Some nice destinations other than Prague

Dresden, Germany is a easy train ride away. Prior to heavy Allied bombings at the end of WWII, it was perhaps Europe's most beautiful city. It has taken this long for reconstruction and for museums to get back many of their treasures. The Saxony region over toward the Czech border is just beautiful too.

Brno is beautiful and totally off the tourist path. Two and a half hours away from Prague by very scenic train journey.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm also going to Prague in June.

Brno is a lovely small city with plenty to do for several days and if you like the outdoor then at trip out to the Dam is very easy and a lovely place to spend the day.,Tabor is a nice little town for a Day Trip, not many English speaking tourist around.

Telc is a beauty in the category of Tabor, with Slavonice an easy train trip away.

Thanks so much everyone - lots of great advice to explore!

I would suggest two places Brno or Karlova Studanka none of them in Rick Steves book. Both of them are more or less on your way from Cesky Tesin to Prague. If you prefer city environment go for Brno. It is not really small city although smaller than Prague. I agree with Unclegus that it's lovely. What to see: St.Peter's Cathedral, Castle Spilberk, villa Tugendhat, in July certainly Brno Lake - take a boat to the other end of lake to visit Veveri Castle. Take a walk from Main Train Station on shopping Masaryk Street to namesti Svobody (Freedom Square) and continue up on another shopping street called Ceska. You can get detailed information at Visitor Center. Or if you like nature more, then mountain resort Karlova Studanka. It is in the valley right under the tallest mountain of Moravia - Praded. It is also a health spa. Beautiful hikes around. Really scenic one is by the waterfalls of Bila Opava (small river or big creek).
Plenty of accommodation in the resort and on the foot of Praded mountain. There is a TV tower on the summit. If you are little adventurous I recommend to stay there. There is a restaurant and hotel in it. For more information google Karlova Studanka. A lot of it is in English there. Few years ago there was a very praising article in New York Times about K.S. For public transport connection check http://www.idos.cz . You can switch it to English. Use combination train and bus.

Děkuji, Ilja! Thanks for wonderful recommendations.

If you have the flexibility to extend your trip, can you change it to an open jaw flight where you fly into Prague out of another city? That would save backtracking and may not cost more than a round trip to Prague - but you have to book the ticket as a "multi-city" all one one ticket not two one-way flights. Cost difference if any depends on cities and dates you fly.

Prosim, Dana. I can see that you speak Czech, which is good. There are still some people there who don't speak English.

Thanks, Andrew H. I usually do book open jaw and have traveled to nice places after my English camp responsibilities but this year, because of cost, I need to book in & out of Prague and we will use the time to explore, Czech Republic, Poland, and maybe Slovakia. There are so many places we have to see. We love the mountainous region near where we stay in Třinec , Návsí, Písek and Český Těšín. And, have loved visiting Prague for a few days when we fly in and out. So, this will be fun and more relaxed.
Ilja - is there a nice wine region in Czech Republic and is it reachable via bus or only rental car? I was trying to avoid renting a car since trains are so inexpensive in Czech Republic. Also, is it a problem to drive over from Czech Republic to Poland in rental car? Also was interested in Boleslawiec, Poland for pottery but not sure if it is pure touristy and souvenirs and just as easy to find pottery at good prices in Cieszyn where we can go on our free time easily and close by while in Třinec. I have very little knowledge of Czech language and it was one of my goals to learn but it is difficult! So, I know some basic words to get me by with greetings, thank yous, and to order a beer or čaj. :) I need to learn more!

Yes, there is a nice wine region in C.R. and it is reachable by public transport. It is south and southeastern Moravia (eastern province of C.R. The western one is called Bohemia). Read chapter Mikulov Wine Region in Rick Steves book Prague & the Czech Republic. It is part of SE Moravia region. There are many wineries and wine cellars in that area. If you are interested in tasting high quality wines go to Valtice salon vin. http://www.salonvin.cz . You can switch it to English. They have 100 samples of the best wines in C.R. Whites are one of the best anywhere. Of course, I don't recommend to taste them all. Caution: there is zero tolerance of alcohol behind the wheel in C.R. Use public transport. Very picturesque wine cellars are in Petrov close to Straznice. About 40 km from Mikulov. To see pictures google wine cellars Plze in Petrov. It is not in R.S. book.

Thank you so much everybody for such great suggestions!

Just wanted to update. I have a friend who is living in Brno so we are traveling from NE CZ to Brno and staying with her one day and then she's taking us to Lednice the next day. From there, I think we will go to Slovakia and Budapest. We would like to see some other Czech towns either on the way from Lednice or after Budapest. We don't have to go to Slovakia either but would welcome any advice. Basically we'll leave Lednice on a Sunday evening or Monday morning and don't have to be back to Prague until the next Sunday evening. Probably traveling by train. Thanks in advance!

Can anyone suggest a guidebook that includes these places, especially Brno? Lonely Planet? Fodors? Thanks.

Ilja & others: I wanted to let you know what we did because it was a fabulous trip in Czech Republic. We'd been to many of the bigger spots and this was the first time I rented a car on a foreign trip but I loved the freedom to roam! We had a week on Southern Moravia and it was beautiful. We saw 13 castles! DIdn't run in to one American or many English speaking tourists for about 5 days!
Brno & Palava - We started out in Brno and stayed two nights with friends and they took us all around Lednice, Mikulov (LOVED this little picturesque town), all around Palava and Klentnice - beautiful coffee shops (Cafe Ferra), churches, countryside and wineries. Then back to Brno and we toured St. Peter's Cathedral and ate at a little restaurant below the cathedral -L' Eau Vive. Walked around the town square, took in a farmer's market and then went and walked around Spilberk Park & Castle grounds.
Znojmo - stayed in Znojmo at a pension with a vineyard on the river (Kaplanka) - beautiful town with scenic views, incredible wines, and cute shops plus the Znojmo Castle and the Rotunda of St. Catherine was very, very interesting & beautiful with it's original frescos. Pro tip - don't park in public areas marked for residents. Got a ticket & boot on my rental car but the Czech police were very nice and the fine wasn't too hefty. We drove to Branisovice and ate at a cute restaurant (U Cisarske Cesty), and drove through picturesque Narodni Park, stopping in little towns and seeing the sites and churches.
We then visited Vranov nad Dyji and toured the Vranov nad Dyjí Chateau, visited castle ruins in Cornštejn, and then Bítov Castle (this was a great castle).
Spent the night in Telc and wandered around this cute town - very quiet after tourists leave in the evening and we stayed very economically in a pension on the square.
we then went to Jindřichův Hradec (we just toured a part of this but the artwork was amazing, Červená Lhota (the red castle situated down a wooded path and situated in the middle of a lake), and then made our way to Cesky Krumlov. I had been there before but my traveling buddy had not. We stayed at an AirBnB owned by the same person who owned Krumlov House - a great hostel I'd stayed at there before. Moonlight walk through town and through the castle grounds was a great close to a busy day of castle sightseeing. On our way to Prague, we stopped at Hluboká Castle which is a historic château situated in Hluboká nad Vltavou. It was a beautiful castle. When we got to Prague, I took a great free tour from GoodTours and it left from our hotel lobby. Even though I'd been to Prague before, the tour was very informative and entertaining and I learned so much more! It ended up costing me about 10 Euros with my tip for the tour guide. Ilja - thank you for encouraging me to tour more of Czech Republic. I really enjoyed taking my time and stopping in little towns, driving through the amazing countryside. I highly recommend this "out of the big cities' tour of Czech Republic!

Thank you, Dana, for coming back with report of your trip. It could inspire few more people to do the same. It is a nice feedback.