A walk in the foothills of Bílé Karpaty from Luhačovice spa – 13 km

• The Bílé Karpaty (White Carpathians) are a low range of mountains that border Slovakia in south east Moravia. With extensive deciduous forests (mostly beech, with some oak at higher altitudes) this is an attractive landscape for hiking and less busy than many other Czech mountain areas, especially in high season.
• In the foothills of the mountain area lies the spa town of Luhačovice, which is the largest spa area in Moravia and well known for its mineral laden waters. The town, which was probably first settled by the Slavs in the 7th century, has several famous examples of early 20th century spa architecture.
• Several walks are possible from Luhačovice into the surrounding hills and forests. The one shown in the map starts in the center of town and passes the Luhačovice reservoir (where swimming from its grassy banks is permitted), then climbs through the forest areas to reach the open pasture land with far ranging views towards the higher hills.
• The suggested route is 12.9 km long, with 270m of height to climb/descend. Most of the route is on easy forest and farm tracks. There are many refreshment options in Luhačovice town, with a wide range of cafes, wine bars and restaurants to choose from.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• Starting at Luhačovice train station, take the GREEN marked trail beside the stream into the center of town
• After 800m reach the post office and there join the RED trail which leads through the spa area along the stream for 2.8 km to reach Luhačovická přehrada (reservoir)
• At the reservoir, join the nature trail marked with red/white diagonal stripes, which is sign posted to Bílý kříž
• This trail climbs onto Obětová hill and then the pasture areas beyond to reach Bílý kříž in 7.1 km
• At Bílý kříž stay on the red/white marked nature trail to descend back to Luhačovice train station, which is reached after 2.3 km