Alongside beer halls such as U Čápa (a litre of beer costs around £4.50) and modern microbreweries such as Malt Worm, you’ll find sushi and ramen bars, fusion restaurants that match Vietnamese with Czech cuisine and modern bistros. And this year, Brno is the joint European Capital of Christmas.
How to get there: Buses from Prague airport take just under two and a half hours, tickets £13 one-way.
Where to stay: Hotel Avion is central, with views of Spilberk Castle. It was designed by Czech architect Bohuslav Fuchs and claims to be one of the narrowest hotel compounds in Europe. Doubles from €99 B&B.
Plzen, Bohemia
The fourth biggest city in Czechia is steeped in brewing history – this is where pale pilsner lager was born at the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in 1842. Sidestep the brewery tours and sink into a pilsner bath at Purkmistr Beer Spa instead. There are also hop, lavender, chocolate oil and cannabis bath options.
While the city has plenty of grand architecture (visit Republic Square to see the Gothic St Bartholemew’s Cathedral, Renaissance City Hall, Baroque plague column, medieval Burgher houses and modern gold fountains), much of its utilitarian architecture has been given a modern makeover with impressive street art, while the 160-year-old JK Tyl theatre’s New Stage is an eye-catching, modern venue in which to see opera, drama or ballet.
Plzen was a European Capital of Culture in 2015, which helped transform a former bus depot into a cultural venue, Depot 2015 – it is currently awaiting a fresh transformation.
In the meantime, visitors can enjoy cultural events in the handsome former southern suburban train station. The city’s weekly farmer’s market (Saturday mornings, March to December) takes place on Republic Square
North of the city, Zruc Air Parc brings together 80 defunct vintage aircraft, while several baroque chateaux dot the countryside around the outskirts, and Bohemia Sekt produces the country’s most popular sparkling wine in Starý Plzenec, to the south-east.
How to get there: Buses from Prague bus terminal take around 50 minutes, tickets £6 one-way.
Where to stay: Plzen’s oldest pub and hotel, U Salzmannu, has doubles from £65.
Marianske Lazne, Karlovy Vary
This small town stands slightly in the shadow of nearby Karlovy Vary – another of Unesco’s Great Spa Towns of Europe – but makes for a tranquil, and picturesque mini-break.
It’s Czechia’s second-largest spa town, established at the start of the 19th century when its mineral springs began to be recognised for their beneficial properties. It was officially declared a public spa in 1818, just over a decade after the first brick house was built to accommodate guests.
In the following five years, it was transformed into a landscaped park town with neoclassical spa buildings, pavilions and colonnades, which soon attracted nobles, royalty and artists. Chopin visited in 1836 and the town now holds an annual Chopin Festival in the composer’s honour.
Marianske Lazne’s Cross Spring Pavilion is built over a spring (Photo: KatuSka/Getty Images)
Its golden years were from the 1870s to 1914 when Art Nouveau spa houses, hotels and churches were constructed and spa parks enlarged. A railway line opened in 1872, linking Marianske Lazne with Prague and Vienna and bringing visitors such as Nietzsche, Goethe and Kafka to bathe in its waters (there’s now a walking trail that highlights the town’s literary visitors).
Marianske Lazne’s architectural legacy and mineral waters continue to attract visitors, though you won’t find novelty beer spas or breweries here – it’s all about the 40 springs. There are several walking and cycling trails in and around the town, a musical fountain (under reconstruction until 2025), tranquil parks surrounding the focal springs and nearby, Kladská Lake and peat bog which are surrounded by the Slavovský Forest Protected Landscape Area.
How to get there: Trains from Prague to Marianske Lazne in just over two and a half hours, tickets £12.
Where to stay: Falkensteiner Spa Resort is the city’s largest and has doubles from €262 B&B.
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 09:06:00
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