Czech top 10
1. Counting statues on Charles Bridge
Crossing Charles Bridge is the quintessential Prague experience. Built in 1357, its 16 elegant arches withstood wheeled traffic for 500-odd years until it was made pedestrian-only after World War II. By day, the famous baroque statues stare down with stony indifference on a fascinating parade of buskers, jazz bands and postcard sellers. At dawn, they regain their mystery and magic.
2. Gawking at Prague Castle
A thousand years of history is cradled within the walls of Prague’s hilltop castle, a complex of churches, towers, halls and palaces that is almost a village in its own right. This is the cultural and historical heart of the republic, comprising not only collections of physical treasures such as the golden reliquaries of St Vitus Treasury and the Bohemian crown jewels, but also the sites of great historic events such as the murder of St Wenceslas and the Second Defenestration of Prague.
3. Prague’s Old Town Square
Despite the tourists, crowded cafes and over-the-top commercialism, it’s impossible not to enjoy Prague’s premier public space: tour leaders thrusting through the crowds gathered to watch the Astronomical Clock; students handing out flyers for a drama production and pink-haired, leather-clad punks. Verily, all of human life is here.
4. Renaissance splendour of Cesky Krumlov
This sleepy, southern Bohemian town is arguably the republic’s only other world-class, must-see sight, aside from Prague. National Geographic has dubbed this former medieval stronghold one of the ‘‘world’s greatest places’’, and once you catch a glimpse of the rocky, rambling Renaissance castle with its mesmerising multicoloured tower, you’ll feel the appeal. This really is that fairy-tale town the tourist brochures promised.
5. Kutna Hora’s Bone Church
In the 14th-century, Kutna Hora rivalled Prague as the most important town in Bohemia, growing rich on the veins of silver ore that laced the rocks beneath it. Today it’s an attractive town with several fascinating and unusual historical attractions. Get an insight into the life of a medieval miner or marvel at the art created out of human remains at the grimly fascinating ‘‘bone church’’ of Sedlec.
6. Fairytale Karlstejn Castle
Karlstejn Castle started life in 1348 as a hideaway for the crown jewels and treasury of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV. Perched on a crag overlooking the Berounka River, this cluster of turrets, sheer walls and looming towers is as immaculately maintained as it is powerfully evocative.
7. Modern art at Veletrznı´ Palac
This vast, ocean-liner-like building is one of Prague’s best galleries, and includes works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Klimt, Mucha and the impressionists.
8. Telc
This quiet and pretty town is a good place to relax by the waterside with a book and a glass of wine. The old town, ringed by medieval fish ponds and unspoilt by modern buildings, is a Unesco World Heritage Site with a sprawling, cobblestoned town square where you can stroll along Gothic arcades and admire elegant Renaissance facades.
9. Czech beer
The Czech Republic is awash in breweries both large and small. Czech beer has been famous for its quality and flavour since the invention of Pilsner Urquell in 1842, but in recent years there has been a real renaissance of microbreweries and craft beers.
10. Underrated Olomouc
Olomouc, set in a broad, fertile stretch of the Morava River basin, is one of the Czech Republic’s most underrated cities. Legend says it was founded by Julius Caesar. Today it is a youthful, laid-back university town, friendly and cheap, with cobbled streets and the largest trove of historical architecture outside Prague – and hardly a tourist in sight. Don’t forget to try the cheese, Olomoucky syr, reputedly the smelliest in the country.
Reproduced with permission from the 12th edition of Lonely Planet’s Prague & the Czech Republic guidebook, researched and written by Mark Baker and Neil Wilson, 2017. Published this month, lonelyplanet.com, RRP: $34.99.