I visited both locations of this WHS in Summer 2019. Having read previous reviews and some chunks of the nomination dossier, I decided to combine both these locations and the flower garden in Kromeriz as a full day trip of pleasure gardens and flower gardens if the weather was sunny or a full day trip of castle interiors if the weather was wet. I was lucky weather-wise and so I was very happy not to endure yet another bunch of castle interiors.

The location of both Valtice and Lednice close to Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia doesn't help this WHS. Quantitively it definitely helps, as most visitors are groups from both capital cities, but most will regard them as secondary sites when compared to Schonbrunn or Belvedere for example. I started with Valtice on purpose as I knew I would be passing through Lednice afterwards. Having visited them both now, I'd definitely recommend this approach as the Valtice cultural landscape outdoors has less to offer than Lednice in my opinion.

In Valtice, several late Baroque statues were moved from North Moravia in the early 20th century, in line with the general sense of neo-baroque garden reconstructions. Neptune's fountain neatly tucked away next to a minor car park is a clear example. Valtice also has its own 'viticultural educational route' so I gladly educated myself at the chateau cellar built in 1430, which contains some 8000 wooden barrels for the production of red wine. This was the 'highlight' of this location to me although the overall experience was quite similar to non-inscribed Esterhazy castle in Hungary. In the tunnel next to the ticket booth on your way to the cellar, there's a UNESCO WHS inscription plaque.

Next, we headed to Lednice where we decided to stop for lunch. Indeed we enjoyed our visit here on a fine sunny day. As was the case with Kromeriz, the gardens were kept in tip-top condition and most flowers were in full bloom. Most shops and restaurants near the castle charge 3-5 euros for parking if your not clients there and most accept Euro coins gladly. As soon as we reached the castle, we couldn't not notice that the restorations and painting made the Lednice castle seem like a modern castle. It really reminded me of the Schwerin Castle in Germany. The greenhouse and gardens were really lovely but having visited so many castles and gardens, in my opinion this WHS doesn't possess any real OUV and is more of a pleasant niche site of Czechia. If you were short in time, I'd recommend skipping Valtice as I preferred Lednice overall. In Lednice, there's another UNESCO WHS inscription plaque on the wall before heading towards the entrance hall to the castle.