Moravia

Southern Moravia is the Czech Republic’s answer to Tuscany, though the locals would bristle at the comparison. The landscape rolls in gentle vineyard-covered hills, punctuated by whitewashed wine cellar villages where the doors are painted bright blue and the plum brandy flows before the wine does. The wine trail between Mikulov and Valtice passes through some of the prettiest countryside in Central Europe, and the wines — particularly Grüner Veltliner and Pálava — are genuinely excellent.

The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO site spanning two chateaux and the designed parkland between them — temples, colonnades, and follies scattered across a landscape that the Liechtenstein family spent centuries perfecting. Folk traditions run deep here: in villages like Vlčnov and Strážnice, festivals bring out embroidered costumes, brass bands, and a communal enthusiasm that feels entirely unperformed. This is the Czech Republic at its most convivial.

When to go: September for the wine harvest season. May and June for wildflower meadows and the Strážnice folk festival.