Silver built this town and death decorates its chapel. Kutná Hora once rivalled Prague in wealth and importance. The Sedlec Ossuary contains the bones of over forty thousand people arranged into chandeliers, coats of arms, and a giant bell. It is strange and solemn and unforgettable. Beyond the bone chapel, the town offers the Gothic […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Sights, Sights
Darkness rises from the depths of the Macocha Abyss, a gaping chasm that plunges 138 metres into the limestone heart of the Moravian Karst. This is the deepest abyss of its kind in Central Europe, a vertical shaft formed by the collapse of an underground cave ceiling. From the upper viewing platform, the bottom seems […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Nature
Steam rises from outdoor pools as the Tatra Mountains stand watch in the distance. Children shriek with joy as they race down twisting slides while adults sink into warm thermal water, letting mineral rich heat melt away every tension. Aquapark Tatralandia in Liptovsky Mikulas stretches across 20 hectares of aquatic wonder, making it the largest […]
Categories: Mountains, Nature, Slovakia, Wellness, Relax & Sports, Wellness, Relax & Sports
The Lužnice River meanders through southern Bohemia, past pine forests and meadows where deer drink at dawn. This is not a white-knuckle rapid. This is a slow, gentle paddle through a landscape that has barely changed in centuries. You can float for days, camping on sandbanks and cooking over open fires. The water is clear […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Nature, Wellness, Relax & Sports
Tropical greenhouse Fata Morgana – unique rainforest in Europe | Czech Republic Updated: July 25, 2020 | By Claire | More The Three Climate Zones of Fata Morgana The Fata Morgana greenhouse is ingeniously divided into three distinct climate zones, each carefully calibrated to replicate the natural habitats of distant ecosystems around the world. The […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Nature
Canoeing and rafting on the Czech rivers Updated: July 15, 2020 | By Claire | More The gentle gurgle of water against a canoe hull, the flash of a kingfisher darting along the riverbank, and the smell of woodsmoke from a riverside campfire – this is the essence of canoeing in the Czech Republic. With […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Wellness, Relax & Sports
The Giant aquarium in Hradec Kralove – the largest freshwater aquarium in Europe | Czech Republic Updated: July 12, 2020 | By Claire | More The warm, humid air of the tropical rainforest hits you as soon as you step through the doors. The Giant Aquarium in Hradec Kralove is not just a place to […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Nature, Sights
Český Šternberk Castle is one of the best-preserved Gothic castles in the Czech Republic, a magnificent 13th-century fortress dramatically perched on a rocky promontory above the Sázava River in central Bohemia, which has been continuously owned and inhabited by the same noble family (the Šternberks) for over 760 years, one of the longest continuous family […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Sights, Sights
Zlatá ulička (Golden Lane) is the most romantic and famous part of Prague Castle, a tiny, impossibly picturesque street of miniature 16th-century houses built directly into the castle fortifications, originally home to the castle’s goldsmiths (hence the name), later to Kafka (who lived at number 22 in 1916-1917 and wrote much of his early work […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Sights, Sights
Panská skála (Herrnhausfelsen) is the most famous and most visited geological reserve in the Czech Republic, a striking natural monument of vertical basalt columns near the town of Kamenický šenov in northern Bohemia, formed by the cooling of ancient volcanic lava into perfect hexagonal organ pipes that rise from the landscape like a stone cathedral. […]
Categories: Czech Republic, Nature