{"id":276,"date":"2015-07-31T18:13:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T12:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/?p=276"},"modified":"2020-08-14T01:21:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T19:51:22","slug":"cesky-krumlov-czech-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bombaynomads.com\/cms\/2015\/07\/cesky-krumlov-czech-republic.html","title":{"rendered":"\u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov, Czech Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first time I heard of this picture-postcard town, it was in a small blurb in the Indian magazine Outlook Traveller<\/a>. Back then (5-6 years ago), international travel was very rare for us and this name was just filed away in some corner of my head. But over the years, the name kept cropping up, in articles or travelogues. And after knowing more about the place, I just had to include it in our Czech trip<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov (pronounced ‘chessky crumlaw’<\/i>) is situated in the southern part of Czech Republic, in what was erstwhile the republic of Bohemia (origin of the word \u2018bohemian\u2019). \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov is a charmingly well-preserved medieval town, built around an equally well preserved 13th century castle \u2013 and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The river Vltava flows through it, and the Old Town is within a horseshoe bend of the river. The town is small enough to walk across in 15 min or so (most of the Old Town is pedestrian only). Or you could take a canoe down the river if you felt like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(the same river Vltava flows through Prague as well)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While Europe has quite a few well preserved castles and medieval cities, none of them have the fairy tale \u2013 some even call it a dollhouse \u2013 look as \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov. The best way to see the town is from the castle. From the castle tower \u2013 as well as castle walls – there are breathtaking views of the city to be had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Apart from the castle, there isn\u2019t much to do in the town \u2013 hence most people visit \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov as a daytrip from Prague. Road is the more convenient option, with direct buses from Prague to \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov. There is also a transport operator \u200eCK Shuttle<\/a>, which provides shuttle taxis in cars or vans. They are a very convenient (and slightly more expensive option). However in summers, the buses cant cope with the additional demand, and so we too found ourselves without bus or taxi tickets to \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the journey on Czech railways (\u010cesk\u00e9 dr\u00e1hy<\/a>) turned out to be a superb experience. The stations and the coaches were very clean and the Czech countryside picture perfect. And best of all, the train was barely 25% full (something we Indians almost never see). There aren\u2019t any direct trains from Prague to \u010cesk\u00fd Krumlov \u2013 we had to change trains at \u010cesk\u00e9 Bud\u011bjovice. However the schedule is very convenient with just a 20 min layover. Tickets can be booked online at www.cd.cz<\/a> website and the tickets cost us 200 kr each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n