Hi, my husband and I will be visiting Prague this fall and are thinking of finding a less touristy town in the Czech Republic to visit as well. Does anyone have any suggestions? P.S. Cheap is good.

Natasha,<BR><BR>You may want to consider a side trip to Pilsen (Plzen), which is the birthplace of Pilsner beer (e.g., Budweiser). Pilsen has a nice old town square, a wonderful walking museum of the city's underground tunnels (actually very cool), and you can take a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. It's also the city where Czech President Vaclav Havel was kept prisoner during his dissident days.<BR><BR>Another idea is to visit Karlsbad (Karolvy something), which is an old European spa city. You can still take a hot mineral bath and enjoy a sumptuous dinner at one of the many fabulous Victorian hotels in the area.<BR><BR>Both of these places can be reached via train from Prague, or via car.<BR><BR>Just an idea!<BR><BR>-- Peter

Cesky Krumlov is a MUST! It has a beautiful castle on top of a hill, and a river winding through. It's a UNESCO Town, hence, it has been kept/restored to its beautiful historic condition. It has no chain stores or chain hotels. It is a small town...two nights would be plenty here. There are SOME tourists there, but not a ton.<BR><BR>Everything there is cheap...don't worry about that.

I agree that Karlovy Vary, Cesky Krumlov and Plzen are good, though I prefer Ceske Budejovice to Plzen, and not just for the beer. If you want somewhere small, Litomerice and Teplice, to the north, are good and little visited.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London<BR>

We stayed 4 days in Cesky Krumlov and 2 in Karlovy Vary. Both are very nice towns but quite different--former a medieval town with castle, latter a spa with great art nouveau buildings. See my report filed about April 11 or so entitled Czech Republic trip report. Includes info on hotels and restaurants as well as sights in both places.

Consider Olomouc - - part of a planned trip (two years ago - - but never took it) - - and maybe a future trip; thus I have never actually been there.<BR><BR>Closer to Vienna (or the Poland border)than to Prague itself.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

for the person looking for the mention of Litomerice. I think you had it spelled wrong.<BR>

Cesky Krumlov IS the place you want to go but I had heard they were hit hard by the flooding. From Prague take the train to Ceske Budejovice (home of the real Budweiser) (sp) &amp; from there take a taxi to Cesky Krumlov. They will drop you off in the main square &amp; there are many varied places to stay. Take a taxi because the commuter train stops many times &amp; it takes almost an hour to go that last 10 km. (In an over crowded train no less). If the spa thing interests you, you can day-trip to Karlovy Vary but stay in Cesky Krumlov.

Dear Ms Paterson,<BR><BR>I stayed in Olomouc, and it is pretty good, with three linked baroque squares, up to the standards of Plzen. But it is less interesting and beautiful than Creske Budejovice, Karlovy Vary or Cesky Krumlov.<BR><BR>I suggest Ceske Budejovice rather than Cesky Krumlov, as though very beautiful CK is heavily visited, and smaller, with less to see, that CB. On the other hand, CK has pretty well recovered from the floods, everything is open, and they do need the tourist income for their repair works. The advice to finish to CK by taxi is good, but of course the 40 minute bus is much cheaper.<BR><BR>I raise my topper to Topper but stand by the spelling Litomerice: please see http://www.kulturklub.cz/Litomerice-e.htm. And please write if I can help further.<BR><BR>Ben Haines<BR>

Clarifying: someone wrote me asking for help to find a post about &quot;Litomerce&quot;.<BR><BR>His e-mail contained the mis-spelling. I told him the correct spelling, and topped this post of yours. Told him to come hime here and search again. This was of several posts actually.<BR>

We went to Cesky Krumlov approx June 1 this year.Beautiful, not at all crowded. Easy to find pension. <BR><BR>There is a pension in Litomerice which has a website. It appears to be in an old chateau; looks like it might be nice.<BR><BR>We like Tabor quite a bit. Stayed in Pension Leknin, the building being what I, a middle income American, would call a mansion. Hospitable people, nice breakfast, comfortable. I think it has a website. My wife liked the shopping.

Cesky K can be crowded as there are tour bus days trips to there from Prague. But if you stay there ... the nights are just wonderful. <BR><BR>It's quiet, peaceful and you could walk around with no one in site (but maybe some noise). I was proposed to, over the bridge beneath the palace ... and it was very intimate, romantic with no other soul in sight. <BR><BR<BR><BR>-brownie.

In additoin to places mentioned, you might want to check out Kutna Hora, an easy day trip from Prague. It has a well preserved old core, and is only an hour bus or train ride from Prague.

All the places named are worth a visit. It is difficult to pick only one small town to visit because the Czech Republic is full of small towns. Some are more picturesque than others, but this country has more character per square mile than anywhere else I've ever been. So whatever you pick, I'm sure you will like it. However, my impression from your message is that you might like a somewhat &quot;off the track&quot; town---and as you already said, less touristy. Most of the towns already named are indeed the primary tourist attractions and could be a bit crowded during the tourist season. One place not yet named that is close to (south of) Prague and is less touristy, with a wonderful ambience, is Konopiste. So you can add that to the growing list of recommendations. If you were driving, I'd say going from Prague southward to Konopiste, then Tabor, then Ceske Budejovice, and finally, Cesky Krumlov, would be a wonderful trip. You could stop for an overnight at or near any of these places.

Natasha: Wayne is right on with his circle route. I would add the little walled village of Trebon for a nontouristy Czech experience and Telc for its wonderful square of false front buildings (good palace tour too). As was mentioned, spend the night in Cesky Krumlov arriving late afternoon. The tour buses will have departed and you will have this most magnificent of villages to yourself until midmorning of the next day. Have a great trip.

topping, in the context of the recent thread on London to Prague to Krakow. In other words, the connection through southeastern Czech Republic.<BR><BR>

Looking for quaint places to stay in any of these small towns. Prefer reasonably priced places with lots of character.

I will be in Cesky Krumlov June 20-23 to attend the Five Petalled Rose Festival and do day trips. Has anyone attended this Festival?