Robert_Brandywine

Are there any must-sees? Currently our itinerary consists of a week in Prague, 1 day/night each in two villages that I have great-grandparents from, and 1 or 2 nights near Austerlitz (history buff). We have 13 nights total to use up.

Bellarosa70032

Kutna Hora, Cesky Krumlov, and Terezin are easy day trips. Kutna Hora has a beautiful cathedral and a silver mine tour. We just took a bus from the main bus station.

Cesky Krumlov is a must see, in my opinion. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is really charming.

Terezin was a Nazi-sponsored "camp", and is also reached by bus.

You may also consider taking the train to Dresden as a day trip.

Robert_Brandywine

I've been to Dresden a couple of times. We were thinking of renting a car and seeing the non-Prague places, so would spend nights at the various places. Thanks.

Robert_Brandywine

Any natural wonders or monasteries in the country-side worth seeing?

raspberry7

Moravia has an incredible density of baroque churches, monasteries and cities. Olomouc (UNESCO world heritage site), Třebič, Telč, Znojmo, etc. etc. etc. Too many to name.

You might want to consult a travel guide.

Andrew

Click on my name to read my 2012 trip report + pictures. I traveled in the other direction: train from Krakow to Olomouc, picked up a rental car in Brno, then drove through Telč and Třeboň to get to Cesky Krumlov, then up to Kutna Hora before driving back to Prague.

The scenery wasn't that amazing, with occasional exceptions. Olomouc was a disappointment - perhaps because one of the main squares was being renovated, the city was a ghost town the two days I was there (September.) I could not get a walking tour from the TI because there weren't enough tourists in town!

Telč has a really nice town center. Třeboň (spent a night) was nice too, but I get the idea these places are better in summer (I was there in September). You don't mention your month of travel. It may make a difference in your experience.

Michael

Roznov pod Radhostem is a skansen worth visiting.

Leely2

I liked Telc and Jindrichuv Hradec as well as Cesky Krumlov. I think we spent one night in Telc and two in CK, stopping in JH on the drive. This was in late July/early August.

fourfortravel

Unaware of your interests beyond history, and not knowing your method of transportation or the season you are traveling in, it is difficult to answer your question.

That said, we have taken many trips to the Czech Republic; most of them into Moravia as it is closest to Vienna, where we live. Some of them are listed below.
1. Brno is worthy of at least an overnight; and, if you plan ahead, you can arrange to tour the abbey where Gregor Mendel conducted his genetics experiments.
2. We have taken a long weekend to enjoy Ostrava (the city that built the Iron Curtain) and Olomuoc.
3. A long weekend on the Czech "Beer Trail" roundtrip from Vienna that included Jihlava—Palhrimov—Plzen—Ceske Budejovie—Trebon— and Telc.

Castles and ruins are everywhere. http://www.czechtourism.com/a/castles-chateaux/, though many are closed in the winter months.

Hope this is helpful.

RM67

My TR from last July.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-mountains.cfm

We spent some time in the Beskydy mountains (great for walks and wildlife) and also in some of the historic hilltop villages e.g. Stramberk.

RM67

PS - The TR has photos if you scroll down far enough.

sparkchaser

You can't visit Kutna Hora without visiting the Sedlec Ossuary.

VandaHe

There are so many nice areas in the Czech Republic..! I also want to explore them more.

As in 2015 I'll be travelling probably just in central Europe, I'm thinking about doing a trip with a company Travelove (www.travelove.cz) - have you tried them anyone? They have quite some nice trips to other regions of the Czech Republic, they look good on the website but it would be better to have some reference.

tomboy

Sparkchaser-we did....twice. We don't really LIKE the sight, or the smell, of old bones.

Jindrichuv Hradec (mentioned above) has a very nice, and inexpensive, ethnography museum, with examples of clothing and housing from pre-modern times. So does Budapest, which isn't THAT far away.

We also went thru the (basically unrestored) ruins at Spis Castle, and the restored castle at Vranov (a guy from Florida tipped the guide $20 to let us see the non-tour parts of the castle...kitchen, unseen rooms on the tour).

If you're into spa towns, there are plenty.

Ingo

As for natural beauty - check out the National Park Bohemian Switzerland (on the German border). Amazing sandstone formations, but if you have been to Dresden a couple of times you may already know the National Park Saxon Switzerland, which is just across the border and basically similar.

Krkonose mountains at the Polish border - Spindleruv Mlyn is the central base there. Chair lifts, hiking, views.

Sumava (Bohemian Forest), near Cesky Krumlov. Mid-range mountains, nothing spectacular but nice - check out Lipno lake/reservoir.

Beskydy mountains around Roznov pod Radhostem/Pustevny - mid-range mountains again, special folk architecture with wooden (log) houses, local customs. Open air museum. A quick hop across the border to Slovakia is highly recommended - the mountains there are more impressive (Mala Fatra, Tatry).

joannyc

If going to Cesky Krumlov, do get tickets for the baroque theater tour at the castle! It is one of the few remaining baroque theaters in the world! Try in advance online for the English tour but take any tour you can get!

Entrance to the tour is very limited.

Andrew

I tried to take a tour of the theater while I was in Cesky Krumlov but for whatever reason, the tour (normally scheduled for that day) was canceled without explanation. (I took the regular castle tour the previous day.)

Another vote for Jindrichuv Hradec - spent a few hours there, really nice town too.

joannyc

So sorry to hear that Andrew. Usually it is a fairly small group, I think my group was about 15 people. Highly worth it!

Jeffrey707

I join with those recommending Cesky Krumlov.

It is in a scenic location tucked into the turn of the river with an amazing castle and associated structures and wonderful architecture particularly the eclectic rooflines in the town square. We were lucky enough to be there, coincidentally, for the Five-Petalled Rose Medieval Festival, where there was folk dancing and concerts with original instruments of the time.

My favorite mental snapshot of our visit was seeing a fully costumed Renaissance fellow withdrawing money from an ATM cut into the stone of a centuries old building.

Cesky Krumlov is well worth a visit.

Robert_Brandywine

Wow, thanks for all that! It will take a while to process. We are traveling the 2nd half of June. The plan is to use taxis and a private guide in Prague, then rent a car and travel to the other places. In addition to history, we like architecture, castles, palaces, fortresses, battle sites, art museums of the pre-modern period, museums of anthropology and natural history. We like people watching while sitting on a square drinking wine.