Český Krumlov: Day Trip from Prague

Český Krumlov is the day trip almost everyone in Prague ends up taking, and for once the hype holds up. It’s a small medieval town about 170 km (110 miles) south of Prague, wrapped inside a tight loop of the Vltava River and watched over by the second-largest castle complex in the country after Prague Castle. The whole center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1992, and it has barely changed in shape for five centuries.

We run this as a private day trip from Prague: round-trip transport, an English-speaking guide who sets the town in context on the drive down, a guided walk through the castle and old town, and then free time to eat, shop and take it in at your own pace. About two and a half hours each way, roughly nine hours door to door.

A town the centuries mostly left alone

The town grew up around a castle first recorded in 1240 and run for generations by three powerful families — the Rosenbergs, the Eggenbergs and the Schwarzenbergs — who kept building without ever knocking the old town down. The result is a layered mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque packed into a few hundred meters. If it looks like a film set, that’s because it often is one: Český Krumlov stood in for 19th-century Vienna in The Illusionist (2006) and has appeared in Hostel and Underworld: Blood Wars.

What you’ll see

Your guide walks you through the heart of it and explains how the pieces fit before you get free time to explore further.

• The castle and its painted tower. Five courtyards and 11 hectares of terraced gardens. The round tower, with its hand-painted Renaissance facade, is 162 steps to a view over the whole red-roofed town — climbable in your free time.
• The Baroque Theatre. One of the best-preserved Baroque theatres in the world, with its original stage, machinery, sets and costumes still intact.
• The Cloak Bridge (Plášťový most). A tall covered bridge on three tiers of arches that links the castle to its gardens and theatre across a deep ravine.
• Náměstí Svornosti. The sloping main square, ringed by Renaissance and Baroque townhouses, that has been the town’s meeting point since the 13th century.
• St. Vitus Church and the lanes. The Gothic church on the rise above the river, plus Široká street and the Latrán quarter. The painter Egon Schiele lived here in 1911; there’s a museum dedicated to him.

Your day, hour by hour

• 9:00 – 11:30 — Meet in central Prague and drive south to Český Krumlov.
• 11:30 – 13:30 — Guided walk in English: the castle and gardens, St. Vitus Church, Široká street and the main square, with the history of the town and the Czech lands along the way.
• 13:30 – 15:30 — Free time for lunch, a coffee by the river, the castle tower or shopping for something to take home.
• 15:45 – 19:00 — Drive back, arriving in central Prague near the Powder Tower.

What’s included

• Private round-trip transport from Prague — a Mercedes van or a minibus depending on group size
• A licensed, English-speaking local guide for the whole day
• A guided walking tour of the castle grounds and old town
• Free time built into the afternoon — you’re not marched around for nine hours

Lunch, the castle interiors and the tower climb aren’t included, which is on purpose: the afternoon is yours to spend how you like.

Know before you go

• It’s hilly and cobbled. The walk up to the castle is uphill on uneven stone, and the tower is a steep climb. If anyone in your group has trouble walking or climbing, tell us when you book and we’ll plan the day around it.
• Go early into the lanes. The town fills up by early afternoon; the morning walk gets you ahead of the crowds.
• Comfortable shoes. Those postcard cobblestones are hard on the feet.
• Bring a bit of cash. Small cafés, the tower and the Schiele museum are easier with some Czech crowns on hand.