I'm planning on spending a week in Prague. Was told that I should try a day trip (maybe longer) down to Chesky Krumlov. How many days should I spend there? Thanks.

No more than one overnight. While you're there, make sure you also go to Cesky Budejovice, where the original Budweiser beer is brewed.

If you need some down time Cesky Krumlov is an excellent & inexpensive choice. From Prague take the train to Ceske Budovice & from there take a cab to the main square (about 8 miles). The comuter train that connects the 2 towns is slow & crowded. If you are going when it will be warm there is great rafting/canoeing there as well & don't miss the castle. We were told the same as you & ended up spending 3 days there just relaxing & hanging w/the locals.

I heard that Cesky Krumlov is badly damaged from the floods in August and that it is not worth going there right now. I will be in Czech. Rep for 2 weeks in mid october and was going to avoid going there due to that. Does anyone know differently?

We are also going to Prague the end of October and were advised that Chesky Krumlov was in bad shape from the flooding. We will take a day trip to Telc instead.

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An American hospitality company says on 22 August at its site http://www.renard-international.com/news.asp?wid=405<BR><BR>Cesky Krumlov let tourists return Monday after days of cleanup. Cesky Krumlov's city hall spokesman Vladimir Zunt said the flooding left some marks on the city and estimated the damage would cost hundreds of millions of koruna. However, the South Bohemia town is ready for crowds to return, Zunt said. "I'd like to call on all who love Cesky Krumlov that they should come," he said by telephone. "Tourism is Cesky Krumlov's life and we need (tourists) badly. With their help we can put things back together." Copyright 2002 Associated Press<BR><BR>At their site http://www.cccr-info.cz/tiskzpravy/tgb-floods2002.html the Czech Ministry for Regional Development says, without date: The areas affected by the floods are gradually returning to normal and implementing measures so that tourism can function as usual. Most information centres are working. Normal tourist services have been restored in Prague and from Monday 19th August in Cesk&yacute; Krumlov too. The situation with health, food supplies and fuel is not presenting any problems whatsoever. Information for tourists travelling independently: transport information for the whole Czech Republic and abroad is available by calling 1230, or 02/61104333. To call from a foreign mobile first call 00420.<BR><BR>Czech Tourist Authority (Cesk&aacute; centr&aacute;la cestovn&iacute;ho ruchu)<BR>Vinohradsk&aacute; 46, P.O. BOX 32, 120 41 Praha 2, Czech Republic<BR>Tel.: + 420 2 21 580 111 (27 158 111)<BR>Fax: + 420 2 24 25 70 91<BR>E-mail: [email protected]<BR>Internet: www.visitczechia.cz<BR><BR>At their site http://www.praguepost.com/P02/2002/20821/news4.php The Prague Post reported on 4 October: Some travel agencies have attempted to organize tours to see the flooded town of Cesky Krumlov. This offends town hall officials. "When I heard what they were interested in, I did not even listen to them and told them to get [lost]," Zunt said. "We would like to welcome tourists as soon as possible, but this idea is disgusting. I would compare this with the vulturelike behavior similar to looting in the flooded areas."<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London<BR>

We were in Chesky Krumlov on September 8th, only a couple of weeks after the flooding, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend going now. Even at that time they had done a huge amount of clean-up and the only overt damage we could see was the high water marks on the buildings and some of the shops smelled "wet". Some shops were closed, but enough were open that we were able to shop, eat well and walk up to the palace. We spoke with a couple of shop-owners about the floods and they were very proud of how quickly they had cleaned up and thanked us profusely for coming when so many others were staying away. We only stayed the day, but I would have loved to spend the night to explore a little bit more. Go and have a wonderful time! Fewer crowds now anyway!

How long is the trip from Prague to Cesky Krumlov? I read in a book that it was 4 hours, but then I saw somewhere else that it was 2.5. Also, which is a better way to get there, train or bus?

Have just returned home from our trip. Spent a night in Cesky Krumlov in mid September en route to Prague. There were obviously problems from the flooding. However it didn't affect us as tourists. Go - it was magical! Wished we'd spent 2 nights there. Stayed at Pension Barbakan which was absolutely charming - would highly recommend it. No problems with transport. We got the bus from Cesky Krumlov which went direct to Prague - 3 hrs direct. Easier than the train. Enjoy your trip.