Kutna Hora
Just an hour and half outside of Prague is Kutna Hora, famous for its “skull church”(Sedlec Ossuary) and Saint Barbara’s Cathedral overlooking the hilly town. You can get to Kutna Hora in a number of ways. I rented a car, but you can also try buses and trains. When I was there, there was no direct bus or train, so be prepared to transfer one or two times. Another reason one might want to rent a car is that the Sedlec Ossuary and the Saint Barbara’s Cathedral are about 40 minutes hilly walk apart due to historic reasons. Albeit, it’s a very scenic walk through the UNESCO world heritage recognized Kutna Hora town center. Alternatively, you can join one of the many tours that take you to Kutna Hora, potentially saving a lot of trouble and hassle.
No pictures are allowed in the ossuary, which makes perfect sense to me as the skulls and bones are actual exhumed human bones from 40000 individuals interred on this holy ground. Some respect for them should be exercised. One thing to note is that you probably should not wait to get the tickets at the ossuary, but rather from the tourism office nearby as the ossuary only sells souvenirs. I would recommend getting a Kutna Hora set ticket which also includes the Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist nearby, as well as St. Barbara’s Cathedral. Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist allows you to visit the roof structure to understand the engineering marvels hidden from plain sight.
Fear of missing the opening times, I drove up behind St. Barbara’s Cathedral and started there. Despite its fame, the Cathedral did not have as many people as many of Prague’s sites; I really recommend this if you need a quieter day or wish to enjoy the sites without thousands of people around you.
St. Barbara’s Cathedral presented a wealth of knowledge which also meant long explanation boards. Be prepared to stand around a lot to read through everything.(see my previous post on Prague). Alternatively, you can read up on it before heading there; it might be less painful for your body.
Outside of St. Barbara’s Cathedral is what I think the best part of Kutna Hora is: a quiet and historic underground chapel and a gorgeous view from the vineyard towards the hilly town.
An elevated bridge/path leads you from St. Barbara’s Cathedral straight to the old town, with ample opportunities for pictures. If you are visiting during the summer months, be sure to stop by the Museum of Silver to visit the silver mine that made Kutna Hora one of the most important cities in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Before heading to the Italian Court, I enjoyed a filling but budget-friendly lunch inside the town of Kutna Hora. This is where Wenceslas II set up the royal mint of Bohemia.
When you get to the ticket office, you can choose three routes to visit unless you buy all three routes. This brings me to an important note for you: everything is charged separately, be sure to ask what the final cost is for using a credit card(if you are using it) for visiting all the parts you’d like to see. Otherwise, you will constantly be surprised by the extra charges. More on this later.
As with the case of many castles in Czech, some parts require tour guides to lead you. English proficiency amongst the tour guides that I met outside of the sites of Prague is not as high as in some European Countries, so please still read up before you go.
With that, I wrapped up the day. Many tourists retreat back to Prague around sunset time. I took one last stroll through the quieter streets of Kutna Hora before heading back to Prague.
Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov is another day/2 day trip I would recommend. The Vltava River carved out a horseshoe-shaped land in Southern Bohemia. I went on a day trip but you can certainly fit in 2 days’ worth of sightseeing.
If you are driving, CK has a few paid parking lots outside of the old town that also accept credit cards. You can also take the bus or train which have you transfer at Ceske Budejovice. Whichever transport you choose to take, it will take you around two to three hours.
The old town of CK has all the classic European city appeal with the addition of river view and height differences between many of the structures. Most notably the Cesky Krumlov Castle, the Cloak Bridge, and Saint Vitus Cathedral are reflective of the height of importance of, royalty and religion over the common lives during medieval times, or even now.
I would certainly recommend taking some time to walk through the castle, the cathedral, and the bridge. During my visit, the interior of the cathedral was closed due to the low season(winter). Many castles around Czech will close in the winter season so please check and purchase tickets before you go. The castle ground is still worth visiting though; it also connects to the Cloak Bridge and the castle garden which is perched high above the old town. The Cloak Bridge boasts some of the most fantastic views towards the Old Town and acts as the only pathway between the castle and the castle’s gardens, so it can get crowded. If you’d like some photos with you under the arch of the Cloak Bridge, be prepared to wait.
If you have time, you can check out the Monastery of the Minorites, tucked in an alley close to the castle, or the sundial at the northern end of the town. The hours of the monastery can be tricky, especially in the winter, and you are limited to forty minutes for the duration of your visit. There is also an exciting metalworking shop where you can try holding an actual broad sword!
Karlstejn Castle
Turns out the Christmas-New year season is a “low season” for Prague, the crowd certainly suggested otherwise. Karlstejn stood as one of three famous castles that were open during the holiday periods. I certainly did not regret visiting this castle though.
Trains and cars both stop just outside of the castle in the town of Karlstejn by the river. It’s a nice shop-lined 20-minute walk uphill from the riverside to the entrance of the castle. Alternatively, you can try a horse-pulled wagon or a mini-bus. The operator is by a private individual or company so do bring plenty of cash if you were to use the wagon or the bus.
You will need to book time-boxed tours to enter the Karstejn Castle. The base tour is the imperial residence tour. Although, I would highly recommend the chapels tour which showcases the most impressive portion of the entire castle. Unfortunately, due to the low season maintenance, the chapels weren’t open so I went onto the imperial residence tour instead. Still highly recommend it though! We only have one group in the residence at a time and the tour guide never rushed us throughout the process. The stories and detailed explanations made the tour well worth it.
Good-to-knows
Christmas and New Years in Prague
The reason we chose Karlstein on 12/31 is so that we can make it back to Prague to experience the festivities. The Christmas markets are certainly worth attending even on New Year’s eve! There were three that should be along your way to sightseeing. One is at the Old Town Square, one is around the Prague Castle, and the last one should be at Wenceslas Square. Food and drinks to try out are: Pražská šunka, Trdelník, Klobása, Sva?ák, Medovina, beers(of course!).
Even though Prague banned the usage of fireworks in the city center and especially around the Wenceslas Square in favor of a light show, people still lit fireworks all around the city. You will not miss out on the traditional bang of the new year. If you like clubbing, there are plenty of great opportunities to ring in the new year with some dance music.
Beers!
Czech Republic is famous for pilsners. Urquell Pilsner is what you will get most of the time; it’s cheaper than water most of the time! There are also various way of pours.
Renting cars around Prague
Here I want to specially talk about car rental costs. You can find your normal Eurocars and Avis around Prague, you can also choose some smaller local companies like Autop?j?ovna Taggart that save you a bit of money. Whether renting from chain conglomerates or local companies, it seems that hidden charges and stricter damage checks are often implemented which will result in much higher fees. For example, I was charged a credit card machine usage fee on both depositing and taking out deposits. Car bottoms are checked and even small under-carriage damage will charge you quite the amount. Here is where things get fishy. Even though you have insurance, they will give you a damage fee that is slightly lower than your deductible and tell you that you are receiving a discount. In this case, you can’t file a claim and your rental company doesn’t have to fix the small damage. Essentially, they can potentially pocket this money. All I might advise you to do is to be prepared to pay damage fees that can increase your rental cost by thirty to forty percent.
Extra charges when traveling through the Czech lands
It seems that Czechs charge you for everything to the most uncomfortable degree. Here is a list of things I got charged that I did not expect: most bathrooms(no money, no peeing), ketchup at every restaurant (expensive or cheap), credit card usage(they will also charge you to return your deposit), a small scratch on the bottom of the car(which they did not use your insurance but rather you give them cash so they can pocket most of it but not repair it).
At first glance, it seems like things are quite cheap around Prague. A good rule of thumb seems to be adding 30 to 100 percent of the cost on top of your planned cost.
On a side note, restaurant waiters and waitresses are generally quite happy if you tip around 10 percent. Although you shouldn’t feel like you have to tip if the service is not up to par. Unlike the US, Czech waiters and waitresses do get livable wages sans tips.