UNESCO World Heritage Site #7 on this tour
Cesky Krumlov is a very special town, probably my favorite place in the Czech Republic. Sure it is a commercialized tourist draw teeming with thousands of visitors from all corners of the world, and every house seems to be a souvenir shop or a restaurant. But it is not yet too crowded for a leisurely wander in this cobblestone maze of a town and in its colourful castle. And its location makes it a good base for exploring a wide range of sights and activities in southern Bohemia.
The Sights:
By far the best activity is to just relax, drop your map, and get lost. You see, the town centre is almost an island entirely surrounded by the looping River Vltava, except for a very narrow strip of land serving as the main entrance into the town. The town square occupies the centre of the island, with narrow streets radiating out in all directions towards the river. These narrow streets are then somehow interconnected by a series of irregular, winding paths. Imagine a spider web with curved threads...that's what it would look like from the sky.
The thing is, my sense of direction requires a constant knowledge of which way is the North. If the street turns 142 degrees to the left and then 128 degrees to the left again then I get lost very quickly, which was what happened in Cesky Krumlov. My wife's system is entirely opposite and depends of remembering pictures along the way, which didn't work great either since every little street looked vaguely similar.
Shopaholics can consider the entire town one huge shopping centre, with an emphasis on jewelery and crystals. Everything from the higher end garnet, amber, and Moser glassware, to cheap crystal bracelets and beads were being sold at prices sometimes substantially cheaper than in Prague. We bought some crystal jewelery here, but I really should have bought my Mucha prints here instead of at the Prague airport...
Then there's the main attraction, the castle of Cesky Krumlov, which is remarkably large and well-preserved for a small town of 10,000. Beautiful frescoes cover the entire castle courtyard and the tower, and big chubby bears roam the moat. The bear-raising tradition had something to do with the family name of one of its former rulers, so we heard on the castle tour.
The English-language tour of the castle interiors cost CZK180 (CAD$10), but the guide's (probably a summer student?) English pronunciation was less than understandable and left all the Americans and Brits smiling at one another in confusion. I think I would have learned more had I taken the Czech tour with an English info sheet.
A much better value was the entrance to the round tower, which for a small fee (CZK35 during our visit) offered a great view of the town.
The castle boasts one of the only intact baroque theatres in the world, though our itinerary prevented us from taking the tour (available only at 12:00pm during our visit). The castle is also famous for its other theatre, a relatively new rotating theatre located in the castle's garden which hosts an annual festival in August. The walk to the garden is also a great place for a sweeping view of the town and the rolling hills in the background.
With its swooping curved rooflines, the whole town looked like a collection of funny toy houses from the castle.
If you're like me and enjoy quiet romantic walks with no crowds, the best place is on the other side of the Vltava, where you can watch the reflection of the timeless town on the river as paddlers drift by. The lack of shops on this side of the river means a lack of rowdy tourists. For a moment I thought about walking down to the water for a quick drink, but then I wondered if this centuries-old town has a sewage filtering system...
The Food:
Na Panske
Cesky Krumlov, Panska 18
This was by far the best pork knee I've ever had in my life. Incredibly crisp and succulent. No other restaurant comes even close.
Na Panske was a plain, traditional-looking pub at the street corner of Panska and Soukenicka, a block northwest of the town square. Old wooden chairs, good dark beer and a brass fireplace -- that's what it feels like inside the eatery. In case you're wondering, yes that is MY PORK KNEE being grilled on the fireplace. As in most Czech pubs, pork knees are braised for long long hours. But the major difference here was that the waiter/cook meticulously slow-broiled it on open flame -- first setting the rack high above the flame for roasting and getting rid of the excess fat, then dropping the rack down to the flame level to crisp up the skin. The result was a flavorful, moist shank with a thunderously crunchy skin. The fat was mostly removed by the roasting, and the rest had deliciously dissolved into the meat. But the most amazing was the soft cartilage, tender and slightly chewy like beef tendons in East Asian dishes -- except cartilage has calcium in it...so how did they manage to get this smooth soft texture out of it?
That's not all, as my wife had the best roast duck of the trip here. Unlike the roast duck at Telc the previous day, this time the meat was moist and intensely flavorful. My wife probably had 4 duck/goose dishes in our 5-night-stay in the Czech Republic, and she ranks this meal way above all others.
Last but not least, this was our first introduction to Czech dark beer, a Krusovice. We've since become big fans of Czech beers ever since, and even as I write this article now in Canada I have a Krusovice in my fridge!
Transportation:
Cesky Krumlov is reached both by train and by long distance bus, but a major factor is that the train station is a half-hour-walk from town, while the bus terminal is just five minutes away. Naturally we took the bus. Direct buses connect the major cities of Prague, Plzen, Brno etc, and there is even a seasonal bus to Linz and Vienna.
Most bus connections go through (or originate from) the regional hub of Ceske Budejovice, which is where we boarded our bus into town. Ceske Budejovice's bus terminal is at the top floor of a bold new western-style shopping mall, which is humorously surrounded by old run-down baroque buildings. The supermarket and the over-priced western shops are good places to kill time while waiting for the next bus, though we only had to kill 45 minutes.
Accommodation:
Penzionek Olsakovsky
Cesky Krumlov, Parkan 114
http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/uby72.xml
This was the most amazing accommodation on this trip, or perhaps any of our trips. We slept in a Renaissance-layout vault dating back to 1526, which in turn was built upon an even older former town wall. River Vltava was just outside our window, with the backyard directly facing the frescoed tower of the castle. What more could a history-loving traveler ask for?
According to the town's records, our barrel vaulted room on the ground floor was part of a late Gothic house. We had to duck through a series of semi-circular arches just to get to our room -- apparently the 16th century inhabitants were shorter. The room's outside-facing wall was the remains of the two-feet-thick old town wall, with a crude medieval window dug through it. Despite its age, the room was equipped with the basic modern necessities of an ensuite shower, toilet, and TV.
The building's exterior is only a little newer, reconstructed in 1635. It seemed the all the neighboring houses were from the 16th or 17th century, one being a hostel which wittingly called itself the "Moldau Hilton."
The Vltava from the backyard. Fly-fishing sportsmen walking by revealed the shallowness of the Vltava here, while paddlers on kayaks occasionally flowed downstream.
The double room price of CZK990 (CAD$55) included a large breakfast for two. If the weather was warmer we would have taken the food outside to enjoy the view of the tower. Ah but you can't have everything going your way.
Our Ideas for Day Trips
We only stayed for one night, but if we stayed longer (or come back in the future), there are a number of good options for day trips and activities:
- Ceske Budejovice (http://www.c-budejovice.cz) is the regional transportation hub only 30 minutes away by bus. The town is known for its huge, prototypically Central European town square, as well as the original Budweiser beer.
- The well-preserved Bohemian village of Holasovice is another World Heritage Site and is reachable by a 20-30 minute bus ride from Ceske Budejovice. Note that this bus runs infrequently and it's best to check the schedule before you depart.
- Hluboka is a downscaled copy of England's Windsor castle, reachable via a short bus ride from Ceske Budejovice. It's popular with tourists but we thought it would be out-of-place in the middle of Bohemia.
- Paddling the Vltava sounds like great fun. The local boat rental company (see links below) can arrange a drop-off for you and your boat upstream, then you can slowly paddle through the beautiful Czech scenery. Or you can quickly take a 45 minute paddle from one end of the town to the other. The company even offers a (overpriced?) scheduled wooden-raft ride.
- Other activities include horseback riding, touring the local Eggenberg brewery, and the town's small graphite mine.
Miscellaneous Comments:
A sweet tempting smell filled the streets leading down from the castle. "Trdlo" is a soft, sweet dough wrapped around a rotating steel rod, roasted over open flames and smothered in a flavored sugar of your choice. Ours had a cinnamon-flavored, crisp pastry-like skin and a wonderful soft crumb.
Links:
Official Site - http://www.ckrumlov.info
Train and Bus Schedules - http://idos.cz/ConnForm.asp?tt=X&cl=E5
Interactive Town Map - http://www.ckrumlov.cz/uk/atlas/i_cmm.htm
Castle Tour - http://www.ckrumlov.cz/uk/zamek/i_p.htm
Boat Rental - http://www.malecek.cz
Brewery Tour - http://www.krumlovtours.com
Horseback Riding - http://www.jk-slupenec.cz
Other Cheap Accommodations -
http://www.skippy.wz.cz
http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/uby132.xml
http://www.krumlovhostel.com
http://www.ubytovani-kozakova.cz
http://www.pensiondanny.cz
http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/uby77.xml
http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/uby63.xml
http://pension.na-kovarne.cz
http://www.adalbert.cz
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