When planning our Czech Republic leg, one thing we heard from multiple sources was that while Prague was amazing, Český Krumlov might be even better since it is smaller and more intimate. Therefore, during the time we were with Eric’s parents, we took a brief two-night trip down to this charming town.
Getting There
We took our first (and hopefully not last) trip on the yellow buses run by the Student Agency company. This was probably the fanciest bus service we have used: padded leather seats, free hot beverages and most amazingly a touch-screen entertainment system for every seat. Watching movies helped the three-hour trip fly by!
Where We Stayed
Since there were four of us, we decided to book a private place through Airbnb. We found a pretty cool flat that had room for the four of us. The best part of this flat was the location: we had a great view of the Český Krumlov Castle, and could walk to it and the historic Old Town area in about 5 minutes!
What We Did
Český Krumlov Castle
Like the Prague Castle, this building does not look like the fairy tale castle, but is still fun to explore. It’s free to walk around the grounds, but to go inside you do have to pay for a guided tour. There are a few different tour options; we chose the one that took us through Renaissance and Baroque era rooms (no pictures allowed inside, unfortunately).
The castle does have one tower that you can pay some money and climb up in. We did this and really enjoyed the 360-degree views from up here. If there hadn’t been a cold wind blowing, we think we could have stayed up here all day!
One interesting feature of the castle is that they keep live bears in the moat. Every time we walked in or out, we had a fun time trying to spot them.
Old Town
We spent most of our time just wandering the streets of Old Town. There are many winding roads and narrow passageways to explore. The Vltava River has a large bend surrounding Old Town, which makes it even more picturesque.
Eggenberg Brewery
We took a break from walking around at this local brewery. We were able to try four different types of beer: amber, dark, “yeast,” and lemon.
Our Favorite Place to Eat
U dwau Maryí, a.k.a “At the Two Maries”
We found this place listed both in guide books and on some online resources. It stood out from some of the other places we ate because it offered some unique dishes that it claims more closely match to what the traditional Bohemians ate. We got a combo platter with interesting items like millet, buckwheat and barley. We also enjoyed the creamy dumplings with blueberry sauce for dessert :).
Globe Gazers 
[…] separate blog on this awesome […]
[…] shared a cozy space with Eric’s parents for two nights in this charming town. It was a little small, but the location within walking distance of the castle was […]
[…] This building doesn’t quite look like a fairy tale castle, but was fun to explore! It’s free to walk around the grounds, but to go inside you do have to pay for a guided tour. There are a few different tour options; we chose the one that took us through Renaissance and Baroque era rooms (no pictures allowed inside, unfortunately). We also really enjoyed strolling through at sunset. You can get quite high in the castle which makes for lovely views over the city. […]