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Detailed Travel-Report

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5,6 30.07.2017 | Stephen M. Elbe, Vltava + Prague by Bike + Boat

Rescued by Bill and Kath

Overall
This is a wonderful tour. Prague, of course, is a highlight, attested by the fact that the entire population of the planet is there, cramming through its streets. Melnik and Litomerice, the two other major places visited, are both gems, but Kralupy had little appeal and Mlcechvosty is essentially a hamlet at the end of a bus route. I enjoyed cycling along the rivers and, if you know Smetana?s Ma Vlast, Vltava and From Bohemia?s Forests and Meadows should be ringing in your ears.

An important warning!
For me, this tour very nearly became a disaster. While boarding the bus from Prague airport towards the city, my passport, bank cards and most of my money were stolen from my backpack, all within a matter of the few seconds as I walked through the bus from the driver to the standing area in the middle. I had boarded the bus just outside Terminal 1 and had opened the rucksack to take out some Czech currency to pay the driver. On reaching the middle of the bus, I went to return the unused money to the rucksack and realised the wallet inside had gone. While I was still trying to find the wallet further down the rucksack, the bus arrived at Terminal 2, where it completely filled with passengers and the culprits probably made off.

As a result of this, I spent hours at the police station and the British Embassy in Prague when I would much rather have been sight-seeing. At the police station, I saw several posters on the walls warning of theft from supermarket trolleys, pockets and backpacks, so it seems this is a common occurrence in Prague.

Being on a bike-and-boat tour, all accommodation and meals had been paid for in advance. Had I been staying at a hotel, I could have been in a much worse predicament, with very little cash, no means of drawing cash and no means of making payments. On a boat, of course, you?re brought into contact with other guests, by virtue of sharing dining tables; much less likely to happen in hotel accommodation. I was very fortunate that a Scottish couple, Bill and Kath, were assigned to the same dinner table as I was. On hearing of my plight, they handed over a sum of cash saying I could repay them once I?d returned home. Later on, they drew out another lot of cash for me. Without them, things would have been much, much worse.

So the warning is: take extra precautions at Prague airport and be vigilant. A lapse, even of only of a few seconds, could plunge you into misery.

Date of my Tour: 2016-08-11/17 (6 nights, Thursday to Wednesday).

From 2017, the tour has become an 8-day, 7-night tour ? there is now an extra night in Prague at the end ? and the tour starts/ends at weekends rather than mid-week. I think these are definite improvements for 2017.

Transfers
I flew from London to Prague?s Vaclav Havel airport (PRG). Flights from non-Schengen countries arrive at Terminal 1, where border controls are exercised; those from Schengen countries at Terminal 2 (passport-less, with no border control). I took the city transport bus 119 to Nadrazi Veleslavin Metro station (where the bus empties out; a screen on the bus displays the name of the stop) and then Metro Line A in the direction of Depo Hostivar to Staromestska (?Old Town?). From there, it?s a short walk past the Rudolfinum to the river, where you will see Florentina moored a little further along on the right. A single ticket, costing around CZK 32 covers the entire journey on Prague City transport.

For the return from Prague, I used the reverse of my outbound route, taking the Metro from Staromestska to Nadrazi Veleslavin (in the direction of Nemocnice Motol) and then bus 119 to the airport, Terminal 1 (for departures to non-Schengen destinations).

The Boat
Florentina is a larger-than-average bike-and-boat vessel with a capacity of around 100 passengers. It?s immediately obvious from her shape (long and low) that she was designed from the outset as a tourist boat, rather than having been converted from some previous role. Not surprisingly, the facilities on board are better than average, although those new to bike-and-boat tours will still find the cabins ?compact?. I thought some things did not work well, particularly the dining room, which was effectively split into two by bulkheads round stairwells. The same was true in the reception area. Apparently, this is going to be fixed in a refit (which may have taken place during winter 2016/17).

I liked it that the afternoon refreshments (tea/coffee, biscuits) were available in the reception for a good length of time, not the half hour or so of some boats, so it didn?t matter if you returned from the day?s ride a little late. Conversely, though ? biscuits? Other boats put out a fabulous array of cakes!

The Crew
Mostly Czech (no surprise there), they will bend over backwards to please. What did surprise me was to discover the smattering of ?Czech? words I had learned from crews on other boats were, in fact, Slovakian.

Tour Guides
There were two guides on board; I think one may have been handing over to the other, so this may not be usual. Each evening, towards the end of dinner, they would give a briefing on the following day?s activities, alternating between German and English. Given the shortcomings of the sightlines within the dining room, finding a position from which to address everyone was compromised. The guides cycled the route during the day, but they were not there to lead group rides. Inevitably, you?d bump into them at various points during the day. I found them both pleasant and helpful.

On Board
The majority (perhaps a slim majority) of guests were German-speakers, by-and-large speaking German as their native language (so, essentially, from Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The other official language on board (in the sense that the tour guides used it) was English, but my estimation is that the majority of the English-speakers were using it as a second language, not their native tongue. Often on summer tours there?s a strong contingent from North America (be it USA and/or Canada) and another from ?down-under? (Australia and/or New Zealand), but this did not appear to be the case this time. I actually found it quite difficult to know who was on the tour and I blame this on those bulkheads blocking off the lines of sight in the dining room: normally, when seated at meals, you can see everyone, so when you?re out on the bikes you see someone and recognise them as being from the boat. This time, you?d see someone on a bike like your own and wonder ?Are they from the boat, or are they on a different tour??

Bike
I was amused to see a number of bikes on deck with the name ?MS Patria? written on them (having been on Patria only a month or so earlier).

The bikes are first used late in the morning of the second day. The area immediately by Florentina?s mooring has no motor vehicles so people can cycle to and fro along it, testing their bikes. I was surprised to hear a Danish lady complaining (in English, otherwise I wouldn?t have understood) that the bike assigned to her had no coaster brake (ie ?back-pedal brake?), whereas mine did have one and I?d prefer a bike without. So I asked about the possibility of a bike with no coaster brake, to which the response was ?We?ll take one off the boat for you, but why didn?t you request one when you booked, to save being assigned the wrong bike?? The reason, of course, was that I hadn?t been offered the choice, so there?s room for improvement here in the booking arrangements. Anyway, I was issued a bike with two hand-lever operated brakes and no coaster brake and I think the Danish lady also received what she wanted.

The bike is fitted with hub gears, which I found had sufficient range for all the cycling. The tour is rated as level 2, meaning there is some climbing or longer cycling distances. The only time I had to push was in Prague across the bridge from the boat, where you have to get off to go up a few steps and then the incline makes it a bit tricky to get started. After pushing ten or twenty paces, it?s easier to get going and, then, if you listened to the advice given by the tour guide (not everyone did!) about which path to take, you can get to the top without difficulty.

Written Materials
Prior to departure, I had received Rad und Reisen?s tour brochure, an English street plan of Prague, a street plan of Litomerice and a map of a wider area of the Czech Republic. The Street Plan of Prague included a section showing the Prague Metro and I discovered a dotted bit for a future extension had now, in fact, been completed, meaning the airport bus connected with a different Metro station than that shown on the street plan. The brochure gave an accurate description of how to get from Staromestska to the boat, so I didn?t experience any angst over that.

On arrival, for the cycling, each cabin is issued with a map booklet and a route booklet, designed to fit in the map holder on top of the handlebar bags supplied with the bikes. Very convenient for couples, for one can have the maps, the other the written descriptions; as a solo traveller, I have the route description visible, with the maps tucked behind for reference if needed.

Money
The tour brochure mentions the currency on board Florentina is the euro. True insofar as paying for the optional tours sold by the tour guides is concerned, and this will be convenient for a high proportion of passengers, for whom the euro is their everyday currency. However, the Czech Republic is not (yet) a Eurozone country (the terms of accession to the European Union mean it?s supposed to adopt the euro ... eventually) and, although Swiss-owned, Florentina sails under the Czech flag. At the end of your stay, your bill for drinks and other services purchased on board is presented in Czech Koruna (CZK), not euro. The bill can be settled in euro, but does not have to be. The comment from the guides was that, if paying in euro (which passengers from Eurozone countries will probably find most convenient), the best exchange rate will be given to those paying cash rather than using cards.

I had brought a small amount (around GBP 50-worth) of Czech Koruna, plus my wodge of euro currency which I use for European holidays. My entire euro currency was stolen at the airport. As I don?t come from a Eurozone country, were I to do this tour again, I would bring only enough euro to pay for the tours I wanted to book on-board (they are described in the brochure received before the holiday) and substantially more Czech Koruna, trying to estimate how much I would need so I don?t have to convert a whole load back again at the end. Within Prague, the euro may be accepted quite widely, but across the Czech Republic as a whole, Czech Koruna will be needed.

Day 1 (Prague)
My first day in Prague was not at all what I would have wanted, finding the police station and giving statements, then finding the embassy and more statements and phone calls. Under normal circumstances, I would have had the afternoon and evening for sight-seeing in Prague. During dinner on the boat, the two tour guides introduced themselves and spoke about the optional tours.

Day 2 (Prague to Kralupy)
Again, more unpleasantness for the first part of the morning, with another visit to the embassy. Other people may have taken the optional walking tour of Prague which, under normal circumstances, I would certainly have booked. On return from these activities, the bikes had been taken off the boat and were ready for test rides. This was my opportunity to put events to one side and start to have a normal tour.

The route crosses the river at the first bridge downstream from Florentina, then, immediately, a climb up the opposite bank to a park offering advantageous views over the city. The Vltava performs a loop round this area, so after a bit of cycling to the district hosting the Prague World?s Fair of 1891, you cross the river again, following its course downstream, past the palace of Troja and Prague Zoo, to Klekanky. Here, the route turns away from the river, involving what I recall was the longest climb of the tour, to the village of Klecany. I had a bit of trouble here following the route instructions, despite being on a signed cycle route (there?s hardly any traffic, so a more direct route is certainly possible). The section leading back down to the Vltava (canal, not the river?) was idyllic and no sooner had I arrived than Florentina came into view, with one lock to pass before the day?s destination at Kralupy. A number of us decided to watch the boat pass through the lock and then cycle alongside for the rest of the journey, moving ahead only at the end to the bridge we needed to cross and from which we could watch Florentina tie-up.

Day 3 (Cycling from Kralupy to Melnik, then sailing to Litomerice)
A few minutes cycling downstream from Kralupy is the village of Nelahozeves, birthplace of composer Antonin Dvorak and location of a Nelahozoves Palace, which overlooks the village. The optional tour covering both birthplace house and the palace was an absolute ?must? for me. The staggeringly wealthy Lobkowicz family, which still owns the palace (amongst others), is immensely proud of its patronage of Beethoven, but it seems to have completely missed the young talent growing up in the local inn, only a couple of hundred metres down the road. However, they?ve made amends by taking ownership of the Dvorak birthplace house. The day?s ride passes by another palace, Veltrusy Mansion, where an outdoor wedding ceremony had just come to an end (as per Smetana?s Vltava!). Later, we take a ferry to cross the river and were told, ?If the ferryman?s not there, ring the bell.? Having arrived at the crossing, the ferry was at the other bank with no sign of a ferryman ... and no sign of a bell to ring, either. Then I realised my concept of ?bell? was completely wrong: not a brass bell, but a door bell, and there, on the ferry sign board, was a white plastic doorbell push-button. Within seconds, the ferryman emerged and the boat was coming across. (There?s a small payment for the ferry, so you?ll need a few Czech Koruna for that.)

The day?s cycling destination is Melnik and you begin to catch glimpses of it across the meadowlands (although I had no idea it was Melnik until two days later, having visited the town, and now cycling this path in the opposite direction). The best sighting, though, comes when crossing the Vltava Canal at the lock in Horin with Melnik on a hill above reflected in the waters. A few people visited Melnik this day (officially, the plan is to do so two days later); I wouldn?t have had time to do so before needing to be back on the boat for the afternoon cruise to Litomerice. At least one person cycled on from Melnik to Litomerice. Although much of that section will be cycled when coming back, I think that wasn?t a bad idea.

Day 4 (Litomerice to Usti)
The boat stays moored in Litomerice until the morning of day 5, so there are numerous options for how to use the day, ranging from ?do very little? to ?cram in as much as possible? Three main possibilities are presented: explore Litomerice (worth doing), perhaps taking advantage of an optional walking tour; cycle to the former Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of nearby Terezin; or cycle further along the Labe/Elbe cycle route to the town of Usti and back. I did all three, at least in some measure. On this day, many more people than usual opt to take lunch on board the boat (perhaps dividing the day into: morning ? walking tour of the city; afternoon ? Terezin). I didn?t want any constraints on having to be at a certain place at a certain time, so chose to make up a packed lunch at breakfast as usual. As it turned out, I was passing close to the boat at just the right time for lunch, having been to Terezin, so lunch on board would not have been inconvenient after all.

So, I started my exploration of Litomerice early, a good deal before the walking tour got under way. I very much liked what I saw. It was around 9 am on a Sunday and very few people were about. After a couple of hours, I felt it was time to move on, so headed off to Terezin, which required passing the boat and using the main road bridge to cross the river. The concentration camp is on the main road, but the traffic is not heavy. I took a few photos from outside, then headed back to start the third segment of my day, the ride to Usti. (At dinner, Bill and Kath said they had gone to the concentration camp and found it so engrossing they had stayed much longer than planned and would have stayed longer still, had it not been that they also wanted to cycle at least part of the way to Usti.)

About half an hour into the ride to Usti, I came across a pretty spot with benches, obviously intended as a resting point, so I decided to stop here for my packed lunch. I was struck by the number of people passing-by, in both directions, so it is clearly a popular cycle route. Continuing the journey, I encountered some of the best scenery of the tour. Closer to Usti, there?s a castle up on a hill and then, shortly before Usti, a more tricky cycling section where you have to use the main road and turn off left, under an archway, I seem to remember, to get back on the cycle path. Some people didn?t fancy doing this and the fact is that, having reached the bridge across to Usti, I simply took a few photos (of the big yellow McDonald?s M sign shouting at me from the town), turned round and made my way back. Back at the boat, sipping multiple cups of the afternoon tea (despite a late return!), I noticed the map in reception and was struck by how close Usti is to Dresden; it really is within striking distance. (Not surprisingly, there is a Prague to Dresden cycling tour.)

Day 5 (Litomerice to Roudnice; Cycling to Melnik, then Mlcechvosty)
During breakfast, the boat sails from Litomerice to Roudnice (in other words, it is heading back towards Prague), the starting point for the day?s cycling. The stopping off point was Melnik, involving taking the bridge across the river and then a climb up to the city to a point overlooking the confluence of the Rivers Vltava and Labe (or, as they are named in Germany, the Moldau and Elbe). Here, a certain amount of debunking is required, for the Vltava actually arrives in two separate flows, about a hundred metres apart: first, the river itself (on the left, as viewed from your vantage point in Melnik) meets the Labe and then the canal (on the right) joins the combined Labe/Vltava. (If you look along the canal, you can see that lock at Horin, from which you get such great views of Melnik.) The Labe/Elbe runs pretty much parallel to the city and can hardly be made out because of the trees and vegetation down the bank. The picture on the web site, claiming to show the confluence of the two rivers, in fact shows the two parts of the Vltava, as can be seen from the signpost in the picture, with three fingers, not two. The Labe is the third finger of the signpost, but the river itself can?t be seen at all in the picture.

Having taken in Melnik, we cross back to the other bank and we?re cycling along the same route as we did on day 3 but cycling in the opposite direction, with a slight variation, because this time we don?t take the ferry. In the evening, the Captain?s farewell dinner (I think a party of Swiss guests was leaving before dinner the following evening) after which we were all invited onto the sun deck to watch ... I?m not going to give the game away!

Day 6 (Mlcechvosty to Prague)
During breakfast, the boat starts back to Prague and, breakfast over, everyone congregates on deck to enjoy the views. It was a magnificent cruise, spotting places we had cycled past a few days before. Approaching Prague, it felt to me like we were a triumphal army entering the capital city after a great battle, the lock gates being opened to assist our inexorable progress. Some fun, too, as there are low bridges and the crew will ask you to keep facing the front of the boat and be seated when passing underneath. Excitement mounts as the sights of Prague come into view, the clicking of camera shutters becoming more pronounced. And then, as the boat is about to tie-up, lunch is announced; an afternoon of serious sight-seeing requires plenty of energy.

Day 7 (Prague)
I was lucky in that I didn?t need to leave the boat immediately after breakfast to catch my flight, so was able to have another short sight-seeing session round central Prague before returning to collect my things and make my way home.

Photographs
Two photographs to illustrate this tour is very limiting! I mentioned Veltrusy Mansion, from day 3, so I?ve chosen a picture of that as my first photograph. And for the second, a photograph of the town square in Melnik.

  • Overall satisfaction 6
    Booking handling 6
    Travel documents 6
    Information at the beginning of the tour 6
    Accomodation 6
    Board 6
    Route description 5
    On-site assistance 5
    Route-character 5
    Bicycle + equipment 6
    Price-performance ratio 5
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