6 days program for Český Krumlov and Prague.

Day 1:

From Prague we drive a couple of hours to Český Krumlov, which is after Prague undoubtedly the second most attractive town in the Czech Republic.

After arrival we will have dinner and a drink in the hotel.

We will make a short walk in the vicinity of the hotel to get oriented about where the hotel is placed in the center of town.

Český Krumlov is on the UNESCO-list. The river Moldau curves through the Old Town, which is full of small, narrow streets with a lot of cosy bars and restaurants.

Day 2:

We will make a short stroll to the central square and go on to the castle, which is the second largest in the Czech Republic. It dates back to around 1250, and for ages three of the most famous noble families, the Rosenbergs, the Eggenbergs and the Schwarzenbergs have been the owners. Today the state is the owner. We will make two excursions in the castle. On the first one we will see the impressing interior in Baroque and Renaissance style. We will go through the Castle Chapel and see the Golden Horse Carriage and the Mascerade Hall. The second excursion brings us to the best kept Baroque style theatre in Europe, which is placed in the 5th court yard. We will be shown stage scenery, costumes and props, machinery for replacing the scenes and equipment for imitating sounds of a storm.

The evening is on your own.

Day 3:

We drive to the nearby town of Třebon´, which is famous for breeding carps.

First we will have an excursion in the town brewery. We will see how the malt is boiled and the sugar is separated from the malt and later during fermentation converted into alcohol. We will see, too, the other parts in this modern brewery and also the filling station. Finally we will of course taste the nice beer.

After that we will have lunch in a local fish restaurant. The dishes can be fish or meat. The traditional Czech Christmas dinner consists of fish soup and fried carp with potato salad.

Třebon´ is the `carp capital`, because for centuries carps have been breeded there. The fish ponds are placed right in the middle of the town. You will have some free time to visit these ponds, until we drive back to the hotel.

The evening is on your own.

Day 4:

After breakfast we go by the bus to Prague. After check in in the hotel we make a city tour in the Old and the New Town. We will visit the Wenceslaus Square and tell the story about the 1968-uprising with Dubček and Jan Palach, who burned himself to death. Then we go to a `hidden` monastery garden and monastery church. After that we will go to the Old Town Square to see the famous Astrological Clock, the Jewish Quarter with the Old Cemetary and the Charles Bridge. During the walk we will make a break for a cup of coffee or lunch.

Late in the afternoon we will meet in the hotel and walk to the river Moldau for a two hour boattrip. We start with the Czech national drink Becherovka, followed by a big buffet with hot and cold dished, cheese fruit and cake for dessert, one drink included.

After the buffet you can go to the sun roof of the boat to enjoy the nice view of the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle and several other nice building along the river. The guide will tell about some of the most interesting sites.

Day 5:

We meet before noon to go by bus, public transportation or the historical veteran tram to the Prague Castle, which is the biggest in Europe, so the visit will last a couple of hours. We will go into the St. Vitus Cathedral, the old Royal Castle, the St Georges Church and not least the Golden Lane with the cosy, small houses, which are built into the castle wall. From the castle we will go down the stairs to the Little Side to enjoy lunch including one drink in a nice restaurant.

The theme for the evening will be the world famous Czech beer. We will start in a local bar for a beer or two. Enjoying the beer the guide will inform about brewing process, beer types, the famous breweries Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser and the traditions in the locals bars outside the center of Prague. After that we will walk to Novoměstsky pivovar – the New Town Brewery, which is also a restaurant with 350 seats. We will enjoy a very big meat plate, consisting of many kinds of meat and rich side dished f. ex. the typical dumplings. Unlimited consumption of the brewery´s own golden or dark beer. After the dinner the guide will show you around in the brewery. We will start at the big copper vessels where the malt in boiled and sugar set free. Here the hops are added, too. On the same spot we will see, smell and taste some of the ingredients to the beer, hops and malt. Then we go to the fermentation room, where the sugar is converted into alcohol. It is quite unique, that we are allowed to go into this room and see the fermentation vessels and the beer with foam on the top. Finally we will se the lager tanks, too.

Day 6:

Transfer to the airport.

Additional information:

Other possible excursions from Český Krumlov: Visit in Linz in Austria or to one of the UNESCO protected towns Hluboka, Telč or Holášovice. In Prague Folklore Show or bus trip to Kutna Hora.

On board the bus or during dinners we will give some small lectures about the Czech history in the 20th century, Czech religion, Czech language, the Christmas dinner, having carp, the spilt up of Czechoslovakia in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the political situation, and not least information about the social system concerning maternity leave, education system, salaries, taxes, rent, unemployment rate, health system and retirement.