I'm thinking of a few days in Prague and also some day trips from there. I wondered whether I'd be better off doing a day trip to Plzen and a day trip to Kutna Hora OR take the train to Cesky Krumlov and spend two days there?
If you have had experience with these cities, I'd appreciate your opinion.
Thanks.
Tom
We’ve been to Kutna Hora and to Cesky Krumlov. The Bone Chapel took all of 10 minutes. We walked into town and just walked around. It was picturesque and nice but at the end of the day was glad that we had ample time in Prague or I’d have been disappointed we’d taken the day. Just my impression. I considered Tabor and wish I’d gone there, but we never did see it so don’t know. . Many, many years ago I visited Karlovy Vary and remember it as beautiful, but I rarely seem to hear it mentioned. We spent two nights in CK and it was great. One day we took a canoe trip with an outfitter right in town; early spring and an easy paddle. We didn’t visit the castle in CK but walked around the grounds and the entire town which is pretty much your basic fairy tale idea of a beautiful fairy tale town. All our travels were by train. Safe travels. It’s all great.
Tom, in 2019 we visited Central Europe and one of our favorite stays was in Cesky Krumlov. We arrived on a Thursday for two nights per CK Shuttle. We took an early am private tour of this fairytale town with Karolina owner of Krumlov Tours. She took us off the beaten path and we had CK all to ourselves. On our own we toured the theater. It was a worthwhile experience. CK has wonderful cuisine and is especially lovely in September. If you choose CK I would recommend not visiting on the weekend. We left CK Saturday am to miss the crowds. Enjoy your planning. If you need accommodation or restaurant recommendations let me know. https://www.krumlovtours.eu/
My wife and I did Prague, Salzburg, Vienna, and Budapest in 2016. We made a day trip to Cesky Krumlov, actually took a tour bus rather than the train. We skipped Kunta Hora. If you are going to Prague, do not miss Vyšehrad, and the Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul. One of the most beautiful churches I've visited.
We later took an inter-city train from Prague to Linz, then transferred to the ÖBB high-speed train from Linz to Salzburg.
I don't think you are taking into account enough how far it is from Prague to CK, and how relatively isolated CK is. There are certainly other things to see in that area, but you have to research local bus service carefully. I recall that train is not the fastest way between Prague and CK, although it may be one of the cheaper.
It is a fair question whether CK is a "daytrip" from Prague. I would say that just as many posters here scorn CK for its intense tourism as praise its beauty. No one seems to like CK as much as they like (different country) Bruges, which is just as crowded 10AM to 5PM.
Another problem with a daytrip to CK is that English-language tours of the castle or the baroque theater can fill up quickly, and (pre-Covid, anyway) you had to buy them in person at the town ticket booth. I don't know about today. Clearly this is an outdoor recreation part of Czech Republic, so there might be non-sightseeing reasons for sleeping there.
Bottom line for me, the baroque theater was a must see, but that's a personal and professional interest. I thought the "castle" (mansion, really) is a bit over-rated. But the town is lovely, and the food better than in many "tourist" towns. We hired a car service recommended in Rick's book for an all-day runout from Prague, but that gets expensive.
They are not directly comparable (although they are wooden, rather than "stone" towns), but I wonder if you've been to Aarau, Switzerland, or Monschau, Germany?
The Kutna Hora day trip would have to include an exploration of the town and some time by the river as well as the Bone Church, Spanish Hall and ST Barbaras to make it a proper day trip. Plzen is fine for a day but again, do some research to explore the city and visit the brewery if that interests you. You might want to investigate getting a bus from Prague to Karlovy Vary then coming back by train to Plzen and then Prague. That would definitely be a day trip. If going to CK then as mentioned earlier, weekdays are less crowded. Also if you are travelling in June then the 5-Petal festival is June 17-19 next year and that's a lot of fun. Otherwise try and plan a river kayak experience on at least one of the days.
Check out Mělník. It's less than an hour north of central Prague and has a beautiful castle overlooking the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava Rivers.
We spent a seek in Prague several years back. We day-tripped by train to Kutna Hora, IIRC the two round trip tickets cost about $13.50 US, and trip about one hour. Our choice in Kutna Hora, after the Ossuary, was to walk into town and get an English tour of the Silver Mine - fascinating. Ultimately after wandering took the little shuttle train and then back to Prague for dinner. We had chosen a two-night trip then to CK, and were in love with the place. Just wandering was fantastic, and we also had tickets for an opera at the Revolving Theater. Loved the overall experience, and the walk back to the pension at night through the castle--spectacular. We went by Student Agency bus, again, very low cost, about 3 hours. We returned to Prague the same, as we were flying out from there.
My thanks to all that responded. Very helpful information. Lots to think about. thanks
Tom
Hello from Wisconsin,
Some mentioned Tabor. We have always enjoyed Telc. However, a morning train ride to Brno would give you a chance to see the countryside from a train and see the capital of Moravia.
Kutna Hora is really a one trick pony. As long as you are there go see Saint Barbara's Cathedral. It has a roof line unlike any other cathedral I have seen.
wayne iNWI
I am currently in Prague and even though Christmas markets are closed, it is a beautiful city, even today with snow. But I took an all day tour with Bohemian tours (Philip) out of Prague and it was well worth it. Unfortunately for the town we were some of the very few tourists and the restaurant we had lunch at said we were her only customers. Many pretty shops and huge castle complex and old churches. Very Medieval picturesque village worth the two hour drive.
barbara,
What town did you visit on your tour?
I would go to CK and get there from Prague using a mini bus service called CK and skip the trains. It takes 5.5 hours. They pick you up at your hotel and deliver you to the new hotel. I did this going from CK to Salzburg. It was even slightly cheaper than the trains.
We did go from Prague to Kutna Hora on a day trip. Don't go on a Sunday. The town was very dead on Sunday. It is not worth a day in any case.
ckshuttle.cz
Bruce
