Cesky Krumlov - 5 days in our kind of paradise.

Malcolm Frost
Aug 31, 2016
10 min read

(photo above - Cesky Krumlov as viewed from close to the castle entrance - courtyard on gardens track)

After a 7 day visit to Prague we were sure we had found the most picturesque place in Europe. We were wrong.

Cesky Krumlov - our next destination in the south west of the Czech Republic (in Bohemia) - has beaten Prague back to second place, with ease.

Situated on the Vltava river on a series of meanders, with hills all around - Cesky Kurmlov is THE picture postcard destination. It's very difficult to take a bad photograph here as the place is so photogenic. From the castle on the clifftop to the winding cobbled streets and squares below, it's no wonder that this 13th century medieval town was added to Unesco's list of world heritage sites in 1992.

Untouched by wars for over five hundred years, the architecture of this lovely town has been preserved intact. And thank goodness for that.

It is only a small town and easily walkable despite the hilly streets and the 80 stone steps we had to take from where we were staying down to the river. Just when you think you have seen everything and walked every street you will find an alley or courtyard that you missed before and a whole new world opens up.

(photo above - castle and tower lit by floodlights at night)

Beautiful by daytime - this is tourist season so there are still the coach parties of tourists following their guides through the town, but it's no where near as crowded as Prague was. Night time brings about a different world and a different time. After the tourists have departed for the day the streets take on a timeless feel about them and you are transported back to the middle ages on darkened streets where the lamplight glistens off the cobble stones. Although you never feel afraid here, the streets take on a slightly sinister persona as you are transported back hundreds of years......and then you see a BMW and the spell is broken.

If we had more time I would have loved to have lived here for a year to see it through all four seasons......but alas we are restricted by time (and money) and must move on to the next place.

Once again we are using the services of Airbnb to find accommodation and we couldn't have dreamed of a better house or a kinder, more considerate host than the one we found here.

Jorge, our host - now our friend - and also known as Litera Krumlov - is an academic and a published writer, but also a humanitarian in his views and an all round good guy.

(photo above - Liz and I working our way through one of Jorge's legendary breakfasts)

(photo above - our host Jorge aka Litera Krumlov reading on his terrace- Search for Litera Krumlov on facebook or on Airbnb)

He has only recently dipped his toes into the water as far as Airbnb goes and is still making up his mind on how he should proceed, so we were very fortunate to be the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

His home, which is hundreds of years old, is .....quirky. Looking up the meaning of quirky it gives many alternatives but the ones which fit this house are - unusual, unique, out of the ordinary, bohemian (naturally - we are in Bohemia!), unconventional and eccentric. The walls are thick and keep the house cool from the summer heat and there are little doorways, staircases and passage ways and a cave (which makes a great wine cellar) and the toilet has walls made from books and wine bottles.....which gives rise to my quirky description. But this is quirky in a good way. A very good way. It's unique and wonderful, as are Jorges breakfasts. There is very little room left on the table when Jorge serves breakfast - his own freshly baked bread, olive oil, cheeses, meats, salami, salad, home made granola, yoghurt, sweet treats from the bakery, home made juices, a selection of teas and a great cup of coffee with cream. Far too much food, but Jorge is a generous man - wants to give his house guests the best experience that he can and it gives us all an excuse to sit and converse while we eat. He is an interesting man and we discuss many topics in our five days there.

(photo above - me with our host and friend Jorge on the terrace of the house with the river below)

We stayed in "the Writers Residence" an airy room with whitewashed walls, a vaulted ceiling and three windows over looking the river. There is a flight of stairs up to the bathroom on the next level - generous sized bath with shower over it, wash basin and toilet.

The house goes from a two story home at street level, but then drops down another 2 levels as it progresses down the slope toward the river.

Ideally situated above one of the meanders of the river Vltava giving wonderful views of the rafters and kayakers below winding their way through the town.

The rafting and canoeing is something done by tourists and locals alike. And it's very reasonably priced....as are most things in this part of Europe. But the tourist season is only short and although it seems at this time of year that the town is booming and thick with tourists, things quieten down at the end of August and all but stop at the end of September. The bar, cafe and shop owners only have a few months in which to make their money which has to last them through the whole year so it's not an easy life for them. To their credit, many of the bars and cafes keep their prices low and don't milk the tourist for all he or she has in their wallets......others do, but that's business.

(photo above - unfinished Egon Schiele painting - Jorges house is the unpainted one on the extreme right of the picture - I think. The open window is where our room is).

The Austrian artist Egon Schiele used to visit Cesky Krumlov (as his mother used to live here) and did many paintings of the area and of some of the young girls here. Actually Jorges house is in one of Schieles paintings (above).

(photo above - art gallery where Schieles work and others are displayed. The building was a ruin, but was lovingly restored into the gallery it now is).

There is an exhibition in town of Schieles work and includes old family photos. To be frank, there is not much of his work on display and the exhibition is mainly about his family history and his relationship with the town. However, the building in which the collection is housed is a wonderful building - a wonderful space to display art and there were other artists featured her also - so it was a pleasant experience wandering through the many rooms and floors of art work.

Schiele got kicked out of town by the town officials as they didn't like his lifestyle or that fact that he had convinced some of the young girls of the town to pose for nude paintings. He died at the age of 28 from the Spanish Flu, as did his wife who was pregnant at the time.

(above photo - Liz with David from Laibon Restaurant on the riverside. Website www.laibon.cz)

Jorge recommended a couple of restaurants to us, down by the river, side by side. One a vegetarian place called Laibon run by the friendliest guy you could ever meet, David. He has a knack of making every customer feel special. We can recommend the food, the service, the prices and the view - right on the banks of the river with the castle and tower on the opposite bank.

We tended to eat mainly either here or next door at U dwau Maryí (At the two Marys') - again for reasons of views, quality of food, cheap beers and good service from friendly staff. Here is traditional Bohemian food - meats, potatoes, dumplings - but with other things thrown in like millet, other grains and salads. We can heartily recommend both these restaurants.

Website of at the two Mary's is http://www.2marie.cz/

(photo above - a shot from across the river looking back at the two restaurants we mainly ate at. Laibon on the left with the "Bernard" umbrellas and At the 2 Marys to the right - both have indoor seating as well as their terraces by the river - note that there are no fences or hand rails between diners and the water. If it was in New Zealand OSH would have a field day - there would be hi-viz vests and harnesses for everyone.)

Things to see here in Cesky Krumlov? We had a nice walk from the house up the hill to the castle gardens which are well kept by a team of gardeners. There are formal gardens with neatly clipped hedges, lawns and flower beds along with an impressive fountain. In the middle of the gardens is a revolving theatre....with a difference. Usually it's the stage that revolves to reveal different scenes for the play. Here though its the seats where the audience sit which are on a turn table. The seating moves around to point the audience at different parts of the garden and different scenes. The plays put on here are usually ones set outside like Robin Hood or The Hounds of Baskerville.

(photo above - the revolving theatre in the castle gardens)

From the gardens its all down hill. The leg work has already been done, you're on top of the world, so enjoy the views. There 's a passage way that links the cloisters down below by the river, with the castle and continues on up to the gardens. This was so that the nuns could go unhindered all he way to the gardens. But this passageway is not open to the public, so follow the paths that wind down from the gardens toward the castle.

We stopped off in a small courtyard just outside the castle which offered great views over the town below. It was a hot day and we had become quite thirsty by now after all the walking so we were delighted to find that a small cafe in this courtyard sells cold beers at the ridiculously small price of 20 Koruna (or Crowns) for a third of a litre or 30 Koruna for a half a litre. That's the cheapest beer around here.

(photo above - Lizzie holding her now empty beer glass in the courtyard of the cafe on top of castle hill - the cheapest beer we found in town)

You can walk into the castle courtyards free of charge, but it costs to go inside the various rooms or into the baroque theatre here.

By tradition, there have always been bears kept at the castle in the moat....they are still here. Not something that I agree with but other tourists seem to enjoy the fact that there are bears here. One part of the castle I thought was worth a look at was the old forge. Here demonstrations of metal working are held and the audience gets to participate by helping to hammer out some hot metal. Protective aprons are provided. You can buy wrought iron work from the forge shop.

(photo above - demonstrations of metalworking in the castle forge)

There are museums and galleries to check out in Cesky Krumlov. We didn't do them all - we were more interested in trying to get a feel for the place than to do everything touristy. But we had a look at the "house of photography"- which featured photos by Jan Saudek which we both enjoyed. We had tried to see the Museum Fotoatelier Seidel which features original photographic equipment used in the early days of photography, plus a collection of old photos of Cesky Krumlov. Unfortunately we chose to visit during the staffs lunch break so it was closed.

Another day we had a walk to see the old synagogue which has a display about the Jewish citizens who built the Synagogue and how the Jews were treat during the war.

From here we visited the Egon Schiele studeo that he used for several months in 1911 before being evicted by the towns officials. It's currently housing an artist in residence.

(photo above - Egon Schiele house )

From here a nice walk in a shaded park, following the meandering river we strolled through Mestsky Park and had a seat on a bench and watched the rafts and kayaks float by. Some enterprising person has a boat moored mid stream selling cold drinks and icecream. Where there's a market there's an entrepreneur.

(photo above - the one stop shop in the middle of the river - irresistible to the rafters)

Speaking of icecream there is a stall selling fruit icecream in the man square. Nice large cones for just 49 koruna. Absolutely delicious and a life saver on a hot day.

(photo above - lizzie bringing back ice cream from the man in the main square - delicious and fruity)

Jorge took us to a small bar run partly by a sculptor Miroslav Paral who has a thing about body parts. There are fingers everywhere as candals or parts of furniture. There's a bench made from large sculpted feet. Chairs made from teeth. A vice made from 2 sets of teeth. It goes on.

(photo above - lizzie and the "feet bench")

Every building in Cesky Krumlov has a story - because they are so old they have a lot of history. It would take forever to document what each one was originally used for and what their purpose is now. Unfortunately our time in paradise has run out and so we have now left for Munich.

It's not easy to get from here to Munich in a straight forward manner. The buses and trains tend to all run back up to Prague first, so instead we booked the services of CK Shuttle. These guys run on demand services between Cesky Krumlov and Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Linz and Munich to name but a few of their destinations. They will take 2 people as a minimum (by car) and up to 16 by mini bus. They also have vehicles in between so can take parties up to 8 as well. The owner Daniel Cejka was a pleasure to deal with in booking the transport. He kept us up to date with what was happening and in fact ended up driving us himself to Munich. He's a good driver as you'd expect - polite, punctual and reliable. He has good command of the English language and was very chatty on our drive giving us information about places as we passed through. His company can also organise tours so if you ever need a good reliable form of transport try CK Shuttles and ask for Daniel by name. (website is http://www.shuttlebus.cz/)

And so we bid a sad farewell to Cesky Krumlov and our new friend Jorge. I have no doubt that we will be back at some point in the not too distant future.

(Disclaimer - any "facts" are from memory - after drinking the marvelous Czech beer - so please forgive any inaccuracies).

As usual more photos of the area will be posted on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/malcfrost

I'll leave you with a couple of more scenic pics of Cesky Krumlov.........

(photo above - do you see the windows in the arch? This is where the passage is that the nuns would walk from the cloisters up to the castle gardens. This arch is close to the cloisters below the castle.)

(above photo is the last part of the passageway used by the nuns - this section is the one which opens out into the gardens at the top of the hill above the castle. The town is below.)