Milevsko is a quiet South Bohemian town on the rolling uplands between the Vltava and the Lužnice, and you will probably not have heard of it. It deserves a little more credit than a passing fill-up, though, because on its edge stands one of the oldest monasteries in Bohemia: a Premonstratensian abbey founded in the late twelfth century, with a Romanesque basilica that has survived, much altered, through wars, fires and the long communist decades. The monastery grounds are calm and green, and walking around the old walls takes only a few minutes.
The town itself is modest, with a square, a few churches and the services you would expect in a place of about nine thousand people: fuel, supermarkets, bakeries and pubs where a Czech lunch of soup and goulash costs very little. It is a practical stop on the long day to Český Krumlov, roughly halfway between Prague and the south.
What makes this part of the ride worth it lies west of town. The Vltava here has been dammed into a long chain of reservoirs, and the Orlík reservoir winds through a deep, forested valley like a Scandinavian fjord. The Žďákov Bridge, a huge steel arch, carries the road high above the water, and the view from it takes some beating anywhere in Bohemia. On the shore stand two famous castles: Orlík, a white romantic château perched on a rock above the lake, and Zvíkov, an older, rugged royal castle at the meeting of the Vltava and the Otava, often called the king of Czech castles.
The roads around Milevsko are typical of the Czech countryside: narrow, sometimes patched, winding through fields, forests and villages, with little traffic outside the main routes. They can be a joy on a dry day, but watch out for tractors, potholes and loose gravel at junctions. Czech law requires dipped headlights at all times, and there is a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol for drivers and riders, so save the beer for the evening. In summer, the reservoirs fill with holidaymakers; in spring and autumn, the roads are quieter and the forests smell of resin.