As soon as we could, we returned to Šumava without hordes of tourists. Our base was an AirBnB at paní Lenka place in Nové Hutě. The problem in Nové Hutě is the lack of willing workers and therefore no open restaurants. Well, not exactly. If the sign in front of restaurant says “Food and drinks only for registered guest of this pension”, you have to apply the Czech saying “Líná huba, holý neštěstí” (Lazy mouth, bad luck). Just go in and ask whether they would, by chance, have any extra meals. And they might. And then ask about the next day and also about the breakfast. And yes, the people in restaurant Klostermann served us great food and the beer “Březí koza” (Pregnant goat) was excellent.
This is slightly longer ride with a good elevation gain, so be sure that you are not stretching your battery to the limit – well, do not be lazy and use your legs! You will be riding on well maintained bike roads, so probably even regular bikes would be OK. The only danger are the crazy bikers going downhill in the opposite direction. So, pay attention, ride on the right side of the path and hope that they know on which side they should be riding. Some rides are quite steep and you may understand why there are warning signs (see pictures).
Good place to stop for lunch is Modrava with several places to find good food. Our favorite is “U tří sluk” at point 4. It is a friendly place where they let us even charge our batteries. But for this you have to carry your charger with you… However, if you run into a battery trouble, Modrava is a good place to ask for help. There is a big E-bike rental place “Půjčovna Šumava”, where they may lend you a hand, or maybe a charger. By the way, if you are not sure whether E-bike is something for you, this place is an ideal spot to figure that out. Just come to their place and rent a bike for a day. We guarantee you that you will be hooked for life… For this reason, you may start this loop trip in Modrava. Just follow our map from there in a clockwise way, it is more pleasant than going counterclockwise. “Půjčovna Šumava” has stores also in Kvilda and Borová Lada (also on this loop). Modrava is one of our favorite destinations, we have described several loop trips going through this village – starting from Prášily, or from Kvilda.
From Modrava up to point 5 you will be riding on a pretty busy regular road for about 2.3 km, but after that you will be again on a pleasant forest road. After point 6 you will be passing through Zadov, the famous winter sports area, where many cross country skiing, biathlon and ski jumping competition takes place. You can also look at the single track along the lift, but we do not recommend trying it! After Zadov it is a smooth mostly downhill sailing back to Nové Hutě.
https://en.mapy.cz/s/facesonenu, 48 km, 830 m elevation gain. To see this ride in context, check our interactive maps.
