Day out in Ceske Krumlov

There is much much more to the Czech Republic than Prague. I found this spot in June 2016 during a tour of 'off the beaten track' Czech and Hungary. This was an easy day trip from Ceske Budejovice, which incidentally is also a fabulous spot.

Ceske Krumlov is a small chocolate box of a town wedged between the ox-bow bends on the river. This place is seriously photogenic, each of the many viewpoints has you questioning which is the best of the lot.

This town was made for the digital camera era, years gone by you would have been frequently replacing the film in your camera, now be warned stock up on a bumper sized memory card for your digital before you arrive.

The town is best tackled on foot, put your map away, just wonder around the streets catching glimpses of the castle, river or one of the many churches.

Plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants to choose from, the best ones come with a view. Grab a sausage, salmon or sauerkraut for lunch on the run from the stalls in the main square.

The town is touristy, and packed with tourists, but it is packed for a reason, it is a nice place.

Make sure you save time to pop up to the castle, get great views from the tower and wonder the well kept grounds.

Ceske Krumlov makes for a great day trip or take your time and have a couple of days. On leaving don't forget as you approach the bus station to turn around for one last snap of the city.

On the Pilsner in Plzen

13 days back in England was just enough time to sort my bag out, scrub myself clean and get ready to hit the road again. Each of the last 15 years I've had a two week trip to Europe with a couple of pals (one of the guys has dropped off in recent trips) and I didn't want to let my career break to stop the tradition.

In the early years we were perhaps a little guilty of speeding from one capital city to the next. This trip is to full in the gaps of the rest of Czech Republic and Hungary.

Flying into Prague we moved on straight away. We only managed to get a brief reminder of the beautiful city from the window of first the airport bus then the train.

We stocked up on supplies before boarding the train to Pilsen, home of the Pilsner Urquell brewery and most of the attractions are beer related.

Supplies for the train

First sip of Pilsner Urquell in a few years

The food in Czech Republic can be very meaty and lie heavy on the stomach. We had a classic introduction to this by ordering the meat mega mix platter for two. In honesty there was enough to feed a small army.

Meat mega mix

Having piled our plates high, struggled it down it was quite deflating to see the platter was almost untouched. Round two broke the back of it but there was still plenty left. It was becoming a man verses food challenge. The third and final round did virtually finish off the dish, but equally almost finished the two of us off. We tried to walk it off, but in truth it did put an early end to our first night.

Brewery Museum

With an improving weather forecast we took in the indoor attractions first. We got discount purchasing a joint ticket for the underground tunnels and brewery museum. The combined ticket came with two free pints of Pilsner Urquell each. 

In truth we only took in the brewery museum to fill in time until our guided tour (in Czech language) of the tunnels. The museum was quite interesting, with displays of Pilsner Urquell beer mats, glasses, bottles etc. since it started brewing in 1842.

The girl at the ticket office did explain we would be bored on the underground tunnel tour not been able to understand the guide. Storky got an audio guide and gave me brief highlights.

Going underground

The tunnels were good, stretching under the city they had various purposes over the years. I did find the tour too slow with far with too much information at each stop, especially when I couldn't understood a single word. My advice would be to do the tour in a language you understand or better still have a look down without a guide if that is possible.

Underground tunnels

Pilsen had a huge square with a large cathedral at the heart of it. Climbing the 300+ stairs to the top of the tower worked off some of the calories from the previous nights feast. It also offered great views of the city.

Pilsen Cathedral

Pilsen from up top

Tower selfie

The square was surrounded by beautiful buildings.

Town Hall

A quick hop across the road led us to the third largest Jewish Synagogue in the world.

3rd largest Synagogue in world

Enough culture for the day, we were booked on the brewery tour.

Lets get this brewery tour started

As with most industrial sized breweries, the tour couldn't get you close up to the production. I find that one brewery tour is the same as the another, but still keep visiting them. The bottling plant was interesting, as were the cellars. The tasting of unfiltered beer straight from the barrel was good. We had a great guide and having the tour in English certainly helped to keep my interest levels up.

Bottled it

Fermentation tanks

More underground tunnels

By the time the tour finished it was a glorious evening, perfect for a glass of beer of two, sat in the evening sunshine.

Pilsner Urquell Brewery

Pilsen is a nice place, you probably only need one full day to see it all, you could even take it all in on a day trip from Prague. Just don't forget your drinking boots!