Please sign in to post.

16 nights in January 2018 - itinerary help

Posted by on

16 nights in January - intinerary help

Hi All, we have a 16 night holiday flying in and out of Prague from 10 January 2018. So far we have booked our first two nights (to get over jet lag) in Prague and our last 5 nights before departure also in Prague.

We were hoping to spend the other 9 nights travelling the countryside with a more authentic Czech experience if we can....This is where we're having some trouble. A lot of things seem to be closed during the Winter and other than the main tourist areas is it still worth travelling around the countryside? There doesn't seem to be a lot on winter hiking so is this generally not advisable in Winter? Will most hiking areas be under snow? We come from Australia where our winters are like your summer so we've never hiked in snow.

We will be travelling with our two boys 7 and 13. Some outdoor activity for them would be great. They don't mind museums etc but they will get bored very quickly if they can do some outdoor activities. We would probably prefer to stay 3 days at 3 locations and with a few day trips to nearby places.

Are there any good farm stays? Pension recommendations. Must visit breweries (beer) etc day trip ideas for those areas beyond Prague?

Or are we better off dropping rural Czech and visiting budapest and Vienna?

Thanks so much for any help and suggestions

Posted by
356 posts

Perhaps you might consider visiting Liberec and learning to ski there?

I don't recommend hiking in the snow. It got down to -15c in Prague last January. Hiking in unknown terrain in those temperatures can be dangerous.

Posted by
4637 posts

January is not the best month to visit Czech Republic. Let's try to figure out something so your boys have fun, too. In Prague - mirror labyrinth (maze) on Petrin. National Technical Museum on Letna. Walks around medieval neighborhoods (Old Town, Mala Strana, Hradcany). If under snow even better. You can get some inspirations in Rick Steves book: Prague & the Czech Republic. Visit Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzen (Pilsen - German name) as a day trip from Prague. Visit Budvar (Budweiser) brewery in Ceske Budejovice (Budweis - German name) as a day trip from Cesky Krumlov. You wanted 3 locations - three days in each. Cesky Krumlov - small medieval town - crowds will be substantially thinner in January. C.K. is in higher elevation so snow cover is likely. The impression is magic like fairy tale. Second location I would suggest would be in TV Tower on the top of the highest mountain in Moravia - Praded. I am sure boys would like it. In winter it's very impressive and almost like from a different world. To get there: if you go by public transport from Prague then first by train to Olomouc, then after seeing historical center of Olomouc, by bus to Karlova Studanka - Hvezda (bus is direction to Jesenik), from Hvezda by shuttle bus to Ovcarna (big lodge on the foothill of Praded) and from there by snow mobile or snow cat to the TV tower on the summit of Praded. What an adventure for boys! If you don't ski, three days is not enough to learn downhill but you can rent cross-country skis and there is also some easy terrain around or you can try snow-shoeing. Check the website here:
http://www.hotelpradedvysilac.cz . The site is unfortunately only in Czech, try translator, if that does not work and you are seriously interested I will translate the important stuff for you.
And the third location I suggest is probably the most famous winter resort in the Czech Republic - Spindleruv Mlyn in Krkonose Mountains. You can have snow fun outdoors, water fun indoors. Check the website of this hotel:
http://www.aquaparkspindl.cz . You can switch it to English.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you Marcus for your help.

Ilja, what an amazing post! I will be off googling and google translating after work this evening. Both the boys learnt to ski in Canada last year so a couple of days skiing for them is definitely an option. I'll let you know if I have any questions. You have been very helpful :)

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.