and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, plus a range of associated wildlife from Roe Deer to Camberwell Beauty. After breakfast we’ll walk around two of the best lakes to look for grebes, ducks, shorebirds, rails, Bluethroat, Penduline Tit, and River and Savi’s Warblers. In the afternoon we’ll drive to a series of sites for Black Kite, Black Stork, and various woodpeckers. In the evening we’ll enjoy a private concert by the Pipers of Trebon, whose varied program will include Czech and European music of the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque, along with South Bohemian folk songs, pop classsics, and jazz standards. Night in Trebon.
Day 5: After more birding around Trebon, where we can encounter anything from Red-crested Pochard and White-tailed Eagle to Eurasian Eagle-Owl and and Black Woodpecker, we’ll set off for the spectacularly photogenic town of Telc, where we’ll have lunch. We’ll continue to Brno, where we’ll have a private visit to Janácek’s home (and, if they are in the country, a recital by the Janácek Quartet in the very room where he composed his greatest works) before continuing to our hotel near Lednice, where we should awake to the songs of Golden Orioles and Nightingales. In the evening we’ll enjoy a concert or opera in Brno’s modern opera house. Night near Lednice.
Day 6: The celebrated Ride of the Kings at Vlcnov takes place every year on the last Sunday in May. A feast for eye and for ear alike, this living folk tradition includes locals in national costume, gaily decorated horses, and numerous folk ensembles. In the evening we’ll enjoy a meal and wine-tasting in the atmospheric Mikulov cellars to the exciting sounds of authentic Czech folk music from a group we have engaged for several years now, with wonderful cymbalon playing and a brilliant violinist. Night near Lednice.
Day 7: Lednické Rybnicky is an area of large fishponds in an extensive castle park with many old trees. A walk here should produce a range of birds, from Wryneck and Black Woodpecker to Great Reed Warbler. We’ll probably picnic at the nearby Pastvisko reserve, where in past years we have seen Little Bittern, Honey-Buzzard, Penduline Tit, and Grasshopper Warbler, before looking for Bee-eater, Barred Warbler, and Corn Bunting at Pouzdrany, or maybe even Hoopoe in the Milovice Forest. Night near Lednice.
Day 8: After more birdwatching in Southern Moravia—we hope to be in the Soutok flood plain looking at Red Kite, Saker, and Eastern Imperial Eagle—we’ll head for Prague and a change of emphasis, with orchestral concerts, ballet, or grand opera the order of the day (or rather evening). Night in Prague.
Day 9: To experience fully the wonders of Prague, we’ll spend most of the day on a private guided tour of the city, leaving time in the afternoon for a concert before we go to another of the three stunningly elegant opera houses. Night in Prague.
Day 10: The trip conludes this morning in Prague.
Updated: 13 July 2011
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $4,300*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $430
Notes
You can read a Bryan Bland essay on the Czech Republic and our birds and music tour here.
WINGS can arrange for additional days in Prague for anyone wishing to spend more time in the city, including visits to Beretramka and another of Prague’s opera houses. Please contact us for details.
This tour is limited to 12 participants with two leaders. The tour price includes good tickets to the operas and concerts we’ll be attending.
Participants wishing to join the group flying out of London should contact the WINGS office.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.