Velké Karlovice: Trails, nature and Wallachian culture

Velké Karlovice lies in the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area, at the foot of the Javorníky and Beskydy Mountains. Marked hiking and cycling trails, a lake of natural origin and cultural and historical sites give a stay a range of different highlights. If you are looking for a hotel, you can first consider whether the landscape and outdoor activities or the history of the area should shape your stay more.

Landscape and trails around Velké Karlovice

Marked hiking and cycling trails around Velké Karlovice pass through a typically Wallachian landscape. It includes meadows, mature forests and scattered Wallachian houses. As you follow the trails, you encounter a variety of landscape features rather than just a single natural highlight. In the Jezerné valley there is a natural lake, formed long ago by a landslide. Its formation is a distinctive geological feature of the area.

Another destination is the Miloňová observation tower. The wooden tower is 24 metres high and offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. It can be reached via the green circular trail. The trail thus leads to a specific viewpoint: it takes you to the tower, whose views in turn bring the landscape into focus.

Cyclists can also follow a route from Velké Karlovice to Valašské Meziříčí. It is more than 57 kilometres long. In contrast, the green circular trail leads to a single observation tower; the cycling route describes a longer connection between two places. These different details can help with planning if you are weighing up a local hiking destination and a longer cycling route.

Museum, church and Wallachian history

The Karlovské Museum is located in the historic centre of Velké Karlovice. Its ethnographic collection displays tools made locally for farming and mountain-pasture work. It also covers methods of processing wool and flax and making sheep’s cheese. The collection thus focuses both on working tools and on the processing of raw materials and food.

A separate museum exhibition documents the production of pressed and hollow glass at local glassworks that have since closed. Together with its displays on farming, mountain-pasture work and processing, it offers a varied insight into local work and crafts. The glass exhibition forms a distinct focus within the museum.

The Church of Our Lady of the Snows was founded in 1754 by František Count of Žerotín. Its wooden structure is built in the shape of a cross, with a Baroque tower rising above the centre of the church. Its founding history and distinctive architectural form offer two different points of interest if you are interested in historic architecture.

A historic building has also been preserved in the Bzové valley: a timber-framed Fojtshof building dating from the 18th century. The museum, church and Fojtshof offer different highlights, from the working and production methods preserved in the collection to the church building and a historic building in the valley.

Timetables for planning

The Velké Karlovice Information Centre provides information on ČD and ČSAD timetables, as well as ski buses and bike buses. If these timetables are important for planning your trip, ask the Information Centre for the latest details. This lets you include transport information in your plans without limiting your trip to a single type of destination, whether an excursion or a cultural site.

Discover more destinations: Velká Lhota, Študlov, Lázy, Choryně, Vsetín, Ústí U Vsetína, Hovězí, Vigantice.

For the regional travel overview: Vsetín District.