Mikulov
Picturesque but totally underrated, Mikulov and its castle sit precariously on a hill in the centre of the flat wine-growing region of Palava, a UNESCO-designated biospheric reservation. One of South Moravia's highlights, Mikulov has some very impressive monuments, but it should come as no surprise that Mikulov is most popular for its excellent white wines. It's very close to the border with Austria and is a perfect stop-off to or from Vienna.
The castle, perched over the west side of the town, has been painstakingly restored after being burned by the Germans in WW II. The museum includes local archaeology and natural history, paintings and weapons, but the best displays are on regional folk traditions and wine making. In the cellar is the largest wine barrel in central Europe.
Mikulov used to have a strong Jewish community and still has a synagogue, though it was damaged during WW II and neglected during Communist rule. There's also a 15th-century Jewish Cemetery. The town's main square has many Renaissance and Baroque houses and churches to linger over, including the town hall, the graffitoed Canon's Houses and the Dietrichstein Family Vault. Hiking enthusiasts will enjoy the good walks in the surrounding hills, with ruined castles and superb views of the Mikulov area.
Have pipe, will party! (20K)
Zlata Koruna
At little Zlata Koruna (Gold Crown) above the Vltava you'll find one of the country's best preserved Gothic structures - a Cistercian Monastery, founded in 1263 by Premysl Otakar II to demonstrate his power in the region. The village's main square is actually built inside the monastery. Originally called the Saintly Crown of Thorns, in later wealthier days the monastery was renamed the Gold Crown (hence the town's name). In 1420 it was damaged by the Hussites, and later restored. The Monastery Cathedral, completed at the end of the 13th century, is clearly Gothic despite its facelift.
For literary types, the mostly Gothic frescoed walled complex also houses a Museum of South Bohemian Literature, but equally interesting is the oldest part of the monastery, the vaulted chapterhouse and the Gothic church.
The Czech Republic's rolling hills and low mountains are perfect for hearty hiking, especially in the Sumava of western and southern Bohemia and the Krkonose mountains in northern Bohemia. Climbers should head to the Sandstone Rocks of the Labe in northern Bohemia and cavers should check out the Moravian Karst area north of Brno. The prime boating river is the scenic but unfortunately polluted Sazava.
Downhill skiing is plentiful, popular and relatively cheap in the Czech Republic, though facilities are not up to Western European standards and queues are long. Hired gear is generally of poor quality, so it's best to bring your own equipment. The country's best downhill skiing can be found at Spindleruv mlyn in the Krkonose between January and early April; Sumava has the best cross-country skiing trails.
Getting There & Away
Scheduled international flights arrive only at the capital, Prague, which is connected worldwide by at least two dozen international carriers, including CSA (Ceske aerolinie), the old state-run airline. Buying tickets in the republic won't save you much money, so if you're only going to the one destination, take advantage of the lower cost of a return (round-trip) ticket bought at home. Alternatively, consider arriving by train, as it's the easiest (if not the cheapest) way to get from Western Europe to the Czech Republic. There are some 18 rail crossings into the republic. By road, visitors can enter the republic at over 30 points, and the list is growing all the time.
Getting Around
Internal flights are available within the Czech Republic, with regular connections between Prague-Ostrava and Prague-Brno. Czech Railways provides clean, efficient train service to almost every part of the country, though express buses are often faster and more convenient than the train. Buses are more expensive, but, by European standards, both are cheap. Car, motorbike and bicycle are ideal ways to see the republic, and, in Prague, feet, trams and the metro are the best ways to get around.
Recommended Reading
- The Europe-based journalist Timothy Garton Ash's We the People: the Revolutions of 1989 features gripping I-was-there accounts of the revolutions that swept away the region's old guard in 1989.
- William Shawcross' Dubcek & Czechoslovakia is a biography of the late leader of Prague's original Spring, with a hasty post-1989 update. Another biography is Michael Simmons' The Reluctant President: A Political Life of Vaclav Havel.
- Several books by the dissident-turned-president, Vaclav Havel, offer an 'inside' view. Disturbing the Peace is a collection of recent historical musings. Letters to Olga is a collection of letters to his wife from prison in the 1980s. Living in Truth is a series of absorbing political essays.
- Milan Kundera is one of the Czech Republic's best-known authors-in-exile, who wrote about life under the Communist regime. His best novel is probably Joke; two other notable works are The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.
Other good reads are Cowards by Josef Skvorecký, The Ship Named Hope by Ivo Klima and anything by Bohumil Hrabal.
- Jaroslav Hasek's The Good Soldier Svejk is good low-brow WW I humour about the trials of the republic's literary mascot, written in instalments from Prague's pubs.
- Bruce Chatwin's Utz is a quiet, absorbing novella about a porcelain collector in Prague's old Jewish quarter.