The surrounding wooded hills and countless natural lakes provide ideal opportunities for recreation. The Castle is the third largest in Czech republic, after castle in Prague and in Český Krumlov.

Main sights in Jindřichův Hradec

• Castle and Chateau – The 3rd largest castle complex
• Medieval Centre
• Church of the Assumption of our Lady
• Church of St John the Baptist – 600-year-old extensive decorative frescos
• Narrow-gauge Railway – only 0,76m wide
• Mechanical Nativity Scene – The world’s largest mechanized nativity scene
• National Museum of Photography – The former Jesuit college from 1594
• District Museum – The former Jesuit seminary

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The original royal castle of Přemysl Otakar II from the second half of the 13th century was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century by the Lords of Hradec. It received its present appearance under Count Jan Adam of Schwarzenberg. In 1940, the castle was seized from the last owner, Adolph Schwarzenberg by the Gestapo and confiscated by the government of Czechoslovakia after the end of WWII.

Hluboká castle is opened to the public and it is recomended to visit also the inside of the castle, that is really beautiful, as well as from the outside. The extremely rich interior amenities include a valuable carvings and plaster work, a collection of tapestries, paintings, glass, porcelain, weapons, etc. Around the castle there is a large English park with baroque hunting lodge.

Hluboká castle is open daily except for Monday in June and every day from July to October. The full tour price is 130CZK / approx. €5 in 2010.

The castle has been used in a scene of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson’s Shanghai Knights.

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Český Krumlov is close to the Šumava National Park, the Czech Republic’s largest national park. The Šumava mountains lie along the border with Austria and Germany and offer a range of natural habitats – peat bogs, Alpine meadows, old-growth forests, lakes, and rivers. The area is popular with walkers, cyclists, and canoeists on the Vltava.

Main sights

• Český Krumlov Castle
• Gothic Church of St. Vitus (Kostel Sv. Víta)
• Baroque theatre in Český Krumlov Castle – the theatre is only used three times a year (only two are open to the public), when a Baroque opera is performed in simulated candlelight
• Museum dedicated to the painter Egon Schiele, who lived in the town

There is one of Bohemia’s oldest monasteries, Zlatá Koruna (“The Golden Crown”) 10km from Krumlov. About 30 km from Krumlov is the Hluboká Castle, established in the twelfth century and later remodelled in imitation of Windsor Castle.

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