Most of the tourists are visiting only Prague and rarely go outside of the capital. However, there is a lot of towns to visit in the Czech republic. And there is a lot of interesting places all around, so it would be a shame to stay just in Prague. Besides the Czech Republic is a relatively small country, so it is possible to visit most of those towns as a day trip from Prague.
Best towns to visit in the Czech Republic (that are not Prague)
Brno
Photo: Pixabay
Let’s start in a region called Moravia. Brno is like the capital of Moravia. At the same time, it is very much anti-Prague city. In general, people from Moravia don’t like people from Prague. It is the old villages vs big city fight. But anyway, Brno is still the second biggest city in the Czech Republic and it is worth to visit.
So what can you do there? First of all, there is more nature than in Prague. So, for example, you can visit there Moravian Karst, which is a nature reservation with historical caves. You can also visit Špilberk Castle. This castle from the 13th century is also a city museum with interesting exhibitions. If you are missing a cathedral similar to the one in Prague, don’t be sad, there is one also from the 13th century, looking very similar to the one in Prague. It is the cathedral of st. Peter and Paul. And for architecture lovers, there is Villa Tugendhat, a modernist house, that was restored in 1929. In fact, it was in this very building, where the politicians decided, that Czechoslovakia will get separated into Czechia and Slovakia.
Olomouc
Holy Trinity column Photo: Pixabay
Olomouc should be also on your list if you want to visit more towns in the Czech republic. It is another historical city, not as big as the Czech Republic is, but certainly big enough to entertain you for a day. There is the saint trinity column, which is definitely worth to see. It dates to the early 1700 and it is one of the dominant in the city.
Another great thing to visit in the Czech Republic would be Saint Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc. It is another great looking Gothic-style cathedral. And if you are an animal lover, Olomouc has one of the best Zoos in the Czech republic.
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov and its castle as dominant of the town
Anf finally here is one of the most visited towns after Prague. Český Krumlov has the second biggest castle in the Czech Republic and it is part of UNESCO heritage. The city is bisected by the Vltava river, the same as the one in Prague. That means that from the town you can see beautiful views dominated by the castle from the 13th century. The castle has Gothic, renaissance and baroque elements, which is making it quite special.
If you like art, there is also an Egon Schiele museum. Full of paintings and drawings of this Austrian artist. You would recognize that this is a special building by the fact, that there are paintings on the buildings as well. And if you don’t know who he was, don’t worry. I didn’t know it either before I went there, but I did enjoy the presentation of his art.
Pilsen
City where I was born but also and that is possibly more important, where the legendary Pilsner was invented. Yes, this is the birthplace of the legendary Pilsen lager that is now world-famous. Pilsen is only about 90km from Prague, which makes it also a great day trip. So what to do here? Well, first of all, for all beer lovers, there is the brewery that you can actually visit. They make tours in English, German and Russian as well. You get to know here everything from how to make beer like this and why it is so special, to how much they produce (spoiler alert: a lot!).
Else you can also visit the local cathedral of Bartholomew or Great synagogue that was built in the 19th century. If you are interested in history, there is an underground to explore. Lots of medieval tunnels and wells. All accessible through the guided tour from the main square.
Ostrava
During summer there is one of the biggest festivals in the country called Colours of Ostrava, right in the industrial area
Ostrava is another city in the Moravian region. This time it is the Moravian-Silesian region and Ostrava is the biggest city here. This city lays only 15 km from polish borders, which means it might not be the best day trip from Prague, but you can certainly visit it from Krakow.
But anyway, Ostrava is mainly steel city. Meaning that in this place was (and still is) a lot of mining. So you can visit here, for example, the mining museum, where you get to know everything about local mining history. And since we are at mining, you can also visit lower Vítkovice, which is industrial heritage, located in Vítkovice neighborhood in Ostrava. And what it is? Lower Vítkovice is an industrial area of ironworks with a unique industrial architecture style.
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I studied abroad in Prague and agree there are so many other beautiful cities! My favorite that isn’t mentioned is actually Karlovy Vary which is known as a spa town and where they filmed scenes from James Bond actually!
I know, I’m planning a special post about spa towns in the Czech republic, and Karlovy Vary will be definitely there 😉
I love this! I live in Berlin and have been looking for places in Czech to visit!
I would love to visit Czech Republic again. I can see why Český Krumlov is such a highly visited area. The industrial festival looks neat as well!
Oh this great! I’ve never heard of most of these and I love to visit smaller towns.
I have always wanted to visit Prague but I also so much want to see the smaller towns to get a real feel of the Czech Republic. I had heard of Brno and Cesky Krumlov. Never knew about the rest. Thanks for the list. Now I know what to include in my itinerary.
Brno and Pilsen must be my favorite cities in the Czech Republic (after Prague… yes, I’m a sucker for Prague I know!), the smaller towns in the country retain a beautiful and traditional atmosphere that’s hard to beat. Great insight of more off-the beaten areas in the country.
Beautiful, Olomouc looks like my kinda place!
I haven’t been to any of those cities (or to Prague), but they all look so pretty and interesting.
My daughter lived in Prague for a couple of months and managed to travel to many of the cities and places you mentioned. She loved them.
Ok Albi, I feel like you wrote this for me and my partner! We have been to Prague so many times (and loved it) but never outside of Prague. Four visits between going for ourselves and returning with friends — I think Pilsen is next.
This is very helpful so thank you! A lot of people stick to the main city and don’t know that they’re missing some incredible sites and activities.
They all look beautiful but Český Krumlov especially so. I’d love to visit Czech republic again and while Prague is nice I’d have to go see some other places too. Thanks for some great ideas
How have I still not been to the Czech Republic?! It looks so lovely! I’d love to visit them all!
I’d love to go back and visit Prague and some of these places!
Brno and Český Krumlov have been on my wish list of places to visit for a while now, but I wasn’t familiar with Olomouc. The Holy Trinity Column looks gorgeous, and I love Gothic cathedrals, so on the list it goes 🙂 Thanks for the suggestions!
I know very little about the Czech Republic, so this was so awesome to see some other cities highlighted besides just Prague! They all look so beautiful!
Great guide! I would love to visit some of these lesser know cities in Czech, I will have to look into them for future travels. They look beautiful!
I have visited Prague a few times but had not ventured out of the City. The one place I would really like to go is Český Krumlov. Thanks for a great guide with useful suggestions.
Love all the descriptions… and the pilsen! Keep on inspiring us.
Now this is a good lesson in geography because I haven’t heard of many of these cities. Such a pity to hear that the people of Brno do not like people from Prague! I have only heard of Český Krumlov from this list and it looks beautiful, I wish I had known about it during my visit to Prague because I would have loved to take a day trip there! Maybe next time.