Wednesday 9 February 2011

Online cycling map of the Czech Republic and Slovakia


About a year ago I wrote a post about Czech cycling maps. In it, I concentrated on the various series of printed cycling maps available, and I only mentioned the online Cykloserver cycling map of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in passing. However, the link I gave to this map has since become the number one exit link from my site. In other words, people click on it and never come back here.

There’s a good reason for this. The Cykloserver “Cykloatlas” contains pretty much all the information you need to plan a cycling route in either country. On top of that, it costs nothing to use and you don’t even have to register. I’m a huge fan. And no, I’m not in any way connected with the site or with the company that set it up - SHOCart.

For international visitors, one of the best things about the Cykloserver map is that it’s available in English. To toggle between the Czech and English versions, you first have to switch the header on. This you do by clicking on “Hlavička ON/OFF” (or “Header ON/OFF”) located on the far-right hand side of the blue menu bar. Then click on the British flag in the top left-hand corner of the screen to get the English language version.

To see the cycling routes, you have to zoom in to at least 50% of the maximum magnification (as indicated by the scale on the left). Marked bike paths are shown as purple lines and unmarked ones as pink lines. The lines are unbroken, dashed or dotted depending on the surface quality of the trail. The official route numbers are also indicated. A full key will appear on the right if you click on “Map key” in the menu bar. If you need any more help, try clicking on the question mark in the menu bar.

You can draw a route directly on the map by clicking on “Draw a map”. You can also add points of interest and view the length and elevation profile of your route. Other useful functions are available in the dropdown “Map layers” menu. For example, click on “Cyclists welcome” to reveal officially certified bike-friendly places to stay, eat and visit, and on “Places of interest” to display, well, places of interest. When you’ve finished plotting your route, you can export it as a GPX file. You can also import routes from other applications using the “Import” command.

To sum up, the online Cykloserver Cykloatlas is an indispensable aid to planning a cycling trip in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Just don’t forget to come back here when you’re done there!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your blog... its very cool... have important informations of roads...

Circuit Rider CZ said...

Thanks João. Welcome to the Circuit Rider experience!

Anonymous said...

Hello Simon, we have been enjoying your website. We are looking to cycle from Prague to Salzburg late Aug/early Sept but notice everyone we have read about seems to go the other way.Do you know any reasons for this?
Thanks from Sara and Greg in Australia.

Circuit Rider CZ said...

Hi Sara and Greg,
I can't think of any reason for that. If anything you are more likely to have the wind on your side if you head south rather than north.
Good luck with your trip, and don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any more queries.
Simon

Mithershoe said...

Simon,
What a find YOU are! My friend and I, senior citizens but not so sr. as to stop distance cycling, want to cycle from Vienna to Brezi and then on to Mutenice u Hodinin. Will we find the best routes via the online cycle map you suggest? Any tips? And do we really have to have fenders? We ride road bikes that, at this point, have no fenders. Looking forward to hearing from you. Cycle on...
Linda S.

Circuit Rider CZ said...

Hi Linda,
Thanks for getting in touch. Yes, you'll find various route options on the on-line Cykloatlas. From Brezi I'd take cycle route 41 to Breclav and then route 43 towards Hodonin.
Fenders will make your life a lot more pleasant if it rains, but they are not compulsory :-)
Enjoy your trip.
Simon

Anonymous said...

Great post!
Great service!
Thank you Simon!
Sergey, Russia

Les Tocknell said...

Hi Simon. We used the Cykloserver map on Phonemaps app this June for our trip to South Bohemia. Without it I think we would have got seriously lost so thanks for the tip! Coming back next year to visit Moravia.

Circuit Rider CZ said...

Glad to be of assistance, Les. Another useful app is mapy.cz, although it's available in Czech only.

Rai said...

Hi Simon. I can't for the life of me find the option to switch over to English. Google Translate does help somewhat, but a full English version would be most welcome for plotting my routes. Could it be that the English version doesn't exist any more?

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