The 12 best things to do in Czechia

A trip to Czechia is not just about touring churches and museums (though there are plenty of those). The capital, Prague, and the rest of the country are filled with great places to stretch your legs and your mind and to have a blast in the process.

Most trips start in Prague, so we begin with a few of our favorite sights in the capital. Czechia’s network of buses and trains is excellent, so it’s easy to pair a visit to Prague with a day trip or longer jaunt somewhere else in the country. Wherever you end up in Czechia, definitely seek out these 12 amazing activities.

1. Pound the cobblestones of Prague

The quintessential Prague experience is simply to walk – or better yet, wander – the Staré Město neighborhood and gawk at the breathtaking buildings. Prague’s UNESCO-protected center and its collection of Gothic, Renaissance and baroque architecture are among Europe’s finest and a way-back machine to the 14th century. Start at Old Town Square, with its Gothic Old Town Hall, presided over by the splendid 15th-century Astronomical Clock. Stroll across another Gothic marvel, the statue-lined Charles Bridge, as you make your way slowly upward to the cherry on the cake, Prague Castle, and the epic St Vitus Cathedral.

Planning tip: The grounds to Prague Castle are magnificent and free to enter, so if you’re pressed for time or money, don’t bother with the interiors. On the other hand, if you’d like the full castle experience, buy tickets at the castle or online through Ticketportal.

2. Get out on the water in Prague

Rest your weary legs on a boat ride along the Vltava River and see Prague’s spires from a different perspective. The easiest way is to rent a self-propelled pedal boat from one of the companies at the tip of Slav Island, next to the National Theatre. Pack a lunch and a bottle of wine to celebrate once you’re out on the river. If you’d rather not do your own pedaling, opt for a themed river cruise from a company like Prague Boats or Prague Steamboat.

Planning tip: Most guided river cruises last an hour, but longer floats are available if you’d like to make an afternoon of it. One trip runs north along the river to Prague Zoo, and another fascinating daylong adventure sails from central Prague to the town of Mělník, where the Vltava and Elbe Rivers meet.

3. Indulge your inner culture vulture

Despite what you might have heard, Czechia is not only about pubs and beer. The country has a long, storied history of classical music, opera, theater and ballet, and ticket prices – while steadily rising – are still highly affordable. Every large and medium-sized city has a concert house. While in Prague, check out the schedule at the National Theatre for anything from Czech opera to avant-garde dance. The State Opera is the city’s preeminent venue for opera and heavy on traditional Italian opera. For high-quality classical music, see what’s on at the Rudolfinum, home to the Czech Philharmonic, or Smetana Hall at the Municipal House, home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Planning tip: Popular performances tend to sell out, so scan the websites well in advance of your trip if you want to catch a prized show and secure the best seats.

4. Tour the brewery where pilsner was born

OK, we misled you slightly: there is a lot to see and do in Czechia that revolves around beer. This includes the once-in-a-lifetime chance to tour the brewery in the town of Plzeň, where modern lager was first cooked up in 1842 – and even sip from a glass of the original nectar. The Pilsner Urquell Brewery operates several tours daily in English. Highlights include stops in the old cellars (dress warmly) and a glass of unpasteurized lager (which tastes even better than the Urquell you get in pubs). The town's Brewery Museum offers insight into how beer was made (and drunk) in the days before Pilsner Urquell.

5. Witness a most ghoulish spectacle

You probably didn’t have “visit a church made from human bones” on your Czechia bingo card, but just an hour’s train or bus journey east of Prague, near the town of Kutná Hora, brings you to exactly that. The Sedlec Ossuary contains the carved and repurposed bones of an estimated 40,000 people, including thousands of victims of plague and war over the centuries. Key features include four giant pyramids of stacked bones in the corner chapels, as well as crosses, chalices and monstrances adorning the altar. It’s every bit as shocking in real life as it sounds in this description.

6. Hike through Czechia’s “Switzerland”

With a network of some 40,000km of marked trails, Czechia is superbly equipped for walking and hiking, with treks that last 1–2 hours to 1–2 months. For the most dramatic landscapes, head to northern Bohemia for Bohemian Switzerland National Park's gargantuan stone towers, cliffs, rock fingers and arches that often rise horizontally from the trails and surrounding forests. Most visitors only walk long enough to see the Pravčická Brána, Europe’s largest natural stone arch, but countless other trails will take you deeper into the dramatic natural beauty.

7. Explore Brno’s murky underground

The Sedlec Ossuary is not the only site in the country to showcase the macabre. The Moravian capital of Brno leans into its darker side as well. Descend into the city’s medieval labyrinth under the vegetable market to discover a kilometer-long maze of chambers and passageways in a multilevel den from the Middle Ages. Nearby, take a somber walk through the delicately displayed, bone-stacked, floor-to-ceiling burial shaft of the Ossuary at the Church of St James – the resting place of 50,000 people who perished in the Thirty Years' War and the plagues. Finish off with a tour of some modern mummies casually lying on the floor of the Capuchin crypt, below the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross on Capuchin Sq.

8. Hike or cycle in Moravian wine country

The eastern province of Moravia is the country’s wine capital, and there’s no better way to see the vineyards, surrounded by limestone hills and verdant grapevine folds, than by hiking or cycling. Start off in the impossibly picturesque hamlet of Mikulov, the former home of the noble Dietrichstein family, with its centerpiece chateau and a former fortress turned beacon over the beautiful town center. From here, the Mikulov Wine Trail runs 82km through vineyards, wine cellars and castle monuments.

Detour: While you’re in the area, don’t miss two wonderful aristocratic palaces in the towns of Valtice and Lednice. Both piles are protected UNESCO heritage sites.

9. Climb Czechia’s highest peak

Much of the north of the country is covered in low-lying mountains. There are many great climbs, but the best may be to ascend Czechia’s tallest peak, Sněžka, at 1603m, which anchors a chain known (with only slight exaggeration) as the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše). It’s a relatively easy climb and accessible to anyone of moderate fitness. That said, it’s chilly year-round up top, and you’ll need to wear appropriate clothing and footwear. The best way up is to start from the base at Pec Pod Sněžkou. Follow a red-marked trail and then a green-marked path west to Výrovka. From here, follow red and blue routes to the top via Luční bouda – 10.5km in total.

Planning tip: If you don’t want to make the climb, Sněžka is also accessible via cable car from Pec Pod Sněžkou. However you do it, the views all around are beautiful.

10. Admire the finery of a 19th-century spa

Head west from Prague to the spa resort at Karlovy Vary, which more than any other town in Central Europe best captures the glamour and elegance of 19th-century spa culture. The promenades, colonnades and grand neoclassical buildings dazzle the eye. In the resort's heyday, royals like Russia's Peter the Great and members of the Habsburg monarchy mixed it up here with the greatest thinkers, writers and composers of their time. Don’t miss the cast-iron Park Colonnade, the neo-Renaissance Mill Colonnade and the impressive Market Colonnade; one of its two springs, the Karla IV, is the spa's oldest.

11. Wander through magical Český Krumlov

Wrapped around a tight bend in the Vltava River deep in Bohemia’s south, Český Krumlov is the most beautiful place you’ve probably never heard of. It’s Prague in miniature – a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a huge castle complex, an old town, Renaissance and baroque architecture, and (yes) lots of tourists milling through the streets, but all on a smaller scale. There are plenty of lively bars and picnic spots, and in the summer it’s a popular hangout for backpackers. In winter, when the crowds are gone and the castle is blanketed in snow, it's a fairy-tale place. Don’t miss the striking Renaissance castle, occupying a promontory high above the town.

12.  Spend an evening at the pub

We’ve saved the best for last and an experience you can enjoy in any Czech town or city. Indeed, a night at the pub might just be Czechia’s defining activity. The pub is more than a bar and means more than the beer. Pubs function as the country’s collective living room. On several nights of the week, people gather to meet friends, catch up on news and enjoy a meal. Oh yeah, the beer’s good too. Most pubs serve food and can be excellent spots to try traditional cooking.

Planning tip: Some of our favorite Czech pubs include U Černého vola (in Prague), Na Spilce (in Plzeň), Masné Krámy (in České Budějovice, another beer-soaked Bohemian town) and Hanácká hospoda (in the Moravian city of Olomouc), but there are literally thousands more.