Money
The Czech and Slovak Republics have separate currencies, the Koruna ceska Czech crown Kc and the Slovenska koruna Slovak crown Sk . US dollars and euros are the most sensible foreign currencies to pack. This book's inside cover has a handy exchange rate table, and the Getting Started chapter has a general rundown on costs p 16 . The euro will not be introduced until 2009 at the earliest. The Koruna ceska is divided into 100 halera, or heller h . Notes come in 20Kc, 50Kc, lOOKc, 200Kc, 500Kc,...
Restaurants
Try the local carp from nearby Trebon. pizza grill Panska 17 pizzas 10OKc S closed Sun Just maybe where the phrase 'hole-in-the-wall' came from, pizza grill fits a wood-fired oven, a vintage espresso machine, and seating for five diners into a tiny space. Grab takeaway pivo 'n' pizza and dine alfresco. U Tri Sedlaku 387 222 303 Hroznova 488 mains 100-160Kc Locals celebrate that nothing much has changed at U Tri Sedlaku since it opened in 1897. Tasty meaty dishes go with the Pilsner Urquell...
Sleeping Eating Oer
Domov Ml deze Obchodn Akademie 379 722 386 BN mcov 116 dm per person 160Kc Basic dorm beds are on offer here, but phone ahead as reception isn't always staffed. Caf amp Pension Tiffany 379 725 591 www.tiffany .wz.cz Kostelni 102 s d ind breakfast 570 1140Kc Spacious, eclectic rooms complement a funky downstairs caf run by English-speaking Otto. Bring along any interesting banknotes you have to decorate the walls around the bar. Pension Family 379 725 962 pavla.michl volny .cz Skolni 107 s d 580...
Slovensky Raj National Park
Rumbling waterfalls, steep gorges, sheer rock faces, thick forests and hilltop meadows Slovensky raj Slovak paradise www.slovenskyraj.sk admission 20Sk is a national park for the passionately outdoorsy. The park is 90 covered in dense pine and deciduous forest, and has several rare species found only within its borders, including 17 butterfly types and 20 wildflower varieties. Easier trails exist, but the one-way ladder- and chain-assist ascents are the most dramatic. You cling to a metal rung...
Stramberk
With gabled wooden cottages cascading down the slopes of Bila hora White mountain , the tiny village of Stramberk is a pristine slice of Wallachia. The aromas of wood smoke and pine infuse the air, and the ruined clifftop casde delivers fine views across the surrounding valleys. With a pretty main square and a fine restored Municipal Brewery, Stramberk gets especially busy on summer weekends, so try for a mid-week appointment with one of the country's most enchanting villages. The Municipal...
Info Woy
mestske centrum foreign exchange office ftu jo ko muht nye-yuh-kee to m-ko-muht frf also trznice in Czech trh fr-zhnyi-tse newsagency . mee-she-nairzfw-zhee jo-truh-vi-ni policejnistanice policajnd stanica post office verejny zdchod verejny zachod supermarket politsey-nyee jiu jnyi-tse po-li-tsai-na rtu i-nyi-tsuh i e-rzhey-neezo-khod i ereynee zokhod ' -for-muhch-nyee turistickd kanceldria fu-ristits-ka Mn-tse-la-ri-yuh Cht l Cht la bych koupit telefonni kartu. m f ktyel Mfye-luh bikh M-pit te...
Cistercian Monastery 1
Founded in 1252, the Gstercian monastery klaster Clsterclaku S 9am-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Sep, 8am-4pm Tue-Sun Oct-Mar was burned down by the Hussites in 1422. Reconstruction began in 1638, and Giovanni Santini started work here in 1706, though he never completed the project. In it he attempted to combine the medieval with the baroque in a distinctive dark-and-light style. His church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary kos tel Nanebevzeti Panny Marie contains an altar by Rehof Theny. The former...
Climbing Snezka
In the 19th century you could get carried up Snezka Snow Peak for six gold coins and 40 Kreutzers. Today, unless you take the chairlift, it is a three-hour climb or a five-hour round-trip. From near the Hotel Horizont, climb the green-marked Certovy schody Devil's staircase trail northwest to a chalet at Vyrovka, then north up the red ridge trail to Lucni bouda chalet. A blue trail crosses a marshy area east to Slezska bouda on the Polish border, from where you make your assault on the treeless...
Orientation Information Mdm
The train station is 1km south of the main square, Karlovo namesti. The bus station is at Komenskeho namesti, 500m west of the main square. The tourist office Informacni a turistlcke centrum 568 847 070 www.kvistreblc.cz Karlovo namesti 53 S 9am-5pmJun-Sep, to 1pm Sat, closed Sun Nov-Apr can book accommodation. There are other tourist offices at St Procopius' Basilica 777 746 982 S 9am-4.30pm Tue-Frl, 1-5pm Sat-Mon and the Rear New synagogue 568823 005 Sl0am-5pm . CSOB Karlovo namesti 21...
Povydri Trail
One of the Sumava's best trails is along the Vydra river, especially in the area called Povydri, between Cenkova Pila and Antygl. Vydra means 'otter', and the river got its name from the many otters that used to live in it. Today, only a few otters live high up in the mountains. Starting at Cenkova Pila, the trail goes along the Vydra to Modrava, taking you past Turnerova hut chata , Antygl, the right side of the Vchnickotetovsky Canal, Rokyta and finally to Modrava. This is an easy and scenic...
N 1
long day. From Hrensko it runs beside the road for 3km to a bus stop at Tri prameny, 2km up to the Pravcicka brana natural bridge and 6km back to the road at Mezni Louka. From there it plunges 2.5km into the Kamen-ice gorge right below Mezna and returns to Hrensko - part of the way by boat. A variation that skips the gorge is the yellow-marked trail from Mezna back to Tri prameny. A 'grand tour' of the area is a red-marked, high trail that follows the nature trail from Hrensko to Mezni Louka...
Walking Tour Nhg
Starting from the post office at the eastern end of TG Masaryka, turn right and follow Zahradni southeast along the southern bank of the Tepla river. Just after the river curves, leave Zahradni and follow the footpath into the Dvorak gardens 1 . At the garden's eastern end is the delicate wrought-iron filigree of the Park spring colonnade 2 . Continue east to Lazenska. On your right is Spa No 3 3 , a popular spa for drinking. Tacky souvenir spa cups becher are available from a stall near the...
The National Psyche
To equate the Czechs with big-city slickers and the Slovaks with their country cousins may sound trite, but there's some truth to it. On the whole, the Czechs are slighdy more cosmopolitan and progressive, the Slovaks more traditional and religious. The grey years of communism are far enough behind that many young locals wouldn't recognise a picture of Stalin. Youthful optimism for an EU-accepted future pervades, tempered with the older generation's stoic reserve. There's no denying German...
TRANSPORT Jwp
OSTRAVA'S BID FOR WORLD HERITAGE STATUS Most sites inscribed to Unesco's World Heritage List are centuries old but the efforts of a few proud residents of Ostrava seem set to break the mould. Recognising the city's unique industrial history, in 2001 Ostrava's Heritage Council joined with the Ministry of Culture in Prague to successfully lobby Unesco to accept the city's looming steelworks on the 'Tentative' list for World Heritage recognition. In the words of Unesco, 'Ostrava's industrial...
Mendelssohn Is On The Roof
The roof of the Rudolfinum - a complex of concert halls and offices built in the late 19th century -is decorated with statues of famous composers. It housed the German administration during WWII, when the Nazi authorities ordered that the statue of Felix Mendelssohn - who was Jewish -be removed. In Mendelssohn Is on the Roof a darkly comic novella about life in wartime Prague, the Jewish writer Jiri Weil weaves a wryly amusing story around this true-life event. The two Czech labourers given the...
National Museum
Taxidermophiles rejoice The National museum Map p106 224 497 111 www.nm.cz Vadavskenamesti 68 adult child 100 50Kc, free 1st Mon of month S 10am-6pm May-Sep, 9am-5pm Oct-Apr, dosed 1st Tue of month scoffs at multimedia and modern theories of materials' interpretation. The museum does the classics - rocks, dead animals, bones - and does them well. Among the more interesting of the exhibits very few have English labels, but a multilanguage audio tour is available for 200Kc is a large collection...
South Moravian Borderlands 1
Running in a swathe along the Austrian border, much of this low-lying rural and light industrial area was owned by the Liechtenstein family from the Middle Ages to 1945. Forced to leave during the mass German expulsions after WWII, they retreated to their tiny alpine principality sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, leaving behind a diverse legacy of castles, estates and churches. Since the passing of restituce restitution law in 1990, the Liechtenstein family has been striving for...
Walking Up Radhost
It's 5.5km on a red-marked trail from the Wooden hamlet museum past Roznov camp site and up to Cerna hora 885m , then 2.5km up the ridge to fine views from Radhost' 1129m . From there it's 3.5km on a blue trail to a saddle below Tanecnice peak. On the way you pass a little wooden church and a stone statue of a pre-Christian mountain spirit called Radegast after whom the local beer is named . From Tanecnice a year-round chairlift descends to Raztoka, where you can catch a bus back to Roznov pod...