We will be in Prague this month and are planning to visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery. We will be taking the train from Prague to Plzen. Are reservations necessary for a trip like this or would it be better to just purchase our tickets the day we wish to travel?
Just buy tickets when you get there. Easy walk from the train station. Assuming you want an English language tour, there is nice little biergarten on the grounds to get a half liter glass, and some sausages if you want a nosh while waiting for the tour.
I have made numerous trips to Plzen and the brewery over the years and as recently as April this year.It is only a few minutes walk from the train station to the brewery and you will see the brewery on the right hand side as the train approaches the station. follow the signs from the station.
Now a word of warning ,there has been a great deal of work going on around the tracks in the station and it was a real mess when I was last there and they were using a series of temporary platforms when I was last there, how far the work has progressed since then I just don't know but it is easy to get to the brewery.
I would pre book the tour on line as I have had to wait as the tour I wanted was fully booked.
there is no need to pre book trains just buy on the day, some of the faster trains do require that you book seats but any time I have been on them I just pay the booking few to the conductor and in april that was 50kc about $2.
there is a huge beer cellar in the brewery as well as a fantastic gift shop .
http://www.naspilce.com/en/
to make a full day of it you can visit the Brewing museum about a 10 minute walk from the brewery.
http://www.prazdrojvisit.cz/en/tours/brewery-museum-tour/