Czech Republic
Castles, spa towns and sandstone, none of them more than a few hours from Prague.
How many days do you need in the Czech Republic?
A week covers Prague and two bases outside it: three nights in the capital with Kutná Hora or Karlštejn as a day trip, then Český Krumlov in the south and Brno or Olomouc in Moravia. Ten days adds the sandstone country of Bohemian Switzerland in the north or the spa towns of Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně in the west. The distances are short, and no leg of that route takes much more than three hours.
Do you need a car in the Czech Republic?
Not for the towns. Trains and long-distance buses connect them well: RegioJet and České dráhy both run Prague to Brno in about two and a half hours, and the bus is the easier way to Český Krumlov, where the train needs a change at České Budějovice. A car helps with castle-hopping and the sandstone parks. Every car on the motorways needs an electronic vignette, sold online at edalnice.cz and at post offices and fuel stations, and tied to the number plate.
When is the best time to visit the Czech Republic?
May, June and September bring long days and open castles without the July and August crowds in Prague and Český Krumlov. Most castles and châteaux run guided tours from April to October and close or shorten their hours from November to March, so a winter trip leans on the towns, the museums and the Christmas markets, which in Prague run from late November into early January. The ski season in the Krkonoše usually runs from December to early April.
Is English widely spoken in the Czech Republic?
In Prague, in hotels and among younger Czechs, yes. The EF English Proficiency Index for 2025 ranks the country 23rd of 123, in its high band. English thins out in villages and among older people, some of whom learned German or Russian at school. Czech is the national language, and many castle tours run in Czech with a printed English text, with tours in English held less often and worth booking ahead.
What currency does the Czech Republic use?
The Czech koruna. The government has set no date to adopt the euro, and a shop that takes euros does so at its own rate. Cards and contactless payment are standard in the towns. Czech law allows an exchange made at a bureau to be cancelled within three hours, receipt in hand, and at cash machines and card terminals that offer a conversion, choosing koruna avoids a poor rate.
Where do you fly into the Czech Republic?
Václav Havel Airport Prague handled about 17.8 million passengers in 2025 and is the main way in. It has no rail link: trolleybus 59 runs to the metro at Nádraží Veleslavín, and the Airport Express bus to the main station. Brno and Ostrava have small airports with mostly seasonal and low-cost routes. For South Moravia, Vienna is often the easier door, a little over a hundred kilometres from Brno.
