Melnik

Melnik stands on a bluff at the confluence of the Vltava and the Elbe, and it has grown wine since the ninth century - Charles IV, who had been raised in France, brought Burgundian vines here in the fourteenth century and gave the town privileges, which is why Melnik still produces Pinot Noir and Riesling and calls itself the Czech wine capital of Bohemia. The Lobkowicz chateau sits on the edge of the bluff with a terrace over the rivers, holding a picture collection and running a wine cellar in its vaults where the estate's own bottles are tasted. Beneath the church of St Peter and Paul is an ossuary holding the remains of some ten to fifteen thousand people, arranged into patterns and walls in the nineteenth century. The vineyards run down the slope and the confluence is watched from the terrace, the two rivers visibly different colours.

What you actually see

• A confluence from above - the Vltava and the Elbe meeting below the bluff.
• Burgundian vines - brought by Charles IV and still worked on the slopes.
• A chateau wine cellar - tastings in the vaults under the Lobkowicz house.
• An ossuary under the church - ten to fifteen thousand people arranged in patterns.

When to go

May to October; September for the vintage festival. A day.

Honest expectations

The ossuary is human remains and opens on limited hours. The chateau and cellars are separate tickets. The September wine festival fills the town completely. Czech wine is light and expensive by international standards.

Nearby

Nelahozeves and Veltrusy are upstream on the Vltava; Kokorinsko is north.