Ratíškovice: Cycling Trails, Culture and Landscape

Ratíškovice between Cycling Trails, Water and Remembrance

Ratíškovice combines a lively local history with a variety of discoveries in the surrounding area. You can travel along cycling trails and historic routes, relax by the water, visit museums, or explore religious monuments and landscapes. When choosing accommodation, it is therefore particularly useful to consider whether you want to focus your stay more on active excursions, culture or quiet hours in nature.

Through Landscape and History by Bicycle

The pedal-powered railcar Šlapací drezína offers a special opportunity: in good weather, you can rent it for an hour and travel three kilometres of the route around Ratíškovice. The cycling route along the “Vinařská stezka Podluží” towards Rúdník also combines exercise with the regional landscape. The “Doubravou kolem Vátých písků” tour follows a blue-marked hiking trail to Ratíškovice and then continues along a paved road through the Rúdník stud farm. There are horses and sheep at Rúdník.

In the surrounding area, paved cycling paths lead to the summit of Náklo. From there, you can enjoy views of the Chřiby and the White Carpathians. Náklo is also associated with monuments to Slavic history, including a lily cross erected in 2004 in memory of Cyril and Methodius. Váté Písky tell the story of an older landscape: they formed at the end of the Ice Age, 9,000 to 12,000 years ago, from windblown sands of the Morava River terraces.

Water, Wine and Seasonal Breaks

Hliník lies on the edge of Ratíškovice and is a water reservoir for walking, fishing, swimming and relaxing. This creates a clear contrast with the cycling routes and viewpoints. In the vicinity of Ratíškovice, a snack van is open at Salaš Rúdník from 30 April to 15 October, offering drinks such as beer and lemonade as well as smoked products.

Wine is processed and matured in the Slavín wine cellar complex. Events for the public also take place there throughout the year. This combination of wine and local events adds a regional cultural touch to the sporting and scenic aspects of a stay.

Museums, Churches and Small Monuments

The Ve vagónu Museum presents the history of lignite mining in southeastern Moravia. At the Muzeum U Kronikářa, one of the oldest buildings in Ratíškovice, you can visit a typical three-room dwelling. Visits are possible by prior telephone arrangement or during certain events. The “Charitativní bleší trh” charity flea market is also held there during the “Víkendu památkových domů”.

As part of the “Památky s příběhem” project, ten small religious monuments in Ratíškovice were restored and fitted with information panels. The parish church houses a restored wooden Madonna and Child, probably of Gothic origin, which is officially listed as a cultural monument by the state.

The Panna Maria Ratíškovická Chapel stands in the forest on the road from Ratíškovice to Hodonín. Opposite it is a wooden pavilion with benches for sitting and resting. Mass is celebrated in the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius; it was built in 1857, blessed on 4 October and dedicated to the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius. Another tradition is the “Cyrilo-Metodějská pouť” pilgrimage from Ratíškovice to Náklo, held annually in July.

More Places to Explore

If you would like to look at other places from the same selection in addition to Ratíškovice, you can find Josefov U Hodonína, Lovčice, Tvarozná Lhota, Archlebov, Mouchnice, Moravský Písek, Sudomerice Nad Moravou and Blatnička here.

For the higher-level travel overview: Hodonín District.