https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/ travels through my lens https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/val-di-funes-dolomites-the-postcard-view Val di Funes is one of those places you’ve probably seen before, even if you don’t know its name. The church of Santa Magdalena, beneath the Odle peaks in the Dolomites, appears in countless travel photos, guidebooks, and screensavers. But this isn’t a usual post about a hike or a route; it’s more of a reflection. When we arrived, about twenty people stood in a line with tripods, all waiting for the same light, the same composition, the same shot. Rene Hlavova 2025-11-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/val-di-funes-dolomites-the-postcard-view https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/autumn-dolomites-chasing-larches-around-lago-federa This post will show a lot of photos of trees, sorry about that in advance 😅 But yes, I actually travelled to Italy to see trees. Specifically, golden larches. We chose Lago Federa because it’s one of the best places to see them in autumn. The plan was a 15-km circular trail with about 900 metres of elevation gain, supposedly doable in 5. 5 hours. (Spoiler: it took us seven. ) Rene Hlavova 2025-11-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/autumn-dolomites-chasing-larches-around-lago-federa https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/gran-canaria-where-mountains-meet-coast-and-dunes Gran Canaria surprised me with its variety. Steep mountains, quiet pine forests, and golden dunes by the sea. After Tenerife, which had set the bar pretty high (see post), we weren’t sure if this trip could match it. But over a week on the island, moving between viewpoints, coastal towns, and hiking trails that felt completely different every day, Gran Canaria easily held its own. Rene Hlavova 2025-10-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/gran-canaria-where-mountains-meet-coast-and-dunes https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/1-day-trip-to-bohemian-saxon-switzerland-in-autumn Autumn is my favourite season to visit Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland. The national park glows with golden colours and, with a bit of luck, the weather makes it magical. This was already our second visit, at the exact same late-October weekend as last year, and the once again, the weather did not disappoint. You can see photos from our first trip here. This time, we repeated our favourite full-day hike in Saxon Switzerland and added a few new, shorter stops on the Czech side of the park, which fit nicely into the itinerary. Rene Hlavova 2025-10-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/1-day-trip-to-bohemian-saxon-switzerland-in-autumn https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/day-trips-from-pilsen-autumn-edition-part-2 I love autumn photography. This time of year, I search for places with the most spectacular colors. Last year, I visited some well-known locations - check out this post to read more about them. This year, I set out to find hidden gems and less touristy spots. Rene Hlavova 2024-12-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/day-trips-from-pilsen-autumn-edition-part-2 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/brno-many-years-many-favourite-places I've been living in Brno for the past 10 years. Sounds like a lot, and it is! I've experienced so much here: my university studies, my first jobs, and building true friendships ♡ I must have hiked every trail around Brno, especially during the COVID lockdowns. Since my time here marks a good anniversary, I decided to share my favourite spots in Brno for hiking, walking, good coffee or simply wandering around the city ☺︎P. S. I've included some older photos - some are a few years old and may not be the best quality, but bear with me! Rene Hlavova 2024-11-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/brno-many-years-many-favourite-places https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/day-trip-from-pilsen-top-places-to-visit-in-autumn October in Czech republic is definitely my favourite. As the autumn reaches its peak, the landscape is transformed into a palette of warm orange and red colours. Here are some spots that are worth a visit, especially in autumn! Rene Hlavova 2024-09-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/day-trip-from-pilsen-top-places-to-visit-in-autumn https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/happy-island-active-holidays-on-the-island-of-rab Every year, we look forward to spending our holidays in Croatia, exploring different islands. Last year, we visited Ugljan; this year we randomly picked Rab. We like the slow island life, so we chose a location in northern Croatia to shorten our travel time. Rene Hlavova 2024-07-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/happy-island-active-holidays-on-the-island-of-rab https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/austrian-alps-trail-to-schafberg Me and my friend travelled to Austria this spring. With the weather being unpredictable at this time of the year, we were looking for a hiking trail that would be safe but challenging at the same time. Schafberg seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The altitude is not too high (1,783 m), but you essentially have to hike all the way up from Wolfgangsee. Schafberg is a mountain peak surrounded by three Austrian lakes - Mondsee, Attersee, and Wolfgangsee. Rene Hlavova 2024-06-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/austrian-alps-trail-to-schafberg https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/easter-holidays-in-switzerland-walensee-and-zurich Only five-hour ride, that didn't take long to decide for a roadtrip to Switzerland during Easter. We picked the nearest place with a lake in the Alps which happens to be Walensee. Although random, it turned out to be an amazing choice! The lake is amazing and there are many hiking routes and destinations around the lake. Rene Hlavova 2024-04-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/easter-holidays-in-switzerland-walensee-and-zurich https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/saxon-switzerland-autumn-hiking-trails Two years ago, we hiked through Saxon Switzerland with my best friend during autumn while sleeping in the car. We were lucky that we had sunny weather throughout the whole trip, so the sceneries were truly beautiful in this part of the year. We arrived late afternoon to Pfaffendorf to do a quick hike to catch a sunset from Pfaffenstein (trail here). Rene Hlavova 2023-10-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/saxon-switzerland-autumn-hiking-trails https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/roadtrip-to-poland-what-to-see-around-krakow This trip to Poland was one of those random roadtrips we made because it was the only place nearby where it did not rain. And since we didn't want to waste our holidays, we headed east with no plan in mind. Recently, I bought a new ND filter which is the reason this post will contain mostly portraits and weird experiments. I mostly shoot landscapes but change is always a good practice ☺︎Also the photos were taken a year ago. It is crazy to see how much I progressed or changed my color grading and taste in general. Rene Hlavova 2023-08-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/roadtrip-to-poland-what-to-see-around-krakow https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/high-tatras-koprovsky-stit-hiking-trail July was the perfect month to go hiking in Slovak High Tatras. Our aim was to hike up the Koprovsky Stit (2,363 m). The hike starts at a large parking lot at Strbske pleso and takes you around several other lakes. It has a total elevation of approximately 1,100 m. The hike takes around 9-10 hours depending on your fitness level. Rene Hlavova 2023-08-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/high-tatras-koprovsky-stit-hiking-trail https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/exploring-ugljan-holidays-on-the-dalmatian-islands Ugljan is a Dalmatian Island connected by a ferry to Zadar. We stayed in Lukoran which is a 1-hour walk from Preko (or 5 minutes by car ☺︎ ). All the places mentioned in this article are also available in the following google map. Rene Hlavova 2023-08-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/exploring-ugljan-holidays-on-the-dalmatian-islands https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/tenerife-nomad-part-ii-east-coast-and-anaga-park After two weeks exploring northern part of Tenerife (which you can read more about here), we moved to another location in Anaga Park. We wanted to do some more hiking and enjoy calm holidays in San Andres. Rene Hlavova 2023-08-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/tenerife-nomad-part-ii-east-coast-and-anaga-park https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/tenerife-nomad-part-i-north-coast-and-teide-park February tends to be very cold in Czech republic so we decided to head to tropical Canary islands - Tenerife. We will be spending the first two weeks exploring the northern part with our base in Los Realejos. It is close to Puerto de Cruz with good bus connections, it is surrounded by huge mountains and green landscape. Rene Hlavova 2023-08-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/tenerife-nomad-part-i-north-coast-and-teide-park https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/two-week-roadtrip-in-greece-top-3-places-to-visit Last year in September, we spent two weeks roadtripping around Greece, sleeping in campsites in a tiny Kia Ceed. I put up together a map with the route and all the places we visited. I must say two weeks are definitely not enough to visit all the beautiful places in Greece, but anyways was very well worth it. In this article, I choose my top three places from the whole trip that I recommend everyone to visit. Rene Hlavova 2023-07-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/two-week-roadtrip-in-greece-top-3-places-to-visit https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/roadtrip-to-north-tyrol-stunning-lake-hiking-trails In May 2023, me and my best friend went to see Tyrol for the first time. And it was definitely not the last. The landscapes were just stunning. Hey, you'll see. Rene Hlavova 2023-06-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/roadtrip-to-north-tyrol-stunning-lake-hiking-trails https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/one-week-itinerary-for-dublin-autumn October 2022, I visited a friend in Dublin. I spent most of the days hiking and drinking coffee, and I am glad that I managed to squeeze most of the natural wonders in one single week. I did not have a car, so I travelled mostly using public transport, though me and my friend also did one tour to the west coast. Rene Hlavova 2023-06-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/one-week-itinerary-for-dublin-autumn https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/winter-hiking-in-jizera-mountains-and-jested Last winter, me and my friend stayed in Liberec to explore the Jizera mountains along with Jested. Jizera mountains are located on the border between Czechia and Poland. Rene Hlavova 2022-12-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/winter-hiking-in-jizera-mountains-and-jested https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/weekend-trip-to-budapest This weekend was all about coffee and food. ​​​​​​​ Rene Hlavova 2022-11-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/weekend-trip-to-budapest https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/digital-nomading-in-madeira One year ago, I spent a month working remotely from Madeira. As much as I love autumn, November is a dark, grey, and cold month in Czechia so I decided to leave. ​​​​​​​ Rene Hlavova 2022-11-01T00:00:00 https://expeditions.renehlavova.com/digital-nomading-in-madeira