This seventeenth-century restored chateau oozes neoclassical romance and boasts exquisite interiors – glittering chandeliers, sumptuous fabrics, and a long sweeping staircase – behind its imposing white faced. But although it undoubtedly provides an escape far from the madding crowds, the lively hub of Prague is just 34 miles (55 km) away.

The chateau is devoted to pampering guests, from luxuriant massages in the spa to afternoon tea with harpist strumming in the background. Dinner is a gourmet affair and incorporates many excellent local ingredients, whereas the aptly named Alchymist Club in the cellar bar mixes up enchanting elixirs to promote health and love. The chateau is proud to be the Czech Republic’s first eco-chic five-star hotel.

There is a lot to do beyond the castle walks, too. Set off on a walking trail through the Jabkenice Game Park and spot wild deer, or try a sulfur-rich mud treatment at the local Tousen Mud Baths. A romantic horse-drawn carriage ride through the forest should also not be missed. However you spend your time, do not rush to bed at the end of a blissful day. Take a moment first to gaze up at the night sky from the chateau’s rooftop observatory. Pure magic. 

Photos by: wandermelon and Majkl76

Kinsky Palace at the Old Town Square , also called the Goltz – Kinsky Palace, is regarded as the most beautiful Rococo building in Prague. The Kinsky Palace looks out over the old town square and the Jan Hus monument. The palace currently houses the Prague National Gallery’s Collections, offering space for its regular exhibitions It was build for Jan Arnost Goltz in 1755-65 on the place where used to stand two hotels. Since 1949 the palace has been the National Gallery. With a collection boasting impressive works by Norbert Grund, Josef Navratil, Antonin, Amalie and Josef Manes and other.

This five luxury star hotel is situated in the Malá Strana quarter, 16 kilometers from Prague’s airport. Hotel Hoffmeister Lily Wellness & Spa is just a few minutes away from Prague’s historical landmarks – Charles Bridge is a five minute walk away and St Nicholas’s Church is 10 minutes away. Set at the foot of the the famous Hradoin castle, the architecturally interesting building reflects the history, culture and charm of Prague. The sprawling white building, fronted by a garden and courtyard offers the highest international standards of comfort and convenience.  

The hotel has 30 rooms and 8 apartments, all of which are decorated in rich colors, with reproduction antique furniture and rich fabrics. Rooms have individual air-conditioning, direct telephone line, minibars, safes and hairdryers. Hotel’ amenities included: spa and wellness center, summer garden, conference facilities, lobby lounge, Sisley beauty salon, and etc. Hotel features an art gallery of Adolf Hoffmeister’s paintings and a remarkable collection of caricatures depicting the world’s artistic community – Franz Kafka, Milan Kundera, Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Picasso and Andy Warhol.

The Lily Wellness and Spa is offers guests: a range of massages, facials and body wraps with natural products by exclusive Sisley Paris cosmetic, daily gourmet breakfast with selection of organic produce and freshly-squeezed juices. There is an unique 15th century Cave-Stone bath. This type of Aromatherapy provides the steam by dipping 650°C hot lava stones into water and is not only an amazing and relaxing experience but it also is an ideal step prior to a nourishing treatment.

 
Methods of Payment: Master Card, VISA, American Express, JCB, Cash
Languages Staff Speaks: English, Czech, German, French, Italian, Russian, Slovak

The 5 star Hotel Carlo IV is the most majestic hotel in Prague. The hotel  is located in the heart of Prague’s historical centre, just 5 minutes on foot from the Namesti Republic subway stop.
 

The Boscolo Hotel Prague now consists of two buildings, one built in 1890 and the other built more recently. The building, by A. Wolf, is considered one of the most interesting buildings of the late 19th century in the Czech lands. The marble-floored lobby features crystal light fixtures, silk furnishings, palm trees and an original stucco ceiling.

The hotel has a total of 152 guestrooms all well equipped with modern  facilities. All rooms have high-speed Internet ports, satellite television, desk, safes, hair-dryer, bathrobes and minibars.

Services: air conditioner , wheelchair access,  pets allowed,  laundry , elevator,  room service,  shop, safe,  conference room , swimming pool,  massage,   garage,  parking and bar.

The hotel has a large selection of restaurants and bars. The restaurant serves Czech and international specialities, but with true Italian panache. On-site dining is provided by the Box Block Restaurant, which offers traditional Bohemian cuisine, international fusion dishes, and a selection of wines.

In the basement of the hotel you will find the impressive Roman style pool and spa complete with Jacuzzi, sauna and warming Turkish bath.

Hotel Paris is marvelously situated just near by The Powder Tower in Prague, where the stunning King’s Road begins. This road is very ancient and leads just to the Prague Castle. If you walk through it, you will see many of the most beautiful Prague sights, such as Old Town Squere, astronomical clock, Charles Bridge and Nerudova Street.

The hotel is constructed in 1904 by well-known architect Jan Vejrych. Even thought that is old structure, the place still has the elegance of the times.

Hotel Paris offers exclusively decorated and fully-equipped guestrooms with the latest technologies such as satellite television and internet connection. The amenities also include bathrooms with special heated floors and massage showers.

The hotel either invites you to ‘Cafe de Paris’ and to its gourmet Sarah Bernhardt Restaurant offering splendid French and International cuisine. Furthermore for your maximum relax, you will have the opportunity to soak into a variety of treatments of the Wellness and Spa Centre, with its exotic Ayuverda massages.

Chateau St. Havel is located south of the city centre in Prague. It is sitted in protected and peaceful environment surrounded by woods, parks and lakes. The historical stucture was built in 13^th century and is perfect place to escape from outside world.

The chateau houses thirty-two perfectly furnished bedrooms with distinct castle chamber feel. Some of the rooms overlooks the English style park and lake. The grounds of the castle are conducive to a more active holiday, the lake is stocked with fish and is ideal for ordinary and fly fishing for which equipment can be rented. Other activities include a golf driving range on the edge of the lake and a golf course. For dining, the restaurant serves excellent Czech and international cuisine with an extensive wine list.

Each room has all modern conviniences such as air conditioning, safe deposit box, ironing board, mini bar, room service all day, television, adsl internet access, Wi-Fi internet, direct phone, baby crib, central heating, terrace.

Hotel Josef is formed from two houses, one called Orange, the other Pink and it is located near the old Jewish ‘Josefov’ quarter in Prague, Czech Republic. The hotel is ideally situated in centre of Prague, 5 minutes walking distance from the old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge, Powder Tower, Opera and concert halls.

This hotel is very compact and it’s projected around a peaceful landscaped courtyard, with magnificant stylish functional rooms in the core of the city.

The hotel was designed from a lovely woman called Eva Jiricna. She is an architect of some of the most innovative interiors in London, Paris and New York. In this hotel she brings stone-clad bathrooms with glass partiton walls and a sense of style to the comfortable bedrooms fully equipped with the latest technology. A business center and a gymnasium complement the sophisticated environment of Hotel Josef, that has already become a major feature in Prague’s growing business and tourist economy.

Every single room and lodger owned ound-proofed rooms, most with views to the courtyard, air-conditioning, telephone, complimentary highspeed internet connection and Wi-Fi, ISDN and analogue data ports, DVD/CD player and DVD library (extra charges apply), satellite TV, in-room safe, minibar, concierge, laundry/dry cleaning service, multilingual staff, car rental and limousine service, garage (extra charges apply), and the bathrooms have: tub or showers with 7 inch rainfall, showerheads, bathrobe, hairdryer, healthcare amenities …

Telc lies in the southwest of Moravia in the Czech-Moravian Highlands, Czech Republic. It probably dates back to the first half of the 13th century. Telc underwent a great boom in the 16th century during the time of the Lords of Hradec. It was then that the originally Gothic castle in the town was rebuilt in the Renaissance style and the houses surrounding the main square took on their current appearance with arcades. The Baroque can be found on the hill above the town near the road in the direction of the town. The square area is characterised by two public fountains and by the Marian column which are situated in its eastern part.

This memorial column, erected in the early years of the 18th century, is the most outstanding example of type of monument that is very typical of Central Europe. Rising to a height of 35 m, it is decorated in the characteristic regional style known as Olomouc Baroque with many fine religious sculptures. Marian Plague Column is standing on Lower Square. Render to commemorate those who were felled by the plague.
The Marian column was built in 1716 – 1720 and was financed by the legacy of Zuzana Hodov who bequeathed 1000 Austrian Guldens for this purpose in her last will. The designer of the column was David Lipart, a sculptor of Brtnice in co-operation with Frantiek Neuwirt. The pedestal of the column holds the saints – John of Nepomuk, James, Francis Xaverius, Rochus, Sebestian and the Guardian Angel. In the cave you can see St. Rosalie and from ten second side Mary Magdalene. On the top of the grayish column stands the Virgin Mary on the globe.

The most significant monument in terms of world renown in the Olomouc region is baroque column of the Holy Trinity Column on Upper Square (Horni namesti). Unique column sculptural group has been listed as of the year 2000 on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.

Hluboka Chateau is regarded as one of the most beautiful stately homes in Bohemia is situated 15 km from Ceske Budejovice.
This royal castle was founded in the mid-13th century in a sensitive place on the border of the interest on power of the Premyslid rules and the South Bohemina Vitkovicz magnates. During the 15th and 16th centuries direct royal administration made way for the pledge possession of the castle by Czech lords, whose number included the pernstejns among the most important of them. Vilem of Perstejn laid the foundations of fishing enterprise in Sough Bohemia. Among others, he also founded nearby Bezdrev Pond.

In the 16th century Hluboka was in the ownership of the lords of Hared. In 1581 Baltazar Maio da Ronio reconstructed the castle for Adam Hradec, converting it into a Renaissance chateau. During the Thirty years war Hluboka was the seat of the imperial general don Baltazar de Marradas, who surrounded it with and extensive fortification system.
The interiors of Hluboka castle contain many artistic objects gathered by Schwarzenbergs. Along with valuable furniture hunderts of paintings could be found. Most valued are Bernard Luini’s, Lucas Cranach’s and Jan Jiri Hamilton’s paintings. Unique is collection of 57 flam’s wall carpets, most of them collected in 17th and 18th century. Most valued of them are Brusel’s gobelins of Baudouin van Beveren, inspired by models of Jacob Jordaense on national proverbs.
The biggest hall is the library with a panel ceiling, transferred to Hluboka from the family castle of the Schwanzenbergs. The armory at Hluboka is of a very high standard. The Gothic Revival chapel is dominated by the late Gothic altar with carved folding wings.
You will be able to admire the magnificent collections of furniture, tapestries, porcelain, paintings and historical weapons.
Today’s appearance comes from the reconstruction hold during 1841-1871, made according the project of Wien’s architect Frantisek Beer. Later the construction was directed by Damas Deworecky. The reconstruction took almost 30 years. Outbuildings which did not fit dignity of the chateau were destroyed. The baroque chateau was rebuilt into romantic castle in English Thudors Gothic style.

Kutna Hora is a very old town, the town belonging to the UNESCO list of the world cultural heritage. The immensely architecturally rich town Kutna Hora was founded in the early Middle Ages in the middle of ample silver ore finding place and in the course of time it became the second most important town after Prague. Have a many picturesque quite places rich in the unique Baroque atmosphere and of Gothic there. Czech as well as foreign tourists every year…

Kutna Hora once rivalled Prague and even London in terms of size and importance. The discovery of silver ore here in the 14th century led to the creation of the Royal Mint and the town became the political, cultural and economic centre of Bohemia. The town of Kutna Hora is a picturesque medieval town situated some 60km east of Prague. The source of all the splendour and wealth of the town was silver ore extracted once in this region.

The Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to influence the architecture of central Europe. These masterpieces today form part of a well-preserved medieval urban fabric with some particularly fine private dwellings. The Restoration at the end of the 19th century provided its present-day look. The most important purist architects Ludvik Lebler and Josef Mocker participated in this reconstruction. The oldest is the decoration of the mint masters with lively iconographic motifs of the local mint masters work. The unique decoration of the shows space and landscape in perfect perspective, on the portal the donators and motifs of still life are depicted. Its construction was started in 1388 by Peter Parler’s smelt house. Construction work was interrupted several times and the monumental cathedral was finally completed after more than 500 years of building, in 1905.
The Cathedral of the Barbara was built in the late 14th and during the 15th to the first half of the 16th century. It originated in spite of the till then most influential authority controlling the development of the town – the Sedlec Cistercian monastery.
This beautiful building is not a cathedral, but a church. The church is on the top of a hill, overlooking wooded land below, it is a very nice setting. The interior has some decoration, paintings and painted ceilings, confessionals, wood and stone carvings. There is no crypt, or if there is, it is not open to the public. This is a church with very old origins, but the sparse explanation sheet provides little information about the different stages of construction, so the medieval blends with the modern. There is an inexpensive entry free.

Charles Bridge in the city of Prague has become a national symbol for the Czech Republic. Known also as Karluv most, was built over the Viltava River, in 1357, although there was an earlier bridge which collapsed during a flood. Charles Bridge is not just a tourist attraction, it’s the main pedestrian route linking the Old Town with Mala Strana, and then onto Prague Castle itself.

From 1683 to 1928 thirty sculptures and sculptural groups of the saints were gradually set on the bridge piers. The bridge is 515 meters long and 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700. Most of original statues on the bridge were erected between the 17th and 18th centuries. They depict saints and patron saints. The statues seen today on the Charles Bridge are replicas. The originals were removed to protect them from The statue of St. John of Nepomuk, erected in 1683, was the first of the bridge’s Baroque sculptural adornments as much as it was a solemn representation of the country’s new patron saint, worshiped throughout the world. It was based on Viennese sculptor Matthias Rauchmiller’s terracotta model, which Jan Brokof rendered in wood. After this, Wolf H. Herold in Nuremburg cast the statue in bronze.

During the day, artists, tourists, musicians, painters and vendors line up the stone walkways of the bridge. Honeymooners and tourists alike would enjoy a moonlit stroll on the bridge with the view of the magnificent Prague castle in the background.

Charles Bridge is on the top of every Prague visitor’s must-see list. It is also popular with Czech artists, musicians and souvenir vendors whose stands line both sides of the bridge year-round. A great time of day to come to the bridge is at sunset when one can enjoy a breathtaking view of the fully lit Prague Castle against the evening sky.

Karlovy Vary, also known as Carlsbad, is one of the most important spa towns in Central Europe.The water from the natural hot springs was highly valued for its curative powers, and the town maintains an old-worldly air, with the bathhouses and many of the town’s key buildings dating from that time.
The therapeutic effect of the Karlovy Vary springs has been utilized ever since the Middle Ages. The spa became a tryst of aristocracy in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town’s most valuable architecture has its origin in this period as well, the Baroque Church of St. Mary Magdalen, built by K. I. Dientzenhofer in 1727 – 1736. Though, the spa’s greatest upsurge occurred only in the 19th century when Karlovy Vary became world famous. The spa buildings, colonnades and pavilions were constructed in the mood of a sober Empirical and, later, Art Nouveau styles. The center of the present spa bustle in Karlovy Vary is a modern pavilion with the main Karlovy Vary spring, Vřídlo, and the Mlýnská Colonnade.

While attractions across much of the Czech Republic are closed or keep limited hours outside the summer season, Prague caters for visitors all year round. Periods when the tourist crush is especially oppressive include the Easter and Christmas/New Year holidays, as well as May and June. Many Czechs go on holiday in July and August, during which time the supply of bottom-end accommodation actually increases, as student hostels are opened to visitors. If you can put up with the cold and the periodic smog alerts during weather inversions, hotel space is plentiful in winter (outside Christmas/New Year), and Prague is gorgeous under a mantle of snow.

Prague lies in the transitional area between maritime and continental climates, characterised by hot, showery summers, cold, snowy winters and generally changeable conditions. A typical day in Prague from June to August sees the mercury range from about 12°C (54°F) to 22°C (72°F). Temperatures from December to February push below freezing. Wide variations are common, sometimes surpassing 35°C (95°F) in summer and -20°C (-4°F) in winter. The closest thing to a ‘dry season’ is from January to March, when total precipitation (mostly as snow at that time) is less than a third of that during the wettest months, June to August. And yet January averages as many ‘wet’ days (about two out of five) as the summer months do. The summer’s long, sunny, hot spells tend to be broken by sudden, heavy thunderstorms. May and September have the most pleasant weather.

Sightseeing in Prague means wandering through an invigorating diversity of neighbourhoods and pounding the cobblestones between old fortifications, historically resplendent squares and streets, majestic church-fronts, green open-air cuttings, and countless museum and gallery ticket booths.

Ethnic restaurants are burgeoning in Prague, so your diet can stretch beyond standard meaty Czech fare. There are also plenty of restaurants and pubs that move beyond the frumpy dumpling approach to embrace top-quality local food presented in creative and international ways.

Prague’s past plays a big part in its entertainment scene by providing centuries-old stone cellars for musicians to blaze away in, sculpted facades for beerhalls to make noise behind, or grand auditoriums for the staging of classical events. Competing with these are suavely modern bars and clubs.Stroll through the greenbelt atop Petřín Hill and fill both your lungs and your eyes. The views of the city are magnificent and you’re far enough above the fug of the city to breath fresh air. Cycling in Prague is a hairy proposition – those steep cobblestones can be tricky, and the traffic is as thick as the air – but once out of the more populated areas, the freedom and mobility are their own reward. Renting a rowboat or pedal-boat to tour the Vltava River on your own power can give you an interesting new perspective on the city.

Getting in and out of Prague is a snap, thanks to the cheap and well-run trains of Czech Railways (ÄŒD) and the buses, which are even cheaper still, run more frequently and are quite comfortable. The budget prices and convenience of these modes of transports mean that air travellers to Prague are comparatively rare; if you do fly into the city, you’ll fetch up in RuzynÄ›, the international airport.

Prague’s RuzynÄ› airport, 17km (11mi) northwest of the city centre, is the Czech Republic’s only international airport. It’s served by dozens of international carriers, including ÄŒeske aerolinie (ÄŒSA), the state airline. Departure tax is included in the price of the ticket. Smaller Karlovy Vary airport primarily serves domestic travellers, but has regular flights to Moscow.

Trains run daily between Prague and most major European cities; Paris, Amsterdam, Munich and Vienna are some major hubs. Within the Czech Republic, Czech Railways (ÄŒD) provides cheap, efficient service. Various passes are available.

Buses tend to be faster, more frequent and marginally cheaper than the train. All domestic long-distance buses and most regional services depart the Florenc station, though many regional buses depart other terminals scattered throughout the city.