Cesky Krumlov
EUROPE · SIESTA SIDE
A UNESCO town folded into a double bend of the Vltava: red roofs, a painted castle tower and bears in the moat. Stay the night.
The plan
Castle tower first thing
Climb the painted tower before the coaches arrive for the classic red-roof photo. Tower and museum are a separate ticket.
📍 Map & photos · € · Website ↗
Baroque Theatre tour
One of the very few 18th-century theatres left with its original machinery. Summer only, tiny groups, so book online early.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Raft the river bend
Rented inflatables float you through town and over the weir in half an hour, or all day downstream to Zlata Koruna.
📍 Map & photos · €€
Egon Schiele Art Centrum
Schiele's mother came from here and he scandalised the town in 1911. Big converted brewery, strong rotating modern shows.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Sleep here, do not day-trip
Once the last bus goes the lanes empty and the town changes completely. Cheapest beds are up the hill on Latran.
Getting there
Bus from Prague
RegioJet and FlixBus run direct from Na Knizeci in about three hours. Book ahead in summer, because the buses sell out.
Train via Ceske Budejovice
Three and a half hours with one change. The last leg is a slow branch line through forest and worth taking for itself.
Shuttle from Austria
Door-to-door minibuses run from Salzburg, Linz and Vienna in around three hours, a common hop for cross-border trips.
When to go
Best time to go
Late May and September: warm river, castle season running, fewer coaches
Cheapest months
November to March, though the castle interiors close for the winter
Priciest & busiest
July and August, plus the Five-Petalled Rose weekend in June
If you've got one day
Morning
Walk the empty lanes from Svornosti Square up to the castle and across the cloaked bridge before nine.
Late morning
Castle tower and the bear moat, then wander up into the terraced baroque gardens above the town.
Lunch
Spit-roast meat at Krcma v Satlavske, or a riverside terrace with a glass of Eggenberg lager.
Afternoon
Float the bend on a rented raft, or cross to the Egon Schiele Art Centrum if the weather turns.
Evening
Cocktails in the stone cellar at Zapa Bar, then live Roma guitar and violin at Cikanska jizba.
Nearby & day trips
Hluboka nad Vltavou
A white neo-Gothic fantasy castle modelled on Windsor, an hour north with a change at Ceske Budejovice.
Zlata Koruna monastery
Gothic Cistercian abbey ten minutes downriver, reachable by bike, local bus or the end of a rafting day.
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