Czech tours of a general interest

Cesky Krumlov (UNESCO town) and Hluboka castle - the treasures of the South Bohemia

Cesky Krumlov is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place in our country. The city Cesky Krumlov is on the UNESCO Heritage List. It takes 3 hours to get there, but it is definitely worth seeing. It is a town from a fairytale. There are about 300 beautiful old houses mostly in Renaissance and Baroque style and a huge castle complex. The city boasts the second largest castle in the Czech Republic. The town is situated just a few kilometers from the border with Austria, so as we will drive through a big part of Bohemia we can stop on the way at a few other interesting places (for example Hluboka Castle, which was rebuilt in the spirit of the romantic English Gothic style, or Ceske Budejovice – a town with the largest square in our country, lined with old historical houses, the home of the Budweiser beer, etc.). On this tour, you can see more of the country and admire the beautiful south Bohemian countryside with its picturesque villages and many ponds.

The tour takes about 10 hours (3 hours drive there + 4 hours there + 3 hours drive back).
Notes: The castle is closed on Mondays, but even on Mondays you can walk through the castle courtyards and visit the town.

Karlstejn Castle – the most famous Czech castle

We will visit one of the most frequently visited historic sites in the Czech Republic. The castle was built in the 14th century. At that time our Czech Kingdom was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation and our king Charles IV was a Czech king and a Holy Roman Emperor as well. The castle was built to hold the treasure of the Holy Roman Empire. On the way back we will visit few other interesting places in Central Bohemia.

The tour of Karlstejn takes about 4-6 hours (1 hour drive there + 2-3 hours there + 1 hour drive back).
It is possible to combine the tour of the Karlstejn Castle with a visit to the glass factory at Nizbor or Nenacovice or with a visit to another interesting medieval castle Krivoklat.
Notes: The castle is closed on Mondays.

Konopiste Castle – the summer getaway for the heir to the Habsburg throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este

Built in the 13th century and rebuilt numerous times by its changing owners, by the early 20th century Konopiste had become a favorite summer getaway for the successor to the Habsburg throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este. A particularly avid hunter, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914 – thus triggering the First World War. The Gothic castle has richly furnished apartments, collection of Late Gothic paintings, a gallery of the Archduke's artefacts related to the cult of St. George, a famous collection of the weapons. But many visitors are particularly amazed by the Crown Prince's collection of about 300, 000 hunting trophies.

The tour of Konopiste takes about 4-6 hours (1 hour drive there + 2-3 hours there + 1 hour drive back).
It is possible to combine the tour of Konopiste with a visit to glass factories.
Notes: The castle is closed on Mondays.

Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) – the most famous spa town and the home of the Moser glass

Carlsbad, or Karlovy Vary in Czech, is the most famous spa town in our country. The city is situated on the confluence of the Tepla and the Ohre Rivers. Most of the buildings in the historical center are in the style of Art Nouveau. We will walk along the Tepla River through the spa colonnades. It is also possible to experience some of the 12 thermal springs. We will then take a funicular to the Diana viewpoint to see Karlovy Vary from a bird's eye view.

We can stop at the Moser glass factory, which was established by Ludwig Moser in 1857 and go there for an excursion. We can see the perfection with which products are crafted by hand, their high quality and the unique talent of master glassmakers. The magic atmosphere of glass being blown and shaped and the beauty of molten glass are sure to leave a strong impression. You are permitted to take photographs during the tour, capturing a memento of your visit to the glassworks for ever.

The tour of Karlovy Vary takes about 9 hours (2 hours drive there + 5hours there + 2 hours drive back).
If you would like it is possible to include the visit of the spa in the tour. I recommend the spa treatment in the Castle Spa, which takes 2 hours – Program wellness (1 main procedure, 1 minor procedure, and entrance to the thermo mineral pool, use of circulatory massage box, entry to the Japanese acupressure pool, bathrobe and towel). But then the tour would take about 11 hours.

Spa Triangle Tour

First we will go to Carlsbad, or Karlovy Vary, which is the most famous spa town of the Czech Republic. The city is situated at the confluence of the Tepla River and the Ohre River. Most of the buildings in the historical centre are in the style of Art Nouveau. We will walk along the Tepla River through the spa colonnades and experience some of the 12 thermal springs. Then we will take a funicular to the Diana viewpoint to see Karlovy Vary from a bird's eye view. We can stop at the Moser glass factory, which was established by Ludwig Moser in 1857. After the visit to Karlovy Vary we will stop for few minutes at two other lovely spa resorts – Marianske Lazne (Marienbad) and Frantiskovy Lazne (Franzensbad). We will cover quite a large part of West Bohemia during this tour.

The tour of the spa triangle takes about 12 hours.

Kutna Hora (UNESCO town) – a silver mining town

Kutna Hora is an old mining town founded in the 13th century. There were rich silver deposits there. Kutna Hora is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. There is a beautiful Gothic St. Barbara's Cathedral, the 15th- century Stone House, a Baroque Jesuit College, and other beautiful monuments. At the suburb of Kutna Hora in Sedlec is another magnificent cathedral and a unique ossuary, where bones form crosses, a coat of arms and even a chandelier.

The tour of Kutna Hora takes about 5-7 hours (1 hour drive there + 3-4 hours in Kutna Hora + 1 hour drive back to Prague).

Trebic and Telc – towns with UNESCO monuments

First we will drive to Trebic. The Jewish Quarter of Trebic, placed on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List is a unique document of Jewish culture in Moravia and the only Jewish monument outside Israel specifically placed on the UNESCO List. Today, there are no longer Jews living in Trebic. The community was absolutely destroyed during Nazi occupation. There survived many houses from the former ghetto for example the Jewish town hall, the rabbi's house, the poorhouse, the hospital and also two buildings of former synagogues; one of them is ornately decorated with the Hebrew writings from Psalms, Talmud, etc. There is an old Jewish cemetery on the hill at the suburb of Trebic. On the UNESCO List is not only the former ghetto, but the Christian St. Procopius' Basilica as well.
We will then continue to Telc.

Telc is another great town in our country. It is a UNESCO site as well. The town was built similar to Venice; there is water all around the town. The history of Telc is connected with one very wealthy and important Czech aristocratic family, namely the Lords of Hradec, specifically Zacharias of Hradec, the governor of Moravia, who rebuilt the castle in the Renaissance style.

The tour of Trebic and Telc takes about 9 hours (2 hours drive there + 5hours there+ 2 hours drive back).

Crystal Factories

Nenacovice is a small village, where was in the year 1996 founded a small family glasswork. The concept of the factory is the small-scale production of art glass with the intention of direct sale of unique pieces in an own showroom. At present, the factory produces about 200 different articles, e.g.: various colored hand made decorative glass items, various animal figures blown or hand made, colored glass fruits and vegetables, toffees and sweets, vases, fruit trays, dishes and bowls, baskets, candlesticks, bells, colored goblets and cups, paperweights, pyramids and hexahedrons, various flowers 40 cm, 50 cm long and even longer ones and many others. The factory produces on a continuous process 7 days a week. If you are lucky and the master has some time to spare, you may be able to try this art yourselves. The glasswork in Nizbor is 8 km from the regional town of Beroun. The company offers tours of the glasswork with a professional explanation of the operations. During the excursion the visitors will get to know the individual stages of producing glass crystal by hand, i.e. the furnaces, processing, designing and polishing. At the end of the tour you can visit the firm's shop.

The tour takes about 4-5 hours (0.5 hour drive there + 3hours there+ 1 hour drive back).

Plzen (Pilsen) – the home of the world-renowned beer

Visit the brewery where the legend of Pilsner Urquell was born. Pilsner Urquell showed the way for all beers called Pils or Pilsner and has retained its uniqueness up to the present day. But a tour to the brewery is not the only activity we can enjoy in this city. There are not many places in the Czech Republic which offer a tour of the underground passages under the city center, or a Gothic cathedral (consecrated to St. Bartholomew) with a 102m spire. The Renaissance Town Hall is worth seeing, as are the city's fortifications, now mostly turned into a green belt around the center of the town. The recently opened Patton Memorial Pilsen is the only museum in the Czech Republic devoted to the American Military. It covers the historical events of the year 1945 in West Bohemia and provides an insight into the liberation of the region by American forces at the end of WW2.

The tour takes about 5-7hours (1 hour drive there + 3hours there+ 1 hour drive back).

Other trips

I have tried to create my website so, that you would enjoy the pictures of the tours and sights. I do not want to overload you with information. So trips to other sites like Olomouc (UNESCO), Kromeriz (UNESCO), Lidice, the Villa Tugendhat (UNESCO), Lednice castle (UNESCO), Litomysl castle (UNESCO),Holasovice (UNESCO), Jindrichuv Hradec, Trebon, Tabor, Cesky Sternberg castle, Krivoklat castle, Konepruske Jeskyne Cave Complex, Budvar (Budweiser) brewery, etc. are available. Just let me know about any place in the Czech Republic, which you would like to visit and I will put together an itinerary according to your requirements. Also I love to do the tours, when people are searching for their family roots!