Trip Report: 3 Days in Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Kutna Hora

Day 1: Prague

It was snowing flurries in the morning, and although it was accompanied with a gray overcast, there was this magical atmosphere, as if Christmas had come early. Granted, it’s probably objectively not that special, but I never see snow where I come from in California, and this was my first (and in hindsight, one of the four days) snow day in Europe, which was exciting. Because there was no rush to explore the city since I knew that I was coming back, I decided to partake in a free walking tour, something that I typically don’t do. It was actually quite informative, and even a year later, I learned some cool pieces of information and visited some interesting sites that I otherwise would’ve overlooked. Beginning in the Prague Christmas Market area, the gothic (and I’d learned during this trip, asymmetrical) spires shrouded in snow, we explored the Jewish Quarter of the city. From there, we walked across the Charles Bridge, an amazing stone-covered bridge, reminding me a bit of Cordoba’s one, with statues guarding it. I forgot what to do specifically, but the guide told us something about making a wish underneath a statue on the bridge, which was cool lore. We ended up finishing at these modern murals on the castle-side of Prague, a hidden gem that I never would’ve discovered otherwise, and after splitting, I made the walk up to the Prague Castle. To avoid some redundancies (since I visited the castle more in-depth with my family), I’ll brush over it in this entry, but all I’ll say is that the Cathedral is mind-bogglingly massive, and I was excited to see it with my family.

After treading carefully down the stairs from the castle, practically clinging onto the railing to avoid slipping on the ice, I wandered around to the massive green space behind the castle. Granted, it wasn’t particularly green with all the snowfall and Queen Anne’s palace and gardens were closed during the wintertime, but between the glistening snow on hedges and branches and the untouched swathes of white in front of some cool buildings (not to mention some spectacular, if clouded, views of the castle), it was an enjoyable detour. With nightfall rapidly approaching, I made a quick stop to explore the rustic, cobbled pathways and canals around the small island underneath the famous bridge (the same pathways that would cause my parents a bit of trouble when lugging suitcases) before heading back into the city to check out the Christmas markets. The central one, surrounded by beautiful apartment buildings with colorful exteriors and amazing stonework, not to mention the massive Christmas tree, was quite busy and bustling. The second one, located in Wenceslas Square, was surprisingly even more packed, though mildly less charming and picturesque, being surrounded by more modern, commercial buildings and cars. Still, the backdrop of the National Museum, with its majestic white columns and jade-colored roof, was spectacular. As the snowstorm intensified and because it was a very early day tomorrow, I decided to make one last pass at the Prague Castle, completely shrouded by the snow from the other side of the bridge, before walking back to the hostel.

Day 2: Cesky Krumlov

I had to wake up pretty early to take the bus to Cesky Krumlov since it’s a 2.5 hour ride away, though it was less of a struggle than usual for reasons mentioned in overall thoughts. It was a bit difficult to navigate to the correct bus platform when arriving from the metro because the signs were in Czech and the online guides with the information were outdated (the left side staircase at the stairwell furthest away from the metro entrance is the one to aim for). Once I arrived there, pretty much the entirety of the day was just spent aimlessly wandering around the town, which was small but packed with picturesque buildings and views, especially since everything was covered in snow. Of course, the first (and perhaps most distinctive feature) of Cesky Krumlov is the chateau towering over the buildings, with its darkened stone walls and distinctive spire (which looked a bit like a minaret) that had these pretty pink columns. Naturally, I decided to check out the chateau first, but, maybe a bit embarrassingly, I can’t remember anything about the small museum in the chateau–not even the handful of photos that I took jogged my memory. I will say, though, that there are some amazing views from up-top, capturing the colorful houses bordering the moat and Parish Church jutting out in the distance. From there, I wandered the outskirts of the town, which didn’t have much outside of walls and trees, though they were quite pretty because of the snow, enjoying the small reprieve from the bustle of the center.

After trekking back to town, I began exploring the path around the river, whose clean and still waters created some beautiful reflections of the apartments lining it. As snowfall resumed, I headed more inland, stumbling upon a modest synagogue, before continuing my river wanderings in the north-side of the town, where the yellow and red buildings more tightly hugged its banks. There were some cool sights along the way: the massive stone arches underlying the walkways in the chateau, the restaurant balconies and buildings overhanging some canals that reminded me a bit of Annecy, and, of course, the Christmas market. It was small and cute, something fit for the town of its size, though the Christmas tree seemed a bit sad, its branches weighed down by all the snow on it. Despite the harsh orange light from the streetlamps, as night began setting in, Cesky Krumlov was well-lit and pretty at night. The chateau looked especially grand, a wall of light towering over the darkened town–same with the church, though perhaps a bit more ethreally, bathed in a soft light. After wandering on the outskirts of the chateau and walking through some string-light lit streets, I headed to the bus station to head back to Prague.

When I was at the bus stop, I noticed that there were very few people waiting around, and none for the bus that I was taking, even with about ten minutes until pick-up time. Around that time, I pulled up the instructions to recheck, and after some long finagling, managed to get the coordinates of the pick-up spot… which was not the same spot as where I’d been dropped off and located halfway across the town (20 minutes from my location). Because that was the last bus of the day, to say that I ran to the new pick-up point was an understatement–I sprinted there like a maniac, somehow not slipping on the icy sidewalks in my worn-down sneakers. I managed to make it there in eight minutes only to get notified that: 1) The bus had been officially delayed by 15 minutes and 2) The bus driver waited an additional 15 minutes. To make things worse (or funnier in hindsight), the first stop that the bus made after moving was at the spot that I was originally waiting at, meaning that I could’ve just waited there. Well, I suppose the cardio was nice. By the time that I got back to Prague, it was late, but I decided to wander around just one more time. Even though all the Christmas stalls were closed, there was still this beauty in the empty plaza, the calm after the evening bustle.

Day 3: Kutna Hora and Prague

After having been woken up again in the very early morning (details will be in my overall thoughts), I decided against going for the train at 10 and opted for the 11 am train in an attempt to give myself a bit more sleep. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at the train route details closely enough on google and failed to realize that the 11 am train was not direct, with a connection that looked a bit tight, and because of that, I ended up heading out at noon and landing there at about 1, an issue given that all three main attractions closed at 4, with the crown jewel of the town, the St. Barbara’s Cathedral, being located 40 min away from the other two. It was very tight logistically speaking, and I wished that I had left at 10, but I managed to make it work. I began at the Ossuary, which had banned photography due to the sensitive nature of the contents stored there (it’s called the bone church for a reason), but I’ll describe it the best that I can. It’s a, well, stark, bone-white church, with goblets composed of arm-bones and skulls next to the short, descending staircase, and intricately stacked pyramids of bones in each of the room’s corners, all topped with a large gold crown. One of the corners had a shield-insignia composed of, well, bones, but the true centerpiece of this church is a gorgeous but extremely creepy chandelier in the center, comprised of a delicate string of arm-bones with skulls making up the center, with a set of candle lit skull altars located below it. While smaller than I had anticipated (only one room), it was definitely eye-opening and memorable.

From there, I headed to the cathedral nearby, and it was decent but not spectacular. It’s this sparse but graceful cathedral with tall, cream colored walls and a small arrangement of statues and information. Perhaps the most memorable thing about it were the two mummified priests next to the central altar, adorned in coffins of gold and silver, with other fancy decorations and paintings around them. The outskirts of the Kutna Hora, which is where the two churches are located, wasn’t that impressive, definitely the “new town,” and strangely empty but got a bit livelier as I trudged through the snow into the cute Old Town that I had to rush through to get to the St. Barbara’s Cathedral. It’s no wonder that it’s considered the crown-jewel of the city, with thin, tall spires gracing the exteriors and merging with the lower floor walls, separated by gorgeous stained glass windows (visible only from the interiors), and connected with the upper floors with a set arches. And it was topped off with these beautiful curved spires, dusted with a thin layer of the snow. While the interior architecture was simple, with tall graceful arches and an expansive ceiling, it highlighted the most beautiful aspects of the church, such as the stunning and vivid stained glass work, an obvious highlight for a stained glass fanatic myself, or the well-preserved (though slightly faded colorwise) wall frescos behind the altar. There was a second flood with sculptures and history but given the limited time that I had, I only briefly looked at them before hiking all the way back to the train station, not before catching some spectacular hillside photos of the cathedral.

Back in Prague, I got notified that my flight had been delayed 2 hours, so with that extra time, I decided to explore the Christmas markets more thoroughly. The Wenclas one, which was near the train station, was a bit too commercial for my tastes, being surrounded by more modern buildings and lots of shopping, and I found the Old Square market to be more charming. I got some great pics of the lively Christmas market, bustling with people, from the central viewpoint and even experienced a brief lights show from the Christmas tree while I was up there. From there, I decided to just walk to the castle, hoping to catch some views of the city from high in the hills, but was pleasantly surprised that the castle was still open for visitors late at night. I swear, this must be Prague’s best kept secret because the castle was basically empty, with maybe 20-40 people walking around, unlike the jam-packed hordes during the daytime, which is a massive surprise because I would argue that the castle is even more beautiful at night. The warm lighting helped highlight all of the tinier details that were hard to pick-up in the gloom of the day, such as the lovely floral patterning of the cathedral windows or the ornamentation on the spies and the patterning on the rooftop. The rounded backside of the cathedral, which strongly resembled St. Barbara, had harsher lighting that made the central building appear more imposing and striking, and with a cute, little Christmas tree in the foreground, made for some wonderful pics. Although my trip to Prague had some ups and downs (which are to be listed in overall thoughts), this was the perfect way to end my trip.

Final Ratings:

Prague: 9/10
Cesky Krumlov: 8/10
Kutna Hora: 7.5/10

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, I had a great experience exploring Prague and nearby cities, especially with the small snowstorms that gave these places a truly wintry feel, even if it was still only autumn. While I’ve seen and experienced snow before when my family visits Lake Tahoe, I’ve never seen it in a big city, certainly not one as big and majestic as Prague. I don’t know why it fascinated me so much, but there’s just something beautiful about just wandering around, checking out streets filled with multi-colored buildings and seeing church spires emerge from the mist, with snow falling around you. Because the focus of my trip wasn’t particularly about exploring Prague since I knew that I would be returning, this trip definitely felt different compared to my prior ones. It felt like a whirlwind trip, which was not necessarily a bad thing–it was quite exciting to jump around from place to place, attempting to explore and see as much as possible within a day. Of course, these whirlwind trips do get limited by early darkness, which is a bit of a shame, but summer can’t last forever. On another note, transportation from the airport to the city-center was relatively hassle free, even if it’s a bit awkward that the metro station does not directly connect with the airport, so you have to transfer to a bus. I recall trains being alright too (I believe you have to go to a ticketing station with a person to buy tickets so be sure to be aware of that), even if I had a bit of a debacle. And of course, something that I’ll probably harp on over and over again, particularly in my next entry, the weather was getting increasingly cold, which made exploration increasingly difficult for me.

As for the hostel, I’m going to be honest and say that I was totally miserable at that hostel, easily my worst hostel experience–minus the very nice shower. I got virtually no good sleep every night since I would be constantly woken up at 5 am by extremely drunk people who would turn on the lights and be loud and disruptive, which was absolutely infuriating. To make matters worse, on my last night, the guy below me was going at it with this girl at, well, 5 am for a solid 30-60 minutes. While I don’t mind social hostels and have had mostly pleasant experiences, this hostel was a bad fit for me, where all social activities revolved around drinking, something that I don’t really partake in. It was one of the few times where I was so relieved to finally leave because I could actually get some quality sleep since I felt like I was partially sleep-walking through my experience in the Czech Republic (though unfortunately, the aforementioned 2 hour flight delay morphed into a 3+ hour one, and I ended up reaching my apartment at 4 am).

Next week will be the Baltics (Tallinn and Riga). As I’ve hinted a bit more than a year back, I encountered some issues that I’m still a bit livid about, though I did my best not to let it taint my trip. As a heads up, It’s going to be a bit of a shorter entry than usual, just as a consequence of the aforementioned issues, but I’m hoping that it’ll still be a worthwhile read. I’ll see you then!

Pics: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGb3VixN2A/F_LIxdh-9AZwwFL2i1-Low/edit?utm_content=DAGb3VixN2A&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Your trip report is quiet fascinating. It is great that you are finally getting around to finishing it up. Prague is such a beautiful city, and it is awesome that you were able to dive deeper into it with your family, especially with all the changes in your plans. Looking forward to hearing more about your other trips!

Hey, welcome back!!! I really enjoyed your previous reports and pictures and look forward to more. My next trip includes Prague, so I can’t wait to hear about your return.

Welcome Back! Your writing is so vivid I feel like I'm experiencing your walkabouts. Your photos are fabulous. I especially enjoy the ones with a water way included as it seems to give them a 3D depth. You have a wonderful catalogue of Churches and Castles. I am looking forward to your next trip.

Great to see you back! Thanks for sharing more of your travel stories with us. I've enjoyed all of them.

@listing - Thanks! It was definitely amazing to be able to revisit the city with my family (having been there before made navigation so much easier).

@Carrie - Thank you! I hope that your trip to Prague goes well.

@Kathleen - Thanks! Those water reflection shots were some of my favorite to take. There's something about them that was so mesmerizing.

@Mary - Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying them.