Znojmo is a town on a bluff above the Dyje river, on the southern edge of Moravia, with Austria just over the hills, and its character is that of a place that has been on a frontier for a thousand years. The old town is a pleasing muddle of cobbled lanes, Gothic towers and baroque façades, with a tall town-hall tower, a castle on the cliff and a rotunda from around 1100, whose Romanesque wall-paintings are among the oldest in the country. With about thirty-five thousand people, it has full services, so fuel, food and repair are all easy.
The surrounding landscape is the main reason to come. The slopes around Znojmo are wine country, with vineyards of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and other white varieties, and the cellars of the old town are connected by an extensive underground labyrinth, which you can tour. Along the river, the Podyjí National Park protects a deep, wooded meander of the Dyje, with ruined castles and rare plants. The town is also famous for its pickled gherkins, which are sold in jars across the country and celebrated in a festival each year, which says something about the local sense of humour.
For the end of the South Moravian wine route, Znojmo is a very satisfying finish. The route passes through villages with rows of low wine cellars, called sklepy, in painted yellow and white, and in some places the whole village seems to be made of them. The riding is gentle, with rolling hills, quiet roads and small bends, with an eye out for tractors, farm vehicles and, in September, harvest traffic. The surface is generally reasonable, though patched in places.
If you finish in the evening, have a glass of local wine at one of the cellar bars, but arrange a bed first and leave the bike parked. Czech food here is generous: roast pork, dumplings, goulash, and fruit dumplings. In spring, the blossom turns the fields white, and autumn brings golden light and the smell of new wine. Winter can be cold, with mist over the river, but the old town is cosy then, and the cellars warm.