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 these 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 primeval forest, a border area which was closed for 40 years to all but wildlife. Our third out-of-Prague location is Lednice in Moravia, historically the summer seat of the Viennese aristocrats, an area still possessing 12 old castles (one of which will be our home for three nights), miles of unspoiled parkland, impressive monuments and the greatest concentration of bird reserves (and birds) in the former Czechoslovakia. 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 likely be the calls of White-tailed Eagle, Pygmy and Tengmalm’s Owls, and White-backed and Three-toed Woodpeckers.
Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Vienna, where our private coach will meet us for immediate transfer over the border to the 12th-century lake town of Trebon (a three-hour journey). After checking in at a hotel recently converted from attractive Romanesque houses in the historic center of the town we’ll stroll through the picturesque town walls and enjoy a lakeside and woodland walk looking for woodpeckers and warblers. Trebon is an enchanting place. It is so quiet that every day seems like a Sunday afternoon. Here the songs of Wood Warbler and Golden Oriole blend with those of Fieldfare and Collared Flycatcher, a juxtaposition of west, south, north and east. In the evening we’ll go out amid the stands of wetland pine to look for Woodcock, Tengmalm’s and Pygmy Owls and Nightjar. Night in Trebon.
Day 2: The Trebon basin is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and an internationally important wetland. Originally covered by various kinds of wet forest, it was modified between the 14th and 16th centuries by the creation of 500 fishponds and an interconnecting network of canals. Avenues of old oaks along the fishpond dams provide excellent birding as the various passerines move along with the walker rather than escape into the forest. Our pre-breakfast walk here should provide us with White Stork, Syrian, Grey-headed and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers and Icterine Warbler, plus a range of associated wildlife from Roe Deer to Camberwell Beauty (Mourning Cloak). After breakfast we’ll walk around Velky a Maly Tisy (one of the best bird lakes) to look for grebes, ducks, waders, crakes, 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 (if possible in the castle) by the Pipers of Trebon whose very varied program will include Czech and European gothic renaissance and baroque music, South Bohemian folk song and pop-evergreens and jazz standards. Night in Trebon.
Day 3: 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 drive to the amazing fairy-tale town and castle of Cesky Krumlov, “a place that had settled down to sleep somewhere around the Renaissance and then forgot to wake up.” Here we’ll enjoy a specially- commissioned piano recital by Vlastimil and Vera Lejsek. This will include Dvorák’s From Sumava Suite (op. 68, also known as From the Bohemian Forest), pieces he composed while walking in the very areas awaiting us. Night near Volary in the Sumava mountains (with birding from our hotel balconies).
“Our recent trip to the Czech Republic with Bryan Bland and Patty Briggs was magnificent; probably the best ever. The two leaders were delightful and it was very obvious that they made great efforts to assure the interest and success of this trip. The amount of planning on their part was significant and it certainly paid off in the number of birds seen and the wonderful musical interludes.”
Toby and Bill Gottfried, Orinda, CA
Day 4: The whole day will be spent birding in the Sumava mountains and primeval forest, undisturbed for 40 years. Specialties include Black Grouse, Corncrake and Common Rosefinch while other highlights over the years have included Lesser Spotted Eagle, Three-toed Woodpecker, Ring Ouzel, Nutcracker and Ural Owl. Night near Volary.
Day 5: We’ll continue birding in the mountains, forests, meadows and peat bogs—where Red-breasted Flycatcher, Firecrest, Crested Tit, Great Grey Shrike and even Hazel Hen are all possible—before heading for Prague and a change of emphasis with orchestral concerts, ballet or grand opera the order of the day (or rather, evening - today being no exception). Please note that our timetable here will depend on the festival offerings, but a typical afternoon and evening (based on previous years) would be to attend an orchestral concert in St. Vitus Cathedral and then go to the Villa Bertramka (the place Mozart really loved) for “A Night with Mozart” (a dramatic reconstruction of 3 November 1787) with extracts from Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and the aria Bella mia fiamma, addio. Night by the beautiful and bird-rich Pruhonice Park, near Prague.
Day 6: There will be time for pre-breakfast birding in Pruhonice Park, but to experience fully the wonders of Prague we’ll spend most of the day on a privately- guided tour of the city, leaving time in the afternoon for rest and refreshment before we go to another one of the stunningly elegant opera houses. Night in Pruhonice Park, Prague.
Day 7: A day of options with more birding or sightseeing and some free time before perhaps an afternoon concert in the Klementinum Palace or at the House of the Stone Bell (possibly with works by Mozart, Vivaldi, Purcell, Dvorák and Janacek) and another breathtaking evening at the opera or in the concert hall. Night in Prague.
Day 8: After more pre-breakfast birding in Pruhonice Park, we’ll set off for the spectacularly photogenic town of Telc where we’ll have lunch. We’ll then continue on to Brno where we’ll have a private visit to Janacek’s home (and if they are in the country a recital by the Janacek Quartet in the very room where he composed his greatest works). We might eat here and attend another opera or we might continue to our hotel near Lednice, a recently refurbished chateau built by the Lichtenstein family 200 years ago and now registered with UNESCO. Night near Lednice.
Day 9: 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 Red-crested Pochard and Great Reed Warbler. We’ll probably picnic at the nearby Pastvisko Reserve, where in past years we have seen 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. In the evening it may be possible to take in another opera in Brno. Night in Lednice.
Day 10: The celebrated Ride of the King at Vlcnov takes place every year on the last Sunday in May. A feast for the eye and for the ear alike, this living folk tradition (rather than a tourist event) includes not only boys in national costumes on gaily decorated horses but also numerous folk ensembles, exhibitions and cultural events. When we first visited the Ride of the Kings our group could hardly bear to be whisked away while the festivities were at their height, so we added an extra day to the tour so we can fully appreciate this special occasion. In the evening we’ll enjoy a meal and wine-tasting in atmospheric Mikulov cellars to the exciting sounds of authentic Czech folk music from a group we have commissioned for several years now including wonderful cymbalon playing and a quite brilliant violinist. Night near Lednice.
Day 11: On our final morning of birdwatching we’ll go to the Soutok floodplain in search of Sakar, Red and Black Kites, Honey-Buzzard and Imperial Eagle. After a picnic lunch in southern Moravia we’ll cross the border and return to the Vienna airport, only an hour’s drive away, where we’ll catch a flight back to London, where the tour concludes.
Updated: 05 October 2007
Prices
- 2008 price about $5,800
- Single Occupancy Supplement $390
Notes
You can read a Bryan Bland essay on the Czech Republic and our birds and music tour here.
This tour is limited to 16 participants with two leader.
Participants who prefer to meet the group in Vienna should contact the WINGS office. Price includes good tickets for all operas and concerts.
This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird.