We were in Prague less than two days before deciding to take off to Český Krumlov for a night. Looking at the long range weather forecast, we only had a few more days of high temperatures above 70°F (22° C) before a steep drop to around 55° F (13°C) or less. It took us no time to realize that this was the perfect opportunity for an overnight trip.
In 2009 Stephanie and I planned to spend two nights in Český Krumlov after a week in Prague. But we enjoyed Prague so much that we cancelled the excursion and stayed the extras days in Prague. As much as we looked forward to returning to Prague after all these years, we were perhaps more excited to visit Český Krumlov. Its historic city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described as an intact, small European medieval town.
Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.
A cursory search for train tickets led us to České dráhy (and its app, Můj vlak), perhaps the best website I have ever used for train tickets. The search function is simple and easy to use, and the results are clearly and logically displayed. Crucially it does have an English language option. It took about five minutes to buy two second class, reserved seat tickets.
Tickets are delivered by two different methods, an email with a pdf document attached and via a QR code in the app. I found the app so easy to use that I never bothered with the email tickets.
Trains travel between Hlavní město Praha (Prague hl.n., the main train station) and Český Krumlov several times daily. Once a day, though, there is a direct train between Prague and Český Krumlov; otherwise, you will have to transfer trains in České Budějovice. We took the direct train in both directions.
8:30 AM: Our trip begins on Thursday morning with a five minute walk to Praha-Smíchov, the train station closest to our Airbnb. After a seven minute train trip to the main train station and a short wait, we boarded the 9:21 AM direct train to Český Krumlov. Thankfully we had air conditioning and wi-fi aboard the train.
11:55 AM: We arrive in Český Krumlov and start the twenty minute walk into old town. On the train we decided that Restaurant Jelenka looked like a good lunch option. Nope. It was completely filled by a large tour group and closed to other customers until dinner.
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM: Next choice, Restaurant 99. It is a tourist restaurant with prices to match. On the plus side, we were the only ones there, the service was great, and the food was pretty good. Stephanie ordered pork belly with spinach and dumplings. I couldn’t resist a BBQ quesadilla with a Krumlov lager. The beer was really good. We will have to look for it in Prague.
Had we known about the Krumlov brewery in town, we would have arranged for a brewery tour. Damn.
1:30 PM to 1:45 PM: We locate our hotel for the night, Largo Pension, and check in early. After dropping off our overnight bag it is time to head out to explore.
By the way, Largo is a great hotel and highly recommended.
1:45 PM to 2:15 PM: Our first stop is at Kostel svatého Víta (Church of St. Vitus), which occupies the highest point in vnitřní město (inner city). From there we walk over to náměstí svornosti (the main square), specifically the Infocentrum (tourist information center).
The tourist information center sells the Český Krumlov Gold Card, i.e. the tourist card. For 400 Kč (about $17), the card holder gets one admission into each of the following five museums (with the separate admission prices noted): Státní hrad Muzeum and zámecká věž (castle museum and tower, 180 Kč); Klášterní Muzeum (monastery museum, 150 Kč); Egon Schiele Art Centrum (art museum, 220 Kč); Muzeum Fotoatelier Seidel (photography museum, 170 Kč); and, the Regionální Muzeum (regional museum, 60 Kč).
Our thought process was that if we go to any two of those museums, then buying Gold Cards makes sense. In hindsight we might have done things differently, which I’ll explain later.
2:15 PM to 2:45 PM: As we walk over to Klášterní Muzeum, we notice that the number of tour groups has picked up considerably, and that most of the tourists are in groups. There are random couples like us, a few families and solo travelers, but not many. Thankfully Český Krumlov is not crowded whatsoever.
I cannot fathom how jam packed this small town must get in the summer. It must be near unbearable at its busiest.
The monastery museum, church, and chapel are pretty small. The black Madonna is perhaps the most unique exhibit; St. Wolfgang’s Chapel the most interesting. Not one tour group is at the monastery museum, but there is a school group hanging out in the church.
2:45 PM to 3:15 PM: We walk around the Latrán neighborhood (okay, that took about five minutes) and then go up the hill to the castle to explore the courtyards, plášťový most (Cloak bridge), and various viewpoints overlooking town.
3:15 PM to 4:00 PM: Since we have Gold Cards we might as well use them at the Egon Schiele Art Centrum (ESAC). The current exhibition on the first floor is paintings by Janz Franz from Austria. Personally not to our taste and not very interesting.
The upper floors include an exhibit showcasing 30 years of ESAC through the large posters used to advertise its exhibitions. Those are pretty cool. There is also an exhibit of paintings by Ivana Lomova, art by Egon Schiele, and photographs from Joseph Seidel. The photographs, mostly taken of Český Krumlov in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are by far the best part of ESAC.
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM: Back to the hotel for a rest. Walking on uneven cobblestones all afternoon does a number on your feet.
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM: An evening stroll through town … and more photographs taken from viewpoints at the castle.
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM: Dinner at Švejk. Beef cheeks, mashed potatoes and a beer for Stephanie; rabbit leg, mashed potatoes and a beer for me. Good food and a great atmosphere. Stephanie has a good track record at finding great dinner restaurants in small towns.
8:00 PM to 8:30 PM: We couldn’t quite bring ourselves to go back to the hotel just yet, so we grabbed a table on the outside terrace at Krumlovský mlýn and ordered beers and deserts (apple strudel, blueberry pancakes). Now being sufficiently stuffed, it is back to the hotel for the night.
7:30 AM to 8:15 AM: My Friday morning begins with a walk through town to take photographs before the tourists are out in force. While few tourists are out, apparently schools start between 7:45 and 8:00 AM as there are kids walking everywhere. Stephanie sleeps in.
8:15 AM to 9:00 AM: Stephanie and I have breakfast at Largo. Provided for hotel guests are typical European (bread, meat, cheese, pastries) and American (cereal, fruit, yogurt, pastries) breakfast spreads, with juice, milk, and coffee. Made to order eggs are also available. After breakfast it is time for us to check out.
9:00 AM: Back to Infocentrum to drop off our overnight bag. Luggage storage is offered for 50 Kč (about $2.25) per day per bag. Because Largo does not have a reception area, and we were effectively locked out of the building without a key upon check out, we decided it would be easier and more practical to store our luggage at Infocentrum rather than trying to leave it at the hotel.
At this point let me make an observation about suitcases. Don’t bring them. For one or two nights, bring what you need in a backpack or tote bag. But if you must bring a suitcase, find a taxi to drive into the city center to get you to your accommodations. You don’t want to drag your suitcase across town on cobblestones. No one wants to listen to you do so either.
9:10 AM to 9:30 AM: We are at Státní hrad Muzeum and zámecká věž to visit the castle museum and tower, free with our Gold Cards. The museum is comprised of about a dozen rooms featuring some paintings, furniture, glassware, porcelain, armor, and so on. Laminated brochures are available in each room describing the exhibits. Free audio guides are available by phone from a QR code.
We went through the museum as slowly as we could. It was a pretty boring 20 minutes.
9:30 AM to 10:00 AM: It is finally time to climb the castle tower. The steps are plenty wide and very easy to navigate. Of course the view from the top is fantastic.
The castle sells one ticket for both the museum and the tower. There is no option to buy a ticket solely to the tower. Pretty smart if the castle wants to sell museum tickets. Too bad you can’t pay 50 Kč to climb the tower and skip the museum.
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM: It is a beautiful day, so we decide to walk through zámecká zahrada (the castle gardens). During this time we take a seat and buy our train tickets back to Prague. We did not buy return tickets earlier as we were not sure when we were going to leave.
Somehow we are assigned the exact same train car and seat numbers (367 / 95, 96) as on the train here.
11:00 AM to 11:45 AM: Why not go to the Muzeum Fotoatelier Seidel? Sure, it is on the other side of town, but that is less than a ten minute walk away. Besides, we can get in with our Gold Cards.
Surprisingly this is a pretty interesting museum. It is the house and studio of Josef Seidel. The photography darkroom (still with a faint, but unmistakable chemical smell), office, and residential rooms are essentially restored to the early 20th century. The photography studio is still in operation. If you desire a portrait set in the early 1900s, this is your place.
11:45 AM to 12:00 PM: We walk around trying to decide where to go for lunch. You would not think it would be so difficult. There are more choices here than you can imagine.
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch at Kebab & Pizza Krumlov, where we order two dӧner kebabs and a water. Very, very good. The total cost is less than half of our lunch the day before at Restaurant 99.
1:00 PM to 1:45 PM: We stop by the Infocentrum to grab our bag and walk to the train station. Along the way we run into a convenience store for drinks and a candy bars.
2:07 PM to 4:39 PM: On the direct train back to Prague. At Prague hl.n. we transfer trains, arriving in Praha-Smíchov just before 5:00 PM.
All in all it was a near perfect overnight trip.
Would we have done anything differently? Maybe. We thought about spending two nights in Český Krumlov, but one night turned out to be enough. If the weather was perfect (instead of the forecast for rain on Saturday) we just might have stayed another night.
Český Krumlov receives a large number of day trippers, so early mornings and late afternoon and evenings are much less crowded, and more enjoyable.
In hindsight I think we should have skipped the Gold Pass and gone to different activities. The monastery museum, ESAC, and castle museum were interesting enough, but not great.
For us, a better itinerary probably would have been the castle tour I (state rooms from the 16th to 18th centuries, 240 Kč), the Baroque theater tour (supposedly the “best preserved Baroque theater in Europe”, 240 Kč), and the Krumlov Brewery tour (250 Kč). Perhaps the photography museum, too.
Maybe next time. We can definitely see visiting Český Krumlov again one day.
Garrett and Stephanie
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