Visit Czech Republic- country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east.
Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague. The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia and Moravia and a small part of Silesia.
The Czech Republic is famous for two things: the stunning beauty of its capital, Prague, and the outstanding quality of its beer.
Few visitors, however, realize that the magnificence of the capital’s buildings is also echoed in countless other towns and cities all across the country.
In what period should you visit the Czech Republic?
Located in the heart of Europe, the Czech Republic sees typical continental weather with long hot summers and very cold winters.
The best time to visit is any time between June and September, unless you are planning on heading to the ski slopes, in which case December to March is better.
Spring can be a good time to visit, as the days tend to warm quickly, with consistently pleasant, mild weather for most of May.
This is also the blossom season, when the fruit trees that line so many Czech roads are in full flower.
Autumn is also recommended, with clear and settled weather often lasting for days on end in September and October.
With much of the country heavily forested, this is also a great time to appreciate the changing colours of the foliage.
Winter can be a good time to come to Prague: the city looks beautiful under snow and there are fewer tourists to compete with.
Other parts of the country have little to offer during winter (aside from skiing), and most sights stay firmly closed between November and March.
Summer is, of course, still the season during which the largest number of tourists descend. Certainly, tempera- tures are at their highest, with the occasional heat wave pushing readings well above 30°C.
While that can be advantageous if you fancy swimming in a lake or river, it’s not fun in Prague, which is also at its most crowded in July and August.
Do not miss…
Veletržní palác, Prague– The finest modern art museum in the Czech Republic, and a functionalist masterpiece in its own right.
Plzen Brewery– ince the Middle Ages, Plzeň has been famous for its Pilsner beer; its Měšťanský pivovar (“Citizen’s Brewery”) was built in 1842.
Other manufactures include chemicals, pottery, hardware, and paper. The city is the transportation hub and the economic and cultural centre of western Bohemia.
Pilsner Urquell is the most well-known Czech beer out there; the pilsner-style of beer was revealed in 1842, in the town of Plzen, and its strong marketing has brought the brand around the world, paving the way for pilsner-style beers to come.
Třeboňsko – The location of Třeboň, a city in the middle of a protected landscape area in South Bohemia, makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Czech Republic today.
Not only does the city possess a historical centre and spas, but it is surrounded by forests and lakes of the “Třeboňská Pánev” (Třeboň Lowlands – 400 to 500 metres above sea level).
Žďár nad Sazavou, Zelená Hora– Green Mountain (Zelená hora) consists of a church and cloister area with five chapels and five gates on the hill.
The word unique does not do it justice. Designed by Bohemian architect of Italian origin Jan Santini-Aichel, it demonstrates his Baroque Gothic style, which utilizes Gothic elements in a Baroque way.
Zelená hora, which dominates the countryside, is filled with geometric symbolism.
Telč– The town of Telč is located near the southwestern border between Moravia and Bohemia, in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic.
It is situated in a region which was thickly forested until the 13th century.
The property consists of the historic town centre, with the castle situated in the middle, and of two bodies of water, originally having a defensive function.
Prague’s Jewish quarter – The Jewish Quarter, also known as Josefov, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Prague, located between the Old Town Square and the Vltava River.
A Jewish ghetto was established here in the 12th century. At the turn of the 19th century, a large part of the ghetto was demolished.
Fortunately, most of the significant buildings were saved from destruction and today, they represent the best preserved complex of historical Jewish monuments in Europe.
Karlovy Vary– Karlovy Vary is a magical city! Its source is an ancient geological fault, along which lines miraculous thermal springs emerge, and maybe also mysterious earth magnetism with it.
Both natural powers have a positive impact on human health. Karlovy Vary became the largest spa town in the Czech Republic due to the number of patients and procedures provided.
Over 6 million patients from around the world have been treated during its existence. The main phenomenon of the city is spa tourism.
Terezín– The concentration camp at Terezín, in the Czech Republic. An enclave of terror in which thousands of people suffered and perished under Nazi rule.
Slavonice– Slavonice is located on the Moravian side of the South Bohemian Region and is the westernmost town in the historical territory of Moravia.
The first written mention of Slavonice dates from 1260. It was originally a settlement and then a market village, which belonged to the Lords of Hradec.
In the 14th century the settlement was expanded by two marketplaces: westward (today’s Náměstí míru) and eastward (Horní náměstí).
Budvar beer– Budweiser Budvar is a Czech beer brewed in the southern Bohemian town of České Budějovice, a town better known outside the Czech Republic under its old German name of Budweis.
Sumanova National park- is one of four national parks in Czechia. It is located in two southern regions bordering Germany and Austria: the Plzeň Region and the South Bohemian Region.
On the German side of the border, there is also a national park, namely the Bavarian Forest National Park.
Strážnice folk festival– The folk festival is the largest and oldest one in Europe. The first festival was held in Strážnice in 1946 and since then people from all around the world come to see and enjoy the beauty of folk songs,
dances and costumes in the parade and a variety of other programs. You can even try dances from exotic corners of the world and sing and dance folk music together.
Nové Mĕsto nad Metují
Obecní dům – The Municipal House (Obecní dum) is the most prominent Art Nouveau building of Prague and is one of the most important cultural monuments in the Czech Republic.
The concert halls of the Municipal House are some of Prague’s most impressive and significant concert halls, primarily due to their superior acoustics.
Roast pork, dumplings– Czech roast pork with sauerkraut and fluffy dumplings (called knedliky) is one of the national iconic meals, you will find in Czech cuisine.
For those who loves comforting hearty meals with a splash of Pilsner (Czech beer), this is the dish to satisfy your bellies.
This dish is prepared for special occasions such as Easter or New Year celebrations.
Litomyšl– Litomyšl is more than 1000 years old very interesting town in Czech Republic, located in Pardubice Region.
Its Renaissance castle is one of the twelve Czech places included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites.
Apart from the architectural monuments, the town is also famous as the birthplace of the composer Bedrich Smetana.
Where to stay
On the whole, the country has come a long way from the bad old days when foreign visitors were shepherded into high-rise monstrosities and charged three times as much as locals for services that were uniformly bad.
That said, old Communist hotel dinosaurs live on and “service with a snarl” is still occasionally encountered.
All hotels operate a star system, though it’s self-regulatory and therefore none too reliable.
Prices vary wildly and, unsurpris- ingly, tend to be much higher in areas that receive the most tourists. The vast majority of rooms now have en-suite bathrooms and TVs,
with continental breakfast either included in the price or offered as an optional extra, and you’ll find a restaurant and/or bar in almost every hotel.
Hostels in the Czech Republic vary enormously in size, quality and location.
A smattering are affiliated to Hostelling Inter- national ( www .czechhostels.com), but there are plenty of good ones that aren’t.
An alternative in the big university towns is student accommodation – known as kolej – which is let out cheap to travellers from June to August.
Though often heavily booked up in advance by groups, they’ll usually try their best to squeeze you in.
Food and Drink
The division between cafés, bars, pubs and restaurants is pretty blurred. Restaurants (restaurace in Czech) are primarily there to serve you food, but some will also have a bar where you can simply have a drink.
Away from the touristy towns, the menu (jidelní lístek), which should be displayed outside, is often in Czech only, and deciphering it without a grounding in the language can be quite a feat.
Czech pubs (pivnice, hostinec or hospoda in Czech) are on the whole the cheapest places to eat, and almost exclu- sively serve standard Czech food.
Cheaper still is the local stand-up bufet, usually a self- service café serving basic, hot Czech meals.
Visit Czech where Czechs generally have little time for breakfast (snidaně) as such. Many get up so early in the morning (often around 6am) that they simply start the day with a quick cup of coffee or tea.
Most hotels will serve the “continental” basics of tea, coffee, rolls and cold cheese and meat.
Bear in mind, though, that if you get up much past 10am you may as well join the country’s working population for lunch.