Why did we go to Český Krumlov? Rick Steves said it was amazing and I am so glad we took the chance. Český Krumlov is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – and we can see why. The town and the castle began in 1240, but really became big when the town was acquired by the House of Rosenberg – a well to do influential Bohemian noble family. The town mostly had Germans with very few Czech speakers. It stayed that way until after WWII when most of the Germans were expelled from the area. The entire town is a huge tourist destination, with most people doing day trips from Salzburg or Prague. We decided to stay a few days, and not rush through anything.
How We Got There and Around
From Prague, we had to take two trains to get there. The first train took us to České Budějovice which is home to the Pivovar Budějovický Budvar (Budweiser Budvar Brewery). We arrived in Český Krumlov around 3PM and it was raining pretty good. We asked the information booth how to get to town and that proved to be not helpful as they said “There is bus that comes every so often or you might see a taxi out front”. We decided to stop at the bar and wait out the storm with a delicious beer. We ended up seeing a person who sat next to us on the train, and enjoyed a beer with him. Dean had traveled to Český Krumlov many times before, and is actually one of the most well-traveled people we have ever met. After our beers, we walked the 20 minutes into town with our friend Dean.
Within Český Krumlov, we walked everywhere. The roads are all cobblestone, which is why we are happy we brought comfortable shoes, still, some people were walking around in heels – yikes!
Where We Stayed
We were not able to find an AirBnb, so we stayed at Pension Na Kovárnê. It really wasn’t like a hotel, but more of a B&B (only had 8 rooms). The breakfast was quite good and the hotel was comfortable. Our only complaint was that our room was by the street, and at 6AM we could hear people rolling their bags down the cobblestone. Note – bringing a wheel bag to an old town like this one is really challenging and probably not recommended. We actually saw one of those bags wheel’s get busted.
What We Did
The major sight of the town is the castle, which we spent a lot of time at. The castle has a tower, and a museum about the Rosenberg family and we did both. We also spent time looking at the Bear Moat, and only saw one bear. The castle gardens are quite impressive, and done in rococo style. We spent a full day just walking around the town, gardens, window shopping and tasting beers. We even met up with our friend Dean twice for dinner and drinks. Here are our highlights from the town:
Overall
Český Krumlov was our last stop in the Czech Republic. We loved spending time here, enjoying the food, people and beer culture. For the most part, the Czech Republic was relatively on the cheap side, which helped our trip’s budget. I can see us coming back and exploring more of what Czech has to offer.
What’s Next
