Moravian-Silesian Way

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Polish-Czech border near Krzanowice/Strahovice → Mikulov–Drasenhofen border crossing (the last town, Mikulov, is 3.6 km from the destination)
• Length: 277.1 km — the longest of the six Czech Ways of St. James
• Elevation gain: ↗ 3,771 m / ↘ 3,819 m — 13.6 m/km, just under a quarter less than the Camino Francés; highest point: 678.8 m in the Nízký Jeseník Mountains; lowest point: 165.2 m at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir
• Duration: 10–13 days (12 stages; the first seven are the official ones set by the organizer)
• Waymarking: No specific symbol of its own — since 2018, a blue-and-yellow scallop shell has appeared on the signposts of the Klub českých turistů; with the Camino Ninja app, you'll stay safe
• Access route: Two Polish routes of the Way of St. James end right here—the Droga Śląsko-Morawska at km 0, and the Droga Raciborska in Opava (km 17.5); both branch off from the Via Regia Polska
• Connection: The Weinviertler Jakobsweg begins in Mikulov and leads to Krems an der Donau—seamlessly, at the same border crossing; according to the organizers, the distance from the border to Santiago is 3,193 km
• Character: Two low-mountain ranges, two plains, a steep final day across the Pálava; guesthouses instead of pilgrim hostels—reservations are required, not just recommended

Overview

Of the six Czech routes of the Way of St. James, this one is the longest: 277.1 kilometers from the Polish-Czech border between Krzanowice and Strahovice across the whole of Moravia—through Opava, the Lower Gesenke, Olomouc, the Moravian Karst, and Brno, all the way to the Austrian border beyond Mikulov. It begins where a customs house once stood in the Middle Ages and ends at a tollgate: Two borders, 277 kilometers—and the first is older than the second. In between lies the central section of a route that is now unbroken: two Polish feeder routes from the Via Regia network come over from the north, and in Mikulov, the Weinviertler Jakobsweg takes over—from Upper Silesia to the Danube, the scallop shell symbol continues uninterrupted.

The terrain is more forgiving than the 3,771 meters of elevation gain might suggest: 13.6 meters of elevation gain per kilometer — nearly a quarter less than on the Camino Francés. But they’re unevenly distributed: Three-quarters of the elevation gain is concentrated in three blocks—the Lower Gesenke, the Drahany Highlands, and the Pálava—with the Haná Plain and the Svratka floodplain stretching out in between, where you don’t climb at all for kilometers on end. The best statistic about the trail is almost outrageous: Its flattest section (1.7 meters in elevation per kilometer) and its steepest (42.4) are only 24 kilometers apart—the toughest climb comes on the last day. First, two days along the river floodplain, then a limestone cliff. And there are two more things you should know before packing: This trail has no markings of its own and no traditional pilgrim hostels—how you can still make it through just fine is set out honestly below.

Excavated in 1997, founded in 2008, marked in 2018 — and there are still 3,193 km left to go

This route has no founding charter, no episcopal letter, no royal charter—and its Polish sponsoring association does not pretend that it has any. It presents three pieces of evidence and refers to them as such. First, the trade route: In ancient Poland, it writes, the Compostela pilgrims followed the well-trodden trade routes, and one of them led south through Moravia. Second, the customs office: “Jedna z nich istniała tuż przy granicy Polsko-Czeskiej w Krzanowicach” — one of the medieval customs houses stood right on the border near Krzanowice, exactly where your Kilometer 0 is today. Third, the shell: On September 16, 1997, archaeologists in Racibórz found a scallop shell dated to the 13th to 14th centuries — now on display in the museum, 13 kilometers north of your starting point, on the Polish feeder route. The association puts it cautiously: "Kolejnym śladem może być muszla św. Jakuba" — it may be another trace. It is precisely this restraint that is its strength: an approach that relies on a customs office and an excavated shell rather than fabricated documents has more substance than many a route with a legend.

No one can name a pilgrim who is known to have traveled along this route—and we’d rather say that than make one up. What the Czech side does have, however, is an eyewitness at the destination: Václav Šašek of Bířkov, a Bohemian traveler from the late Middle Ages, reached Santiago and recorded what he was shown in the cathedral: "Potom nám byla ukázána hůl, o kterou se světec opíral na svých cestách" — after that, we were shown the staff on which the saint leaned during his travels. The phrase has been passed down in Czech, and it is the human anchor of the entire Czech network. The foundation for this lies in the region’s geography: According to the organizer, of the more than 2,000 St. James churches in Europe, over one-twentieth are located in Bohemia and Moravia—more than a hundred. You'll pass three of them along this route: in Hradec nad Moravicí (km 27.8), in Guntramovice (km 73.7), and right in the heart of Brno (km 213.8). Brno’s St. James Church goes back a long way: a smaller Romanesque church was consecrated on the site as early as 1220, the late Gothic rebuilding began with the choir in 1446—and in 2001 archaeologists discovered the Brno Ossuary beneath the square next to it, holding the remains of an estimated 50,000 people. And the organizer understates it in the most charming way: the Czechs, it writes, were only ever a small share of the pilgrims to Santiago—and yet not a few.

Recent history is precisely dated, and it is a story of gratitude: in 2008, on their way home from a stage of the Camino, a group of Czech pilgrims decided to give something back to the path that had given them so much—and founded ULTREIA. In 2018 came the most pragmatic move: a formal agreement with the Klub českých turistů, thanks to which the Czech Ways of St. James are marked "modrožlutou mušlí na turistických rozcestnících" —with a blue-and-yellow shell on the hiking club’s signposts. No trail markers of their own, no posts of their own: The shell lives as a subtenant. And right at the very end, at the border just past Mikulov, the association did the overall math itself: "Od hranice s Rakouskem zbývá poutníkovi ještě 3193 km" — from the border with Austria, the pilgrim still has 3,193 kilometers to go. 277 walked, 3,193 remaining. Rarely has a path more honestly marked its own end.

Other Names

In Czech, this trail is called Moravskoslezská svatojakubská cesta — Moravian-Silesian Way of St. James —, or Moravskoslezská trasa for short. It is one of six routes along the Way of St. James in the Czech Republic, and at 277.1 kilometers, the longest in the family; the shortest one, the Zittau Way, begins in the very north of the country. The Polish neighbors run their connecting routes under their own names — Droga Śląsko-Morawska and Droga Raciborska —, and because their organizing association likes to think of the entire corridor as a single continuous route, you’ll also read there about the idea of a path “from Racibórz to Vienna.” When it comes to the kilometers, you’ll come across three figures: The official brochure lists 255 km — an outdated piece of information that you can safely ignore. The organization's website states 276.5 km, our measurement based on the current GPS track shows 277.1 km — a 0.2 percent difference, which is measurement noise: the same route. We'll stick with 277.1.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

This route is for you if you have a good two weeks to spare and are looking for a long-distance hike that alternates smoothly between low mountain ranges and flatlands—and that takes you through two cities that hardly anyone would expect to find on the Way of St. James: Olomouc at km 114 and Brno at km 214, both large enough for a rest day, and in both cases the route runs past the cathedral instead of around it—St. Wenceslas Cathedral and Petrov are right on the path. It’s also ideal if you don’t just tolerate silence but actually seek it out: No one knows how many pilgrims walk here—there are no statistics, no counters, just a list of available beds. And if you like to arrive with a bang: The last day takes you over the limestone ridge of the Pálava, the steepest section of the entire trail, and leads you into a wine-growing town.

To be honest, though, this isn't for you if you're expecting a continuous, dedicated trail marking system—there isn't one. You'll follow hiking trails marked in red, blue, yellow, or green by the Klub českých turistů, whose signposts have featured a blue-and-yellow seashell since 2018, and you have to be able to decipher this logic; the Camino Ninja app is your safety net—it has the entire route mapped out. It’s also not for you if you plan to rely on pilgrim hostels: they don’t exist. There are bed-and-breakfasts, RV parks, hostels, a monastery guesthouse, a mountain hut, and a private bed network—and between km 146 and km 174, right in the middle of the toughest stretch, there’s nothing at all on the official list. You plan around such gaps beforehand, not while you’re on the road.

Route & Landscape

You start at a boundary marker between Krzanowice in Poland and Strahovice in the Czech Republic—where, in the Middle Ages, goods bound for Moravia were cleared through customs. 17 flat Silesian kilometers take you to Opava, then the trail turns southwest into the valley of the Moravice: At km 28, in Hradec nad Moravicí, there are a St. James Church and a castle where Beethoven and Liszt were guests—right next to the route. After that, the climb gets serious: over the Kružberk dam up into the Lower Gesenke, the Nízký Jeseník, past St. James Church in Guntramovice, until you reach the highest point of the trail at km 76.9, at an elevation of 678.8 meters—a plateau, forest, and wide-open sky. The reward is a 510-meter descent that carries you past the pilgrimage basilica of Svatý Kopeček to Olomouc; the Trinity Column is just a few minutes' walk from the path.

After two quiet days in the Haná Plain, the toughest block follows: the Drahanská vrchovina, the Drahany Highlands — 744 meters of elevation gain in a single day, up to Protivanov, the highest village on the route. You'll be rewarded at the Moravian Karst: the pilgrimage church of Sloup, the entrance to the Punkva Caves and the Santini Church in Křtiny right on the path, the Macocha Abyss just a stone's throw away. The approach into Brno follows the Svitava River, passing St. James’s Church and Petrov Cathedral, both right along the route. Then the exact opposite: 22 kilometers of river floodplain with a 1.7-meter elevation gain per kilometer, passing the Benedictine monastery Rajhrad, into the South Moravian wine country and to the lowest point at the Nové Mlýny reservoir (165.2 m). Right at the very end, the Pálava stands in your way: 42.4 meters of elevation gain per kilometer over the ridge, past the castle ruins of Sirotčí hrad, over the summit of the Děvín and down from Mikulov's Holy Mountain into the town—and then another 3.6 kilometers to the Austrian border.

Stages, Terrain & Difficulty

12 stages are the natural rhythm—an average of 23.1 kilometers, so the plan is 10 to 13 days. An honest footnote regarding the source: Stages 1–6 are the official stages designated by the organizer, whose published list stops after Stage 7 (Náměšť na Hané → Stražisko)—we're extending Stage 7 to Protivanov and propose Stages 8–12 ourselves, based on locations with confirmed accommodations. All kilometer figures are derived from the track data in our route database (kilometers from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 277.1 km).

1. Krzanowice/Strahovice → Opava — 17.5 km — border, customs-house heritage, Silesian plain: a deliberately short first day, arriving in Opava.
2. Opava → Podhradí — 25.9 km — St. James Church and Hradec nad Moravicí Castle (km 28), then up through the meandering Moravice Valley.
3. Podhradí → Budišov nad Budišovkou — 24.8 km — the climb into the Lower Gesenke, 584 meters of elevation gain; Kružberk Dam at km 57.
4. Budišov nad Budišovkou → Jívová — 24.5 km — St. James Church in Guntramovice (km 73.7), highest point of the trail (678.8 m) at km 76.9, plateau on the edge of the former Libavá restricted area.
5. Jívová → Olomouc — 21.8 km — 510-meter descent; Svatý Kopeček Pilgrimage Basilica at km 106.2, then the Holy Trinity Column and St. Wenceslas Cathedral.
6. Olomouc → Náměšť na Hané — 17.6 km — Haná Plain, 6.1 meters of elevation gain per kilometer: the easiest day of the hike.
7. Náměšť na Hané → Protivanov — 27.7 km — the toughest day: 744 meters of elevation gain through the Drahanská vrchovina; Protivanov (663 m) is the highest village on the route. Officially, the stage ends in Stražisko (km 145.9)—breaking it up makes the day easier.
8. Protivanov → Jedovnice — 25.6 km — into the Moravian Karst: the Sloup Pilgrimage Church (right on the trail), then the Macocha Abyss just a stone's throw away.
9. Jedovnice → Brno — 28.4 km — Santini Church in Křtiny (km 194.9), descent into the Svitava Valley, arrival in Brno past St. James and Petrov.
10. Brno → Židlochovice — 22.2 km — the flattest section of the entire route (1.7 m/km); Rajhrad Benedictine Abbey at km 228.5. A floodplain stage.
11. Židlochovice → Dolní Věstonice — 24.0 km — South Moravia, vineyards, lowest point of the route (165.2 m) at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir.
12. Dolní Věstonice → Mikulov / Drasenhofen Border — 17.1 km — the steepest day (42.4 m/km): over the Pálava Ridge, past Sirotčí hrad, and over Děvín, then over the Holy Mountain to Mikulov — and another 3.6 km to the border.

If you have 13 days, split Stage 7 at Stražisko (13.8 + 13.9 km) — this is the only variant that follows the organizer’s official stage division throughout, and it makes the toughest day a bit easier. Splitting Stage 9 at Křtiny is also attractive: that's where the Norbertinum, the only true pilgrim hostel along the route, is located. Fit hikers can cover the distance in 10 days—though that would mean tackling a flat 33-kilometer stretch after Brno and a final day covering 30 kilometers with 705 meters of elevation gain across the Pálava.

Highlights Along the Way

• The Customs Office at Kilometer 0 — Near Krzanowice stood one of the medieval “komory celne,” the customs houses on the border with Moravia. This route begins at a spot where goods were already being cleared through customs long before anyone here spoke of a Way of St. James.
• Opava (km 17.5) — The first town: Horní náměstí and the Co-Cathedral right along the route, with the Minorite Monastery of St. Wenceslas just a few steps away. This is where the Polish feeder route, Droga Raciborska, joins the route.
• Hradec nad Moravicí (km 27.8) — the first of the three St. James churches along the route, next to which stands a castle right on the trail where Beethoven and Liszt were guests — the organizer mentions both of them in the same sentence as the church.
• Church of St. James the Greater, Guntramovice (km 73.7) — St. James Church No. 2, right along the trail, just before the trail's highest point.
• The highest point (km 76.9) — 678.8 meters on the Nízký Jeseník plateau, between Guntramovice and Stará Libavá.
• Svatý Kopeček Pilgrimage Basilica (km 106.2) — the “Holy Mountain” above Olomouc, a good half kilometer away; the organizer calls it the highlight of the stage, with a view across to St. Wenceslas Cathedral.
• Olomouc (km 114.5) — The Holy Trinity Column just a few minutes’ walk from the route, St. Wenceslas Cathedral and the Central Station right along the way: a city you walk right through instead of turning off to visit.
• Sloup Pilgrimage Church (km 174.2) — right along the trail, the gateway to the Moravian Karst.
• Macocha Abyss (km 180.2) — just a stone's throw from the trail, with the entrance to the Punkva Caves right next to it: no detour needed—the trail runs right along the edge. The name means “stepmother” in Czech—yet it remains “Macocha” in every language.
• Santini Church in Křtiny (km 194.9) — the Baroque pilgrimage church designed by architect J. B. Santini, right along the path; next door is the Norbertinum pilgrim hostel.
• Brno (km 213.8) — St. James' Church (sv. Jakub) is located right along the route, as is St. Peter and Paul Cathedral; the third St. James' Church along the route stands in the heart of the Czech Republic's second-largest city.
• Rajhrad Benedictine Abbey (km 228.5) — just under a kilometer away, right in the flattest part of the trail. (The place on the route is called Rajhradice—the monastery is located in the neighboring town of Rajhrad.)
• Dolní Věstonice (km 260.0) — The museum dedicated to the famous Venus of Dolní Věstonice is located right along the trail, immediately after the lowest point of the route at the Nové Mlýny Reservoir (165.2 m).
• The Pálava Ridge (km 260–273) — the ruins of Sirotčí hrad and the summit of Děvín right along the trail, the pilgrimage chapel on Svatý kopeček overlooking Mikulov, and Mikulov Castle just a few minutes off the trail: the steepest half-day section of the trail—and the one with the most rewards.

How Pilgrims Get to This Route

The natural feeder is the Polish one, and there are two of them: The Droga Śląsko-Morawska (96 kilometers, from Toszek via the Cistercian Abbey of Rudy Raciborskie and Racibórz) ends exactly at your kilometer 0 near Krzanowice, the Droga Raciborska (115 kilometers, opened on July 20, 2019) arrives in Opava at km 17.5—where, according to the Polish organizing association itself, it connects with the Moravian-Silesian Way of St. James. Both branch off from the Via Regia Polska, the 935-kilometer backbone of the Polish network—one in Toszek, the other in Zimna Wódka, both about 50 kilometers north of your starting point. You won’t find the two feeder routes on our map yet—but you will find the Via Regia Polska.

The network behind it is impressive: Nearly 6,000 kilometers marked with the shell now run through Poland, from the Camino Polaco in the north all the way to the Upper Silesian trails here in the south. Even if you're not arriving on a pilgrimage, it's still easy: Racibórz, 13 kilometers north (note: on the feeder route, not on the trail), has a train station and buses to Krzanowice; on the Czech side, Opava is the nearest rail hub—if you start there, you'll save 17.5 kilometers, but you'll miss the border crossing with its historic customs house. You can order your Credencial in advance from the organizer (110 Kč).

Continue the pilgrimage?

This trail does not end in Mikulov—it transitions seamlessly into the Weinviertler Jakobsweg, 162.7 kilometers further on to Krems on the Danube, and both routes use the same border crossing into Drasenhofen. The last 3.6 kilometers of this route and the first few kilometers of the Austrian one are practically the same path—one of the cleanest transitions we have on the map.

And the chain doesn't break off after that: Along the Danube near Krems, the Jakobsweg Österreich passes by — 853 kilometers from Wolfsthal via Innsbruck to Rankweil in Vorarlberg, where the Via Jacobi takes over and crosses Switzerland, all the way to Spain, where the Camino Francés covers the last major leg of the journey. The organizer has long since done the math and written it at the border: from here on, the pilgrim still has 3,193 kilometers to go. By then you'll have 277 in your legs. The route doesn't pretend that's a lot—but it's a start without a single gap.

Preparation & Practical Information

The most important part of preparing is understanding the trail markers. This trail has no continuous trail marker of its own: Since the 2018 agreement, a blue-and-yellow scallop shell has appeared on the signposts of the Klub českých turistů, and the route follows its red, blue, yellow, or green marked hiking trails—and in some sections, numbered bike paths as well. If you can't follow this logic, you'll get lost—so take the Camino Ninja App with you — it has the entire route of this trail stored on board and lets you check the route at any time; the organizer's map layers showing stages and stamp locations are especially useful for this.

The second requirement is bed planning, and on this point the organizer is unequivocal: "Domluvte si ubytování předem. Některá ubytování fungují jen sezónně nebo na objednání." — Arrange your accommodations in advance; some are only open seasonally or by reservation. There are no traditional pilgrim hostels; you'll stay at guesthouses, campgrounds, hostels, and the monastery guesthouse Norbertinum in Křtiny — and between Stražisko (km 146) and Sloup (km 174) there's nothing at all on the official list—of all places, right in the toughest section. A helpful option is the private bed network postelpropoutnika.cz (“A Bed for the Pilgrim”), which has its own page for this route. And at least: since November 2025 the South Moravian tourism board has maintained its own lists of accommodations for the Olomouc–Křtiny–Brno and Brno–Mikulov sections—the trail is no longer in the experimental phase.

According to the organizer, the best time is April/May and September/October. The village stores have limited hours—you'll need to stock up in the cities (Opava, Olomouc, Brno, Mikulov). The Credencial is available from the organizer for 110 Kč; anyone who can prove they've walked at least 100 kilometers (or cycled 200) with dated stamps will receive the Poutnický certifikát. And since, on this route, the bed determines the length of each stage—not your fitness level—the easiest way to plan is right in the Camino Ninja app—put together your stages and plan your accommodations at the same time.

What the journey will cost you

Prices are in Czech crowns, and the bill is reasonable (as of August 2026): According to the organizer's price list, a bed costs between 220 and 800 Kč per night — Budišov nad Budišovkou 220–250 Kč, Brno 370–450 Kč, Mikulov 350–495 Kč, Opava 300–800 Kč —, which is equivalent to about 9 to 32 €. The organizer itself estimates 18 to 30 € (approx. 440–730 CZK) per day for everything combined, which comes to about 450 to 750 Kč. For twelve days, that works out to roughly 5,500 to 9,000 Kč (about 220 to 360 €) on site, plus a one-time fee of 110 Kč for the Credencial and travel there and back. In some cases, it’s cheaper to go through postelpropoutnika.cz, whose pricing policy is worth framing: "Cena je na Tobě – od dobrovolného příspěvku až po pevnou cenu" — you set the price, ranging from a voluntary donation to a fixed price.

Getting Here

Getting to the start: Krzanowice is located in the southernmost corner of Upper Silesia. You can travel by train to Racibórz (13 kilometers north, accessible via Katowice or Kraków) and take the bus to Krzanowice — or travel on the Czech side to Opava, the next rail hub, and start at km 17.5; that way, you'll save a day but miss the border with the historic customs house. The best airports to start from are Katowice and Kraków.

Leaving from the finish: Mikulov has a train station (1.3 kilometers from the route, at km 270.6) with connections to Brno and Břeclav; Vienna is only 66 kilometers past the border crossing, Brno-Tuřany and Wien-Schwechat are the airports for the return trip. Along the way, you’ll enjoy two convenient train stops: In Olomouc, the main train station is right next to the route, and the same goes for Brno—so the journey can be neatly split in half. Those arriving on foot come via the Polish feeder routes that branch off the Via Regia Polska — and those who continue on will, starting from Mikulov, follow the Weinviertler Jakobsweg toward the Danube.

• Getting to the start: Take the train to Racibórz (via Katowice or Kraków), then the bus to Krzanowice; alternatively, take the train to Opava and start at km 17.5. Airports: Katowice, Kraków.
• Return trip: Train from Mikulov toward Brno or Břeclav; Brno-Tuřany and Vienna-Schwechat airports (Vienna is 66 km past the Drasenhofen border crossing).
• Intermediate entry: Olomouc and Brno (whose main train stations are both located directly along the route) divide the route into distinct sections; other stops along the line include Opava and Mikulov.