VIA PRAGA
Guided Tours of Prague and the Czech Republic
Country
Welcome Prague Historical Towns Religious Monuments Castles and Chateaux Spa Resorts Natural Wealth Joy from Exercise Classical and Modern Arts Eat and Drink
Welcome
Ancient towns reflecting the rich history of Central Europe in the past millennium, stone castles and ruins on rocks, splendid chateaux surrounded by fancy parks, noble ecclesiastical monuments, folk architecture and traditions, museums, galleries, music events, cultural festivals, cosmopolitan Prague, health-conscious spa towns and peace and tranquility in the country. Included in active vacations there are numerous sporting activities, adrenalin to order, many shopping opportunities with the latest European trends, culinary adventures, interesting national cuisine and famous Czech beer. This is the Czech Republic - original scenes for your travelling experience. Welcome...
Prague
It is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The hundred-spired pearl, the magic mother of towns. Its rare, well-maintained and mutually interlocked architecture of all styles depicts eleven centuries of medieval history. Just like the splendid stone bridge connects both banks of the river Vltava, Prague is the place where the Czechs, Germans and Jews had lived ever before; it is an intersection of Europe where tradesmen, politicians, scholars and artists from all over the world have met. The special inspiring atmosphere of Prague has fascinated foreigners from the Romanic times to date. The historical quarters have still maintained their magic: the unique Old Town with a large square where a medieval astronomical clock chimes every hour, with a university, multiple spires and remnants of a large Jewish ghetto; the Lesser Town on the hills below Prague Castle - a braid of zigzag lanes and staircases, a quarter full of ecclesiastical monuments and gigantic aristocratic palaces and refined gardens; Hradcany - a picturesque quarter next to the impressive seat of the Czech rulers. Prague is abundant not only in historical monuments, museums, collections of art, bookstores, theaters, opera, musicals, cinemas or music clubs, but also offers boulevards with luxury shops selling fashion, glass, jewelry and antiques with excellent restaurants, stylish cafes, traditional beerhouses and folk pubs. Prague is a modern European metropolis with all services and opportunities for entertainment, business and education. When you become tired of all that, take a rest in one of the numerous parks, participate in sports or go for a trip into the countryside.
Historical Towns
Not only Czech rulers, but also national and foreign aristocracy and, later, the ever-more powerful bourgeoisie boasted their power and wealth. Forty Czech towns have maintained their historical downtowns intact; now, they are protected as conservation areas. But you will surely find interesting and well maintained monuments and unique architectural pearls in any large or small town. The most attractive towns include Cesky Krumlov, a unique Gothic-Renaissance town with narrow medieval lanes and a large castle over the river (the second largest castle after Prague Castle); Kutna Hora, a royal town that became rich in the Middle Ages from silver-mining; unique pearls of Renaissance, the towns of Telc and Slavonice; the archiepiscopal towns of Olomouc and Kromeriz; the winery-towns of Znojmo or Mikulov; and the center of South Moravia – Brno.
Religious Monuments
The monastery at Vyssi Brod with a rare Baroque library; the Church of St Virgin Barbara – the patron of miners at Kutna Hora; the pilgrimage area at Zelena Hora near the town of Zdar nad Sazavou; the archbishop's summer manor house at Kromeriz – to mention just a few samples of architectural mastership located all round the country; the Catholic clergy and religious orders have been the richest investors in Bohemia since the Middle Ages. Monumental cathedrals as well as simple countryside churches, magnificent monasteries as well as humble chapels, pilgrimage sites, splendid residences with beautiful collections as well as a simple cross between two lime-trees in the midst of fields. Twelve centuries during which the political and social developments of the Czech lands have been accompanied by Christianity left their footmarks in the marvelous Czech landscape, in every town and village.
Castles and Chateaux
Surprisingly numerous castles, chateaux, citadels and their ruins, almost two thousand of them, form an inherent part of the Czech landscape. About 200 of them are open to the public. Their owners, either the state or private persons - mostly the descendants of important aristocratic families - organise sightseeing tours with guides. Some of them are excellent samples of stylistically pure architecture - such as the Gothic castles of Bezdez, Pernstejn, Loket, Kost, or the Renaissance arcade chateaux at Litomysl, Velke Losiny, Telc, Jindrichuv Hradec. Other, reconstructed and enlarged during their history to ever-growing magnificence and beauty – such as Cesky Krumlov, Vranov, Lednice, Valtice, Bouzov, are an exhibition of the development of architectural styles and an illustrative textbook of the history of the entire Central Europe. Sightseeing tours include beautifully furnished interiors with unique collections and, frequently, beautiful gardens, parks and game-preserves. Historical festivities, night tours, theater performances or concerts are organized in many places.
Spa Resorts
The natural curing springs, original spa architecture, beautiful landscape scenery and easy climate, sports activities, interesting social events - those are the traditional characteristics of Czech spa resorts, a part of the European cultural heritage. The quality of spa procedures proven by time and top-class care for patients are multiplied today with the offer of modern wellness and SPA methods for your relaxation and recovery of your strength, health and beauty. The most famous of thirty-five traditional spas is the triangle in West Bohemia: Karlovy Vary – Marianske Lazne – Frantiskovy Lazne. Hot thermal springs were popular also in the past centuries among the most varied cosmopolitan clients - during the centuries, the spas were visited by famous personalities, such as Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Gogol, Goethe, Kafka, Freud, Edison, Schopenhauer, Marx and Casanova. The Czech patriots preferred the Moravian spa of Luhacovice or the spa of Jesenik with the folk "water doctor" Vincenz Priessnitz, whose simple and vigorous methods, such as his famous anti-fever pack, are still very effective.
Natural Wealth
You can drive through the Czech Republic in one day, but you can spend all your life walking through it. The Club of Czech Tourists has been improving for more than one hundred years the dense network of marked footpaths and ski-paths, totaling up to 40,000 kilometers and supplemented with detailed maps. The Czechs love cycling and cross-country skiing in winter - marked routes will not disappoint you in any season. They will provide you with erudite information about natural beauties and historical sights in the landscape and they will take you to all places including the most valuable areas - national parks, unique eco-systems and landscape preserves. Satellite photos show in the center of Europe a striking basin surrounded with a circle of mountains - the Czech Republic. Mountains wreathe most borders; the landscape inside is beautifully varied and diversified. Slightly undulating hills between fruitful lowlands along life-giving rivers, deep forests as well as densely populated areas. Rock towns are real natural jewels. Rock-climbers know them best and give them familiar names. You can see there more than thousand rock towers. Sun, frost, wind and water had formed during thousands of years the unique European UNESCO geo-park Bohemian Paradise. This romantic landscape combines diversity of natural beauties and abundant architectural monuments - castles, chateaux and folk architecture. The system of ponds in the cultivated landscape of South Bohemia is very interesting, too. Hundreds of ponds were created mostly in the Renaissance era as artificial water reservoirs designed originally for breeding of famous Bohemian fish, which was exported at that time to royalty all around Europe.
Joy from Exercise
Are you looking for ideas for your next vacation? Would you like to spend it actively, improve your condition, find beauties not known before? The diversified nature offers trips for walkers and bikers, water enthusiasts and fans of flying; many opportunities for spending leisure time actively. In modern sports centers you can try several disciplines at once - tennis, tabletennis, ball games, squash, mini-golf and many others. Many golf courses located in beautiful landscapes, as well as water reservoirs and rivers wait for you. You can enrich your stay in the countryside farms with horse-riding, fishing or mushrooming. Daring fans of adrenalin sports, such as bungee jumping or tandem jumps will find their opportunities, too. And did you know that Czech mountains were the cradle of skiing in Central Europe? Do not hesitate to test it; snowy hills and ski centers offering all services wait for winter-sports lovers. Let sports-loving visitors to our country have fun and pleasant memories in any season. Do you prefer to watch sports as a spectator or do you prefer to contest yourself? Here are a couple of tips:
Classical and Modern Arts
Music by Antonin Dvorak and Leos Janacek is probably best known abroad. The Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was celebrated in the second half of the 19th century as one of the greatest artists of that time. His famous symphony 'From the New World’ flew to the moon in the past century along with the first US astronauts and it brought to the interstellar space a message of the excellent tradition of Czech music. You cannot miss it during your visit to the Czech Republic - you will be offered a rich mixture of concerts and festivals of all genres, which are organized throughout the year and throughout the country; often in the marvelous environment of historical monuments. The fans of visual and utility arts will find interesting collections, both short-term and permanent exhibitions. In addition to the honorable institutions, such as the Prague Castle Picture Gallery, National Gallery or National Museum, the Czech inhabitants, including those in small towns and villages, can boast with hundreds of museums and monuments reminding of famous personalities.
Eat and Drink
The Czech and Moravian traditional cuisine is solid, rich and tasty. You can find it on menucards in a broad network of restaurants and pubs, wine-rooms and beerhouses. People now prefer light meals with plenty of fresh vegetables, but the typical national meal is roast pork and sweetand- sour cabbage with dumplings (typical Czech meal "knedlik"). Roast duck, game meals and sweet dumplings filled with fruit are very popular, too. Various types of sauces form part of Czech cuisine. Roast sirloin in cream sauce and dumplings is the most popular. Czech beer is a real national treasure. Beer is brewed according to ancient recipes and from excellent domestic raw materials in tens of breweries. No wonder the Czechs are the most apt consumers of beer in the world. Czech and Moravian wines, especially white wines, are very good, too. South Moravia is a famous winery region - various winery programs make visitors familiar with wine, wine cellars, as well as cultural monuments, the last living folk traditions and hospitality of Moravian people.
Incoming Travel Agency, Licensed Guide of Prague Miroslava Eliasova | ICO 72589221
Tel.: (+ 420) 605 809 636 | E-mail: info@via-praga.com
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