10 Places to visit near Prague on a Czech Road Trip

We will show you some interesting and different places to visit near Prague, on a great Czech roadtrip. On this itinerary, we drove across the south-west countryside of the Czech Republic, from Germany to Slovakia. You will discover World Heritage sites, castles, historic towns and villages often embellished with sgraffito, famous spas, one of the oldest towns, and the oldest bridge in Czechia. The road trip route passes through the regions of West Bohemia, South Bohemia and South Moravia.

If you are wondering what there is to see outside Prague, all of these sites would make great day trips from Prague. Especially so, if you are planning to visit other famous places in the Czech Republic like Cesky Krumlov, Pilsen or Brno.

A road trip through the Czech countryside to 10 interesting sites: World Heritage, chateaus, historic towns and famous Spas. And all not far from Prague.

10 interesting places to see in the Czech Republic

We were just passing through Czechia on our way south for the winter; we had limited time due to the approaching season and the Schengen requirements for Australian citizens. Our goal was to reach Croatia, the next non-Schengen country on our route, in just 3 weeks. On the way, we wanted to explore parts of the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Our Czech road trip began in Cheb and finished close to the Czech-Austrian-Slovakian tri-border area. We didn’t visit Prague or Cesky Krumlov or Brno, even though we came quite close to them. We were more interested in discovering less-touristed sites, off the beaten path and outside of the big cities. Needless to say, we stayed off the major highways.

Our roadtrip route was planned using a guide book, a map and the internet. We were looking for interesting places to visit in the south-western part of Czechia. Most of them were new to us – we’d never heard or read of them before. We think we found a number of great places to visit in the Czech Republic.

Map showing our Czech road trip, with 10 stops named. You can follow our route, or visit these places from Prague, Vienna or Bratislava.

Our Roadtrip Stops in West Bohemia

1. Cheb: one of the oldest towns in Czechia

Only 10 kilometres from Germany, Cheb has been strongly influenced by the history of that country. It was incorporated into the Third Reich in 1938. Before the second world war, it had been the centre of the German-speaking region of Egerland, but most of the Germans were expelled after the war.

The town’s history spans more than a millennium. It was first settled by Slavic people in the 9^th century, occupying a small hill fort built on a rock next to the River Ohře. This is the site of the Cheb castle you can visit today.

Things to see in Cheb

• Náměstí Krále Jiřího z Poděbrad (King George of Podebrady Square) is the very attractive historical centre of the old town. It’s surrounded by colourful 17^th century houses. That is, except for the 13^th century Spalicek, a group of 11 medieval, half-timbered, Jewish-German merchant houses found at the lower end of the square.
• Next to the merchant houses is the Chebske Muzeum (Cheb museum), founded in 1873 and holding over 100,000 objects. The Imperial General Albrecht of Wallenstein, a hero of the Thirty Years’ War, was assassinated in this building in 1634.
• Behind the museum, is the Kostel sv. Mikuláše (the Church of St Nicholas and St Elizabeth). Originally built in the 13^th century, it has a history of partial destruction by fires and reconstructions over the centuries. The most recent damage was from bombardment during the 1939-45 war. Today it is a very impressive church.

Czech road trip: King George of Podebrady Square in Cheb showing colourful 17th century houses.

Spalicek is a group of medieval houses on the main square of Cheb. From the 13th century, they are the oldest remaining buildings in the historic centre.

Info to visit Cheb

  The tourist office on the square, will give you a map showing other sights in this interesting town, including Chebsky hrad (Cheb castle). According to their brochure, Cheb is “an entrance gate into the world-famous spa triangle Karlovy Vary – Marianske Lazne – Frantiskovy Lazne.”

It is less than 2½ hours from Prague to Cheb, along the E49.

2. Marianske Lazne: one vertex of the famous West Bohemian Spa Triangle

Declared a public spa by government decree in November 1818, Mariánské Lázně (formerly known as Marienbad) is a relatively new spa town, by European standards. It very quickly became popular and attracted many famous visitors, including Chopin, Mark Twain, Goethe, Freud, Kafka and British King Edward VII.

However, alongside older and more established spas, it is one of the group of 11 historic European spa towns on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list under the title, Great Spas of Europe (2014) .

The towns are complete with similar spa features and significant architectural ensembles including special spa buildings: spa houses, colonnades, churches, theatres, casino houses, dedicated hotels and boarding houses.

Marianske Lazne is no exception. Surrounded by green-forested mountainsides, the buildings of this spa town are sumptuous and well-preserved. Many of them are hotels for the visitors who flock here to take the cure. The most spectacular building is the Neo-Baroque style Colonnade, constructed from cast iron in 1889. Flowerbeds, fountains and pavilions dot the beautifully landscaped parks, which add colour, shade, beauty and a sense of space to the spa town.

It’s interesting to note that the Czech Republic has 2 other Spa nominations on the World Heritage tentative list: West Bohemian Spa triangle (2008) & The Spa at Luhacovice (2001). These 2 nominations include all 4 of the famous Czech spas, which are also on the Great Spas of Europe nomination. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is.

The famous and beautiful Neo-Baroque style Colonnade set off by one of Marianske Lazne’s very impressive fountains. There was a food fair in the square the day we visited.

Marianske Lazne or Marienbad is one of the Czech Republic’s famous Spa towns. Here, a relaxing view through parkland to one of the beautiful hotels.

Info to visit Marianske Lazne

  You will find everything you need to know about visiting Marianske Lazne on their very informative website – English version available .

You can be in Marianske Lazne in 2 hours by road from Prague.

If you enjoy spending time in spa towns, why not also visit Karlovy Vary and Frantiskovy Lazne, to complete the West Bohemian Spa triangle, while you’re in the area?

3. Cernosin: a quiet village with a baroque hidden gem

One of the great things about being on a road trip is that you can stop wherever and whenever you like. Looking for a place to park so we could make lunch, we stopped in the small town of Černošín, right next to a lovely baroque church. The first church in this parish was already registered in 1374 and dedicated to St George. Two fires later, the current one was built between 1711-1736 and is also St George’s Church.

We could hear the sound of power tools being used inside. We ventured in and found a beautiful old church that was receiving long overdue, but painstaking, renovation from a couple of young people. They smiled at us and went on with their work.

“Czechs are the most secular society in Europe”, according to our guide book . Yet, there was a lovely old church, which somehow survived the communist era when many didn’t, being so carefully restored. It has a somewhat unusual octagonal floor plan, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling covered in murals – including St George slaying the dragon.

What a great place to just happen upon.

We just happened upon this neat, little, baroque church when we took a lunch break in Cernosin on our Czech roadtrip.

Cernosin: inside St George’s Church. Note its octagonal shape and the barrel-vaulted ceiling covered in murals. What a pleasant surprise this small village had for us.

Info to visit Cernosin

  Across the road from the church is the Muzeum Cernociska, located in the former rectory. It houses an exhibition about the history of the town and its environs.

Cernosin is located less than 2 hours from Prague. Since it’s very close to Pilsen, you could take a brewery tour with just a short detour.

4. Svihov Water Castle: one of the best-preserved castles in Czechia

The Vodní hrad Švihov is a Gothic castle from the 15^th century. We can all thank the Cernin family for its excellent state of repair since they avoided carrying out demolition orders after the Thirty Years’ War. Instead, it was used as farm buildings for around 300 years. Restoration began in the 1950s. Because of its fairy-tale appearance, it has been used as a set for movies and television series.

Unfortunately, we arrived later in the afternoon than we’d hoped, and were too late for the tours. Yes, tours. We encountered this phenomenon again and again in Czechia. Most historic sites offer several different tours. There never seems to be just one tour of the whole complex.

We wandered around the outside and watched the coypu playing in the clear waters of the very wide moat. These South American rodents, brought to Europe for their fur in the 1920s, are also known as nutria or simply river rats.

There are quite panoramic views of the castle and fortifications from the outside. We could enter the bailey, but couldn’t get inside the keep without taking a tour. Maybe next time, when we are just passing by.

Svihov Water Castle: a view of the keep from the bailey. You need to take one of the 3 guided tours to go inside.

Panoramic view of the Svihov Water Castle, across its moat. If you look closely you will see a coypu/nutria swimming in the water.

Info to visit Svihov Water Castle

  This is not a big site and is divided into 3 tours. All tours are in Czech, with 2 of them providing printed information in English, German and Russian.

Opening hours vary with the seasons, so it’s important to check the castle’s website when planning your visit.

The Svihov Water Castle is only an hour away from Prague.

Our guidebook recommendation for people who are looking for valuable information about all of the Czech & Slovak Republics: the DK Eyewitness Travel Czech & Slovak Republics !
This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this beautiful guidebook on Amazon.

 

Our Roadtrip Stops in South Bohemia

5. Pisek’s medieval bridge predates the Charles Bridge of Prague

Písek was not on our list of places to visit – but it should have been. We used it as a driving break, stopping in a main street outside the centre. I took a walk around the block and found several impressive old houses in a residential area.

Only afterwards, did we discover that we had missed the oldest bridge in the Czech Republic, and one of the oldest in Europe. The Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) was built in the 13th century, roughly one century before the world-famous Charles Bridge in Prague.

This small city also has a castle, which now houses the Prácheň Museum, and an historic centre featuring a Baroque town hall from the 18^th century.

It just goes to show that you can never be completely prepared for a road trip – or maybe we just have to accept that we can’t see everything.

The 13th century Stone Bridge (Kamenný most), the oldest bridge in the Czech Republic. Also known as the Deer Bridge or just the Old Bridge. You’ll find it in Pisek, one of the stops on our Czech road trip. [photo credit ]

Info to visit Pisek

  You can find information about Pisek at this website to help you plan your visit more effectively than we did.

Pisek is just over 100km, due South from Prague.

6. Tabor: historic sgraffito-embellished buildings

The South-Bohemian town of Tábor was born out of a military camp of the radical Hussite reformers of the 15^th century. A statue of Jan Zizka, the legendary one-eyed, undefeated leader of the Hussites, stands in the main square that bears his name – Žižkovo náměstí.

In the mid-1500s, after two great fires destroyed most of the wooden structures of the town, the historic centre you see today quickly developed. This time they built with stone and embellished the houses with beautiful and varied sgraffito decorations (A form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting colour, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls – Oxford Dictionary), typical of the Italian renaissance, which spread into other parts of Europe.

A view of Tabor across the Jordan. Named after the biblical river, this reservoir was constructed in 1492, the first in Central Europe, and is still the main source of water for the town. Situated near Zizka Square, it is both a visual and recreational feature of the old town. [photo credit ]

Info to visit Tabor

  Tabor is certainly worth a long wander. The tourist information on Zizka square is very helpful, providing a number of resources, alongside those you would usually expect:

• a paper map, marked with a Sightseeing Tour around the historic centre, including detailed descriptions of the important sights
• audio guides in 5 languages, which you can rent to take you through the historic centre
• a GPS navigation game (Czech or English) to follow – when finished, return to the information centre for a reward!
• there is also a mobile phone app
• a very detailed guide to the city and its surroundings is available for purchase

More information on Tabor’s website .

Just 45km on from Pisek, Tabor is about 90km south of Prague, on the way to Cesky Krumlov.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

7. Jindrichuv Hradec: third largest historical castle complex in Czech Republic

This is a pretty town on the historic border between Bohemia and Moravia, and very near Austria. Thus, it occupied a strategic position historically. There is evidence of a Slavic wooden fortress on the site in the 10^th century. Today the castle of Jindřichův Hradec is the 3^rd largest chateau complex in Czechia, behind those in Prague and Cesky Krumlov. It covers 3 hectares, has 320 rooms, and is comprised of buildings around several large courtyards.

The old town centre on Náměstí Míru (Miru Square) is surrounded by colourful houses, mostly rebuilt after a fire in 1801. The town is almost surrounded by water. After visiting the town centre and the castle, we walked to the other side of the river in search of a view back towards the castle.

Jindrichuv Hradec: a rewarding stop on our roadtrip. We crossed the river and searched for a viewpoint. This is the reward for our efforts – a perfect view of the castle across the river, with the magnificent Rondel in the forefront.

Info to visit Jindrichuv Hradec

  Entry to the castle is free, to wander the various courtyards. If you wish to enter the buildings, there is a choice of 3 different guided tours, in the Czech language + a self-guided tour to the Black tower, which is the oldest part of the castle. It’s possible to have a tour in selected foreign languages, but it’s necessary to pre-book them. The timetable of opening hours and tour times throughout the year is available on the castle’s website – in English. Unfortunately, we arrived on a Monday in September and there were no tours available, but we wandered the almost empty courtyards and were impressed by everything we saw.

Jindrichuv Hradec is 50km on from Tabor, and about 1½ hours south-east of Prague.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Our Roadtrip Stops in South Moravia

8. Historic Centre of Telc: a World Heritage site

Telc is a small town of around 6000 people – and it’s a World Heritage Site. We thought it must be something special. It is!

The Historic Centre of Telč includes its main square and the Chateau, showcasing the Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles. Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce is the name of the main square. But it’s not square; more like a triangle or a wide street, which is extra wide at one end. The Telc Castle stands at the narrow end, and the whole historic centre is almost surrounded by two ponds.

It’s not a large area to explore, but there are so many beautiful buildings and interesting statues and fountains that time will disappear as you wander from one remarkable sight to the next. Its Outstanding Universal Value stems from the intact state of the well preserved Renaissance buildings, which surround the square. They have a variety of attractive decorative facades, including some embellished with sgraffito. All of them are connected by a continuous arcade. The Plague Column in the centre of the square completes this picture-perfect historical town.

Once again, a devastating fire and subsequent rebuilding was responsible for the impressive sight we see today. It is said that it is one of the most beautiful small towns in the Czech Republic and we don’t argue with that.

Telc: this World Heritage listed town looks this way because the Italian craftsmen who came to rebuild the chateau, after a devastating fire in 1510, stayed to rebuild the town.

The small town of Telc is ideally situated halfway between Prague and Vienna. This Plague Column and fountain in the main square is just a taste of what you’ll see If you visit this outstandingly beautiful town; whether on a road trip like ours or a day trip from Prague or Vienna.

Info to visit the Historic Centre of Telc

  You will find the tourist information in the Town Hall on the square. They provided us with plenty of pamphlets about the town, its history, and its sights, including several detailed walking tours in and around the town – all of them in English.

The Telc website is also helpful for planning your visit.

Telc is exactly halfway between Prague and Vienna, and about 40km east of Jindrichuv Hradec.

Our guidebook recommendation for people who are looking for valuable information about all of the Czech & Slovak Republics: the DK Eyewitness Travel Czech & Slovak Republics !
This book is for travellers who are more interested in the sights than recommendations for restaurants or hotels.

Find this beautiful guidebook on Amazon.

 

9. Jaromerice Chateau: a massive baroque chateau complex

In the early 1700s, Jan Adam Questenberg built this huge complex on the site of a 16^th Century Renaissance manor. Including a Baroque Chateau and St Margaret’s Church, surrounded by gardens in the French Chateau style and an English Park, it is recognised as one of the largest castle complexes in Europe, from that period.

The site you will visit today is a renovated Baroque structure with 19^th century interiors. It is state owned and has been open to the public since 1947. If you pass by on a sunny day, you could just stop and wander around the park and gardens. The kitchen garden is lovely, in the chaotic manner of kitchen gardens. Directly behind the mansion are the more formal gardens.

The Zámek Jaroměřice is built beside the Rokytná River. Questenberg had the riverbed widened so that he could have a complete reflection of his house in the tranquil waters. The English park is on the other side of the river.

The enormous Baroque Chateau complex dwarfs the town of Jaromerice whose name it bears. Beginning in 1700 and taking 37 years to complete, it is essentially a reconstruction utilising parts of older buildings.

At Zamek Jaromerice we discovered the chaotic beauty of this typical kitchen garden. It appears to be in direct conflict with the intrinsic order of the rest of the huge complex of buildings, formal gardens and English-style park.

Info to visit Jaromerice Chateau

  As always, it’s a good idea to check out opening times on the Chateau’s website – in English. Opening times change with the seasons, and there are 4 different tours available to explore the interior of the chateau and the church.

Jaromerice nad Rokytnou is just 2 hours from Prague, and only 40km from Telc.

10. UNESCO World Heritage listed Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

The last stop on our road trip through the Czech countryside is an unusual World Heritage Site. Situated around the towns of Lednice and Valtice, this artificial landscape is one of the largest in Europe, covering almost 300 square kilometres. It was created between the 17^th and 20^th centuries by the dukes of Liechtenstein.

There are two palaces to visit, which are quite magnificent, but the biggest attraction of the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape is the park of Lednice Chateau. This English park contains formal gardens, a vast collection of plant species and a large number of unique follies (a costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park – Oxford Dictionary). One of the more distinctive of these is a Moorish style minaret; at 60m in height, it is the tallest outside the Muslim world.

It would be possible to spend days wandering this area of Outstanding Universal Value. The locals seem to love it. There were plenty of them, enjoying the park in the sunshine when we visited.

The Riding-hall from the late 1600s is a 3-winged stable with riding halls situated just west of the Lednice Chateau. It is the oldest part of the complex.

Info to visit the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

  The Lednice park is vast. In order to reach various interesting follies in far-flung corners of the estate, there is the possibility of taking a boat trip or a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape also has networks of hiking and cycling trails to discover the more out of the way parts of this large artificial landscape.

This is another of the sites we visited that offers several guided tours to the inside of each chateau. For detailed information about opening times throughout the year and the tours available, check the relevant websites:
Zamek Lednice & Zamek Valtice

The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape is about 250km from Prague, close to the main road between Prague and Bratislava, 50km south of Brno.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Are you ready to explore places to visit outside Prague?

We hope we’ve ignited your interest in unusual places to visit in the Czech Republic. A roadtrip through the Czech countryside can be a relaxing way to see the famous, and not-so-famous, sites of Czechia away from the capital city and its tourist crowds.

We travel in our motorhome, which gives us a great deal of freedom of movement. You might also like to rent a suitable campervan to really follow this route.

If your time is short, you can make a selection of these interesting sights for a day trip from Prague. We also encourage you to use this roadtrip idea to plan other European road trips .

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