Top Ten daytrips from Brno

The Caves of the Moravian Karst are one of the premier natural attractions of the Czech Republic. The first part of the tour is like any other cave visit, then after coming out into the sunlight at the bottom of the Macocha Gorge it's back into the caves and into flat bottomed boats for a 20minute ride along the underground Punkva river. Don't get to do that every day do you? (28km, train and bus via Blansko to Skalní mlyn)

Boskovice was one of the four big Moravian Jewish towns before WWII. Strolling the streets of the old Jewish quarter, a roam around the extensive overgrown cemetery and a visit to the synagogue are the musts here, but the ruined hilltop castle, the collosal church of St James on the main square and a visit to the wonderful little coffee shop Kafirna Dogvill round out the daytrip. (42km, bus or train via Skalice nad Svitavou)

Moravský Krumlov is home to the Slav Epic, painter Alfons Mucha's masterpiece series of 20 paintings that took sixteen of the last years of his life to complete. The canvasses are beautiful works of art that recount the history of the Slavic peoples more eloquently than any other medium I can imagine.

Technically the canvasses belong to the city of Prague, but the soul of the paintings clearly belongs somewhere between the Balkans, the Ukrainian steppe and rural south Moravia. There are plans afoot for the epic to be carted off to the capital and commercialised, but it's just not going to be the same when that happens. Nearby Ivančice was Mucha's home town and daytrippers with their own transport could easily stop off to admire the brilliant white church that features in the 4th painting of the Epic. (38km, direct buses and trains)

Veveří castle at the western end of the Brno dam makes a good destination for a summer afternoon of cycling. From central Brno, cycle trail #1 leads along the Svratka river valley to the dam, which is crisscrossed by a ferry service and surrounded on any warm day by hundreds or thousands of sunbathing Brno-ers enjoying their local riviera. The 13th century castle itself is open six days a week in summer. (25km round trip; it's probably best to go counter-clockwise around the dam to enjoy the long slow descent back along the southern bank)

Austerlitz is the site of one the great battles of European history. Napoleon Bonaparte's 1805 defeat of the combined armies of Austria and Russia became known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. It's remembered by an exhibit at the chateau in Slavkov U Brna (where the peace settlement was signed) and a peace monument and memorial on the hill from which Napoleon commanded his troops. There's also a yearly reenactment of the battle itself in early December and the hugest toy soldiers you're ever likely to see at a concrete plant just off to the left of the Brno-Olomouc main road. (28km, bus to Slavkov u Brna, also a good daytrip for cyclists)

Pernštejn Castle is one of the most extensive and best preserved Gothic castles in central Europe. Under the powerful Pernštejn family it repelled the Swedish army in the Thirty Years War. Its halls, chapels, towers and courtyards are now open to visitors six days a week May through September and on weekends in April and October. Travellers with their own transport could call into the monastery at Tišnov on the way back to Brno. (46km, train to Nedvědice then 20mins walk along the yellow-marked trail from there)

The Lednice-Valtice area is one of Moravia's seven UNESCO world heritage sites. The 200-plus square kilometres are dotted with neo-gothic chateaux, man-made lakes, vineyards and even a 60 metre high minaret designed by pencil maker Josef Hardtmuth. Valtice is a town of wine cellars and the surrounding forests are rich with animal and plant life. Cycling from Břeclav is an ideal way to visit the area and Břeclav tourist info have bikes for hire including tandems for 300Kč per day. (65km, train to or via Břeclav)

Dolní Kounice is the most impressive of the small historic towns within easy reach of Brno. Set in the deep valley of the river Jihlava, Dolní Kounice's premier attractions are the weedy courtyards and roofless Gothic church of the ruined monastery Rosa Coeli. But there's also a chateau, the Church of saints Peter and Paul, a synagogue and Jewish cemetery and a gentle trail leading up to a hilltop chapel that offers sweeping views across the countryside south west of Brno. (24km, bus via Modřice)

Dalešice brewery is the daytrip for any beer lover or fan of Bohumil Hrabal's novels. The location for filming Cutting It Short, the Dalešice brewery grounds are the setting for one of the iconic scenes of Czech film; Maryška and Pepin's billowing ascent of the malthouse chimney. The current brewery offers tours of the modern and historic works, holds regular weekend festivals and events and quenches generous thirsts in the onsite pub. (64km on the infrequent direct buses or 88km via Třebíč)

Mikulov is another of the four old Moravian Jewish towns. While the synagogue and cemetery are perhaps not quite as atmospheric as those at Boskovice, Mikulov's other attractions are many. There are nice walks to two nearby hilltops, one of which is capped by a pair of chapels; the other by the ruins of the 'Goat castle'. The walk to the chapel hill is partly through vineyards and the wine cellars and bars of Mikulov are as good a place as any to sample an underrated drop of Moravian Wine.

A former church on the square is now an elaborate tomb for the Dietrichstein family, the church of St Wenceslas has a small ossuary to the public and the Renaissance chateau contains one of the largest wine barrels in Europe. There's so much to see and do in Mikulov it might even be better to base yourself here and make a daytrip up to Brno. (59km, frequent direct buses)

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Castles of the Český ráj

The Český ráj is a natural reserve in East Bohemia and a favourite weekend getaway for city-bound Praguers. It’s often among the first destinations suggested to any foreign traveller who asks local advice about places outside Prague.

The name translates as “Bohemian paradise” and while pleasant, ‘paradise’ is probably being a bit generous. Travellers from the Antipodes or North America probably won’t find Czech national parks or natural reserves measuring up to the ones they know from home, but a redeeming feature of the Český ráj is that, within an area approximately 30km by 20km, there are literally dozens of castles, chateaux and castle ruins that are accessible to the public. Some of the more frequently visited ones are:

Trosky castle ruins are probably the most recognizable symbols of the Český ráj. Their twin towers can be seen for miles around and provide some of the best views in the region. Apart from climbing to the lookout platforms there’s little to do though, so don’t; plan too long. (Admission: 50Kč; closest public transport: Train station at Rovensko pod Troskami)

Valdštejn castle was for me the nicest surprise in the Bohemian Paradise. Tucked away in thick forest, it’s not visible until you’re almost on it, but consists of four different sections; the gate house and entrance, the renaissance palace, the chapel and the old castle built into the rocky outcrops of the ridge that runs for miles south from Turnov. The palace is accessible only in the presence of a guide, but visitors are free to wander the rest of the grounds at their own pace. (40Kč, walk from Turnov)

Hrubá Skála chateau is now used as a luxury hotel, but the reasonably priced restaurant is open to everybody and the large courtyard offers sweeping views over the lowlands to the east. There are good views back towards the chateau from the nearby Marianska lookout and a trail through a narrow gully leads down to the old spa buildings and train station at Sedmihorky. (Grounds Free, Bus or train to Sedmihorky then 1km walk)

Kost castle was the least rewarding of the seven or eight castles I visited. The castle itself is interesting and impressive but it’s not possible to roam around even the grounds by yourself, and the tours cost too much and take too long to show too little. (Half-tours 100Kč each or 170Kč for both, 100Kč surcharge to take photographs, 200Kč for video; Bus to Sobotka and 2km walk from there)

The Pantheon above Malá Skála is made up of two parts; the ruins of a stone castle perched atop a rocky cliff, and the neo-renaissance chapel that is visible from across the valley. Exploring the ruins is part castle tour-part rockclimbing and the chapel now houses a refreshment stand and a small gallery. (35Kč, 2km walk from Malá Skála)

Sychrov chateau is a huge complex of luxurious two and three storey palaces surrounded by wide lawns and formal gardens. My enthusiasm for Czech architecture is as high as anybody’s but having been to six or seven castles within a few days I baulked at the entrance prices for Sychrov and used the money to have an excellent lunch at the chateau restaurant. (Czech tours 100Kč each, foreign language 180Kč each, 100Kč surcharges for photography or video, Chicken schnitzel in mushroom sauce with french fries 135Kč)

Frýdštejn castle is a complex of clifftop ruins with a tall round lookout tower that offers views as good as any other castle in the Český ráj. The lower castle area features staircases, tunnels, rooms and small cellars cut into the rocks. (40Kč, 4km walk from Malá Skála or 2km from the Pantheon)

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Nové Město nad Metují

Nové Město nad Metují was founded in 1501 by the nobleman Jan Černčický, who chose for his settlement a high, rocky outcrop above the Metuje River. On all sides but one, the city walls are built on cliff tops that rise vertically from the valley of the river encircling the town.

Such a dramatic location in the 1500’s meant security, but for today’s visitors, it means views. Both from the town across the countryside and from the surrounding hills back towards the stone walls, towers and tiled rooftops of the historic old town.

Černčický’s statue has stood immobile in the highest corner of the square for many years, but if it were to come to life, he probably wouldn’t have much trouble finding his way around. The original wooden settlement was largely destroyed by fire in the 1520’s but by 1548, the new owners, the Pernštejn family, had completed a massive reconstruction that fundamentally provided the town with it’s current appearance.

The Pernštejns preserved the layout of the rectangular marketplace square and rebuilt the surrounding houses with covered arcades along the front. These covered walkways were an innovation borrowed from Italian renaissance architecture and modified to suit the local conditions and materials. There are other well-preserved examples in world heritage listed towns like Telč and Litomyšl.

The townhouses fronting the marketplace square usually had a shop or workshop on the ground floor and the tradesmen, craftsmen and merchants would present their wares under cover of the arches or in their shops, and live on the floors above. These ground floor workshops usually have gracefully arched ceilings of brick or stone, and are sometimes intricately patterned with ribs and braces or covered with decorative paintwork. Outside, a few of the houses are decorated with renaissance sgraffito (patterns carved through contrasting layers of plaster) but most are painted in plain but cheerful blues, pinks, greens and golds.

On the corner of the colourful square diagonally opposite Černčický’s statue, his original fortress has been turned into a romantic renaissance chateau. The exterior appearance, with its round tower and crumbling sgraffito patterns, dates from the 16th Century Pernštejn reconstruction, but the interior has been modernized several times, most recently in the early 20th century.

Learning that the interior of a 16th century chateau was renovated in the 20th century might ordinarily be enough to dissuade visitors, but this project is an exception to that rule, because it was entrusted to an outstanding architect, who brilliantly mastered the task he was set; to preserve and restore the historic elements of the chateau while bringing the interiors up to the highest living standards of the time.

Dušan Jurkovič was a Slovakian designer, ethnographer and architect whose best work is an imaginative blend of the Art Nouveau style with Slovakian and Moravian folk art. Apart from the chateau his best-known works in the Czech lands are the spa building at Luhačovice and the Pustevny mountain chalets in the Beskydy hills of eastern Moravia.

One of Jurkovič’s stated aims for the project, which lasted from 1905-1915, was to show that “Czech architects, artists and craftsmen were capable of accomplishing this formidable task without copying or resorting to ideas, workmanship and materials imported from other countries”. As a result the finished interior is something of a gallery of the foremost artists and craftspeople of the early 20th century. Decorative ceramicist Helena Johnova, painters Max Švabinský and Josef Linhart, Art-deco designer František Kysela and sculptor Bohumil Kafka are among those represented.

Thanks to their talent, some of the rooms here quite breathtaking to walk into. Photography is not permitted inside, but it couldn’t have done the spaces justice anyway. If you’re anywhere nearby, it’s well worth calling in to go and see them. This is not one of those chateaus that you can get a good idea about by walking around the outside.

The outside does have its attractions though. The vine-covered courtyard is pleasant, but the gardens at the rear are the highlight of the chateau grounds. The gardens themselves are a formal arrangement of hedges lawns and paths and the many benches offer wonderful views back towards the chateau.

The covered wooden bridge that spans the old moat between the chateau and its gardens is another of Jurkovič’s projects, this time in the style that he’s most famous for. The main body of the bridge is the traditional dark wooden architecture typical of mountainous regions, and the architectural details have all been picked out in bright white and some blue. It’s a fairly conservative Jurkovič exterior, but if you want to see a more colourful example you can always go to Hell.

Which is about 5km north of Nové Město.

Peklo is the Czech word for Hell, but whoever named this place must have done so with tongue firmly in cheek, because it’s a tranquil valley, shaded by thick forest and disturbed only by bird song and the babbling of the Olešenka stream where it flows into the Metuje River. On one bank of the Metuje is an old mill that’s now a pub with a reputation as being an exceptionally good place for traditional Czech food. And I have to say that I concur. I’ve only been there once and had one meal, but it was far and away the best Svičkova I’ve ever tasted.

And the building is no ordinary old mill. It formed part of the estate belonging to the Nové Město chateau, and the Bartoň family (who still own the chateau having regained it in the restitution of the early 1990’s) had architect Jurkovič take care of the reconstruction.

The dark wooden body of the building is highlighted and accented with white, green, ochre, pale blue and bright red. That mightn’t sound terribly harmonious, but the colours are carefully balanced and they bring the old wooden building to life like turning on the lights of a Christmas tree.

The core of the building is of whitewashed stone and the upper wooden floors and balconies are deep brown with bright white highlights. Beneath the steep shingled roof, the gables are painted in ochre with splashes of red and green and the same ochre is highlighted with bright sky blue under the eaves. To the left of the main entrance and its bright green double doors is a shady outdoor terrace with bench seating for about fifty people and a glimpse of the stream.

Inside, the high wooden panelling around the walls is capped by a deep shelf and interrupted only by a couple of small windows and the green tiles around the gigantic fireplace.

From the ceiling of exposed wood hang old fashioned lamps, iron candleholders and traditional marionettes, and the eight or ten tables below are covered by the red tablecloths of the brewery and surrounded by heavy wooden chairs with shapely backs. If there was an award for coziest pub in the country, Peklo would have to be in the running, and it’s well worth making the 5km detour from Nové Město to visit.

Nové Město is in North-east Bohemia, about halfway between Hradec Králové and the Adršpach-Teplice rocks and getting there by public transport is easy. Direct buses from Prague cover the 141km to Nové Město in 2hrs30 for 115Kč. From Olomouc, Ostrava, Brno or Vienna the quickest trips involve a train to Česká Třebova and a bus from there (the buses leave from right in front of the train station).

The chateau is open from 9am to 4pm on weekends in April, 6 days a week May through September, and the helpful tourist information office is open year round.

Want to spend the night in a castle?

You do, but you don’t know where? And wouldn’t it be expensive?

Nope. Neither of those things need stop you. Svojanov castle, south of Svitavy and Polička in the Bohemo-Moravian borderlands, accommodates individuals or small groups at very reasonable rates.

The first stones of Svojanov castle were laid around the year 1265 on the orders of the King Přemysl Otakar II. The purpose of the original castle was to guard the trade route from Litomyšl to Brno. After the king’s death his widow Kunhuta sold the castle to the noble Vitkovice family and it was traded many times before eventually being bought in 1910 by the current owner, the city of Polička.

The castle was damaged extensively during the Thirty Years War and again by fire in the 16th C. After the war the stone fortress was complemented by a new renaissance palace and this is where the guest rooms are. The old stone part of the castle still lies partly in ruins. It has no roof and the windows are gaping holes. Fortunately for guests, the renaissance wing has been preserved in relatively good condition.

In contrast to the older part of the castle, there’s hot and cold running water, glass in the windows, electricity and a modern heating system, which turns itself off if a window or door is opened in the room. But the best thing is the price. Accommodation is 180Kč per person, including tax. That’s right - One hundred and eighty crowns per person. That’s about 10 American dollars, 7 Euros or half the price of a dorm bed in a Prague hostel.

There are campgrounds here that will charge you more than that to set up your tent. So even though the rooms in the castle could do with a little fixing up, it’s difficult to complain about them. In fact I think they’re possibly the best value budget rooms I’ve come across in the Czech Republic. Even back when I first came here, the going rate for hostel dorm beds was 180Kč. But sleeping on a mattress on the floor in a room with 15 other people (who else stayed at Hostel Sokol in the mid-90’s?) was not nearly as cool as this.

I must stress though, that the rooms at Svojanov castle are not luxury accommodation. There’s nothing outstanding about the facilities; the furniture is dated, the beds are squeaky, some of the painting looks like it was done by a monkey, and there are no cooking facilities, televisions or internet access. But it’s a five hundred year old castle building on a hillside above a picturebook village, and even expensive hotels with stars next to their names rarely offer that.

There’s also a restaurant in the castle grounds. For classic Czech pub food, the meals are quite decent. The menu is only in Czech, but it shouldn’t be too hard to work out. The first page is chicken (90-120Kč), the second is pork (90-125Kč), then come the salads, three types of fried cheese and the side dishes. You might want to stock up on fruit and breakfast goods down at the grocery store in the village. The beer on tap is from the nearby Policka brewery and the 11º Otakar goes for 20Kč/half-litre.

I arrived in Svojanov from Moravská Třebová via Brněnec following cycle trail #104. By car you’d probably approach the same way, turning off highway 43 at Brněnec. From the west you’d approach on the 364 via Bystré. By public transport, you’ll probably arrive in Svojanov by bus via Svitavy and the best stop for the castle is "Svojanov, městečko". There’s a green-marked walking trail that leads up the hillside from just behind Pension Palla. It’s about ten minutes’ walk and the path is reasonably steep and rocky, so if you’re travelling with one of those wheelie suitcases, it’s not going to be easy.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t terribly easy on the bike. Anyway, that’s Svojanov. A castle to live in and experience, rather than rush through on a 60 minute tour.

Český Krumlov. Too touristy?

Český Krumlov is a gorgeous little town in South Bohemia where a huge château overlooks a sharp bend of the VltavaRiver. For a lot of travellers it will be the only Czech town they’ll visit outside Prague.

When I first visited it was on the strength of my guidebook that suggested if you only have two days in the country, skip Prague and go to Český Krumlov and České Budějovice. I liked the place so much I stayed two weeks and arranged to come back to help renovate the old stone building that would become Hostel Krumlov House . I stayed six months and left in the summer of 1996.The town has changed a bit since then; at the time there were two hostels of about ten beds each, now there are ten complete hostels, some of them with almost 100 beds each.

Now I know what you’re thinking- “This is going to be another *I was there before you and it was way cooler then* diatribe”. And I forgive you for thinking that, because that-one-upmanship among expats and travellers; (the longer you’ve been away, the more worthwhile you are) is a common phenomenon. But the truth is: the things I loved about Krumlov then are the same things I love about it now. The people, the river, the chateau shadowing your every move, the cosy little cafes and bars for cold days, the arty atmosphere of the place and the welcome extended to outsiders.

Sure it would be nice if you had all that to yourself and paid the prices you paid ten years ago. But watching the current evolution of the town is as fascinating as pondering the evolutions of its past...

Like: How did this meadow stuck in the shepherd’s crook of the Vltava river look to the first German settlers in the 1200’s? How did it feel while crazy Don Julius lived in the castle and terrorized the locals? Last century alone the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved (1918) and a new international border sprang up, cutting Krumlov off from the old country, then there was the trauma of the Henlein years, the Munich betrayal and the forced expulsions of Krumlovans after the war. As if that weren’t enough to deal with the Iron Curtain suddenly descended close enough to hear its swish.

The communist years were tough for Český Krumlov and other places so near the Iron Curtain. The new regime preferred to focus its energies a safer distance from unfriendly borders and towns like Krumlov, Slavonice, Znojmo and Mikulov found themselves ignored, forgotten and in some cases even removed from maps. At the time it must have been tough to see the factories, jobs and money going to other places, but the wheel has turned and the lack of heavy industry or modern development makes these towns perfect for tourism.

Český Krumlov’s biggest tourist attraction is the chateau and I wanted to go in before it closed for the winter. I did Tour One through the bedrooms and boudoirs to the masquerade hall with one of the most uninspired guides I’ve heard anywhere. Unfortunately I missed the tour of the baroque theatre, which is one of only four surviving in the world. Never mind, it gives me an excuse to go back in the spring.

The people whose couch I usually sleep on have a new little daughter, so I stayed back in the hostel that I worked on ten years ago. It was pretty basic back then, but it’s almost a work of art now, which is one of the reasons it’s consistently among the highest-rated hostels in the country.

I also went to the Egon Schiele art centre and saw the Keith Haring exhibition, but I think it was finishing too. The rest of the time I spent visiting old haunts and discovering some new ones as I tagged along with my baby-strolling buddies. Deli 99 offers fresh-made sandwiches and other goodies, but my favourite new spot was Antré, which is a non-smoking café beneath the town theatre. Great coffee, good cakes, pleasant personnel and no smoke!

Unfortunately I didn’t get into the Gypsy Bar, which was closed for a private party on the night I wanted to see the house band (the owners’ son and his mates) play. Made it to The Two Marys though, which is an old favourite. It’s down by the river and serves a modern version of medieval Bohemian cuisine; lots of millet and buckwheat, chicken, rabbit and pheasant flavoured with tarragon. And daisies in the cabbage soup. Good stuff! A couple of doors along is the fine teahouse run by experienced and enthusiastic world traveller, fluent English speaking chatterbox and all-round good guy David.

So, as much as it has changed, there's still plenty to draw an old visitor back again and again, and first-timers are bound to be as enchanted by Český Krumlov as at any time in the past. If you can only go to one place outside Prague, it's still one of the best choices.

Charles has left the building

This time two weeks ago I was struggling through the crowds to get to Karlštejn castle. I’m sure this place is reasonably busy at the best of times, but my uncanny knack for stumbling into festivals, long weekends or public holidays reared its head again, and the crowd for the Karlštejn wine harvest festival was as dense as any I’ve ever seen on CharlesBridge. Happily most of them seemed content with the wine and burčak on sale down in the village and the crowd was much thinner up in the castle grounds.

The castle is only accessible as part of a guided tour and I made a bit of a mistake when I bought my ticket. There are two tours, imaginatively titled Tour 1 (220Kč) and Tour 2 (330Kč). Tour 2 takes in all three main buildings of Karlštejn castle; the royal palace, the Marian tower and the great tower, which is the tallest and most heavily fortified part of the complex. For some reason that remains unclear to me, I chose tour one, thus missing out on the most spectacular part of the castle.

I’d asked the girl at the ticket window what time the next tour would be leaving and was asked ‘English or German?’ (This ability of people to discern my foreignness from the first Czech syllables to leave my mouth is a continuing source of frustration to me-apparently my accent is about as good as my singing voice, i.e. abysmal) ‘Czech’ I said, partly through indignation and partly because tours in the local tongue are around half the price (130Kč) of the preferred tourist languages. “Is not possible”. No Czech tours due to the wine harvest festival. English then. Perhaps the ticket girl sensed my wounded linguistic pride because she slipped me a half-price ticket for which I’m clearly about fifteen years too old. “Děkují slečno, jste hodná”

The 2pm tour started at about 2.02pm, much to the annoyance of the other people in the queue. We started in the royal palace and first inspected the knight’s hall. As the home of the Bohemian kingdom’s most precious treasures, Karlštejn was a heavily fortified castle further protected by knights who were granted ownership over the adjoining parcels of land. In this hall their coats of arms are faded but visible on the heavy wooden chests and trunks used for weapon storage.

The hall of ancestors is next, its walls covered with huge canvasses depicting the dukes and kings of the Přemyslid dynasty. The Přemyslids were the most famous and legendary dynasty of Czech rulers. Their beginnings are lost in the years of myth and legend, but they ruled until teenage King Vaclav III was assassinated, heirless, in the Olomouc castle in 1306. Vaclav’s sister Eliška married king John of Luxembourg, who became the first foreigner to sit on the Bohemian throne. Their son Karel (Charles) was born in and went on to become one of the most notable monarchs in the history of the Bohemian kingdom. Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) Karlova Univerzita (CharlesUniversity) and Karlův most (CharlesBridge) all bear his name to this day.

Next room on the tour is the bedroom of Charles IV. Busts of the king and the wives from his four marriages are on display and there’s a small chapel, a long-drop toilet; and a discreet staircase. “Leading to where?” asks the guide. To the queen’s bedroom, of course. From there it’s through the bodyguards’ quarters and back out into the sunshine to climb the staircase to the Marian tower.

The Marian tower acts a something of a teaser; showcasing a wonderful cutaway model of the great tower. The great tower is like a fortress within a fortress and within its Chapel of the Holy Cross the royal treasures were stored. In addition to the heavily guarded fortifications, the treasures were also protected spiritually; with the walls of the chapel covered in paintings of various saints, some even with holy relics mounted within the frames. Some of the wall panels are reproduced here in the Marian tower, but if you want to see the originals, you need to go on the longer and more expensive tour two, because this is where tour one ends. If I’d done my research better (actually if I’d done any at all) I definitely would have chosen the longer tour.

Never mind, it gives me a good excuse to go back.Resources:

Karlštejn castle official website
Map showing the walk from the train station to the castle
Charles the Fourth on Wikipedia
Train timetables