What to do in Czechia

Prague’s Old Town is the core of its historical center, the oldest and most beautiful district in the city. It started as a marketplace back in the 9th century and provides a treasure trove of spectacular architecture and intriguing history. There is no shortage of captivating sights but the most iconic is arguably the Astronomical Clock, one of Europe’s top tourist attractions. Here for more than 600 years, every hour on the hour crowds gather beneath the Old Town Hall Tower to watch the fascinating mechanical performance with a procession of Apostles and moving statues.

Pilsner Urquell Brewery has been in operation since 1842. Located about an hour’s drive from Prague in Plzeň, it’s easy to reach by train or by car, but if you want to indulge, hire a driver to fully enjoy a guided tour and a glass. There are a variety of options available, with the classic tour the most frequent and the most popular, starting from the visitor center. You’ll discover the production and the state-of-the-art bottling process before moving on to the brewhouses to see how the beer is made, concluding with a glass.

Located in the small town of Kutna Hora, a UNESCO-listed city just an hour’s drive from Prague, the Sedlec Ossuary, or the Chapel of Bones, is a rather creepy but fascinating attraction. The Gothic church looks ordinary from the outside, but in the basement are the bones of thousands of humans which were bleached and ornately carved before being used to decorate the space. The massive bone chandelier is the highlight, incorporating every bone in the human body at least once, while candles glow from the white skulls that stare down at visitors.

The highlight of the small, picturesque town of Kroměříž is Kroměříž Castle, the principal residence of the bishops and archbishop of Olomouc until World War I. The castle is surrounded by two beautiful gardens, the Flower Garden and the Castle Garden, and both are listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The gardens are considered among the finest examples of landscape art in all of Europe and are a must to explore, but you’ll also want to take the Representative Halls tour to see the castle interiors, including the Throne Hall, grand Assembly Hall, and Tsar’s Room.