Tag: old town

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Visit Olomouc in Moravia

With Kutná Hora or Karlovy Vary, Olomouc is amongst the destinations that you should not miss while visiting the Czech Republic. The historical centre of the Moravian capital offers a great snapshot of the history and architecture that this city has to offer. Walk around the centre and discover monuments such as the Holy Trinity Column, which was built in 1740 and is now part of UNESCO’s world heritage list.

Get to Olomouc

From Prague, you find frequent connections to Olomouc. You may decide to go either by bus or by train, even though the second option offers more frequent connections but is also much quicker. This train journey make take you slightly more than 2 hours, while a bus ride will definitely take you more than 3 hours.

The 3 Czech train operators (Ceske Drahy, Leo Express and Regiojet) all offer regular connections to Olomouc. RegioJet is currently the operator offering the best value for money on this destination. To get more information on your journey, have a look at our article on trains in the Czech Republic.
Olomouc central station is located east of the centre, and a short 10-minute tram ride will take you right next to the historical centre.

A beautiful historical centre

Even though Olomouc is one of the largest city in the country with more than 100,000 inhabitants, visitors always enjoy the fact that the majority of touristic sites and places of interest are located close to the old town square. Thus, you may just walk around Horní náměstí (main square) and Dolní náměstí (lower square) and will still be able to enjoy most of Olomouc’s treasures.

On Horní náměstí, after a visit of the Town Hall (one of the best examples of Olomouc great architecture) you may want to stop and contemplate the famous Holy Trinity Column, a 32-metre-high piece of architecture where you sill see 18 statues of saints. On the same square, don’t miss the astronomical clock, which was once as famous as Prague’s.

When getting to Dolní náměstí, slightly less busy than the main square, you will see the impressive baroque fountains of Neptune and Jupiter. If you feel like trying the local cuisine, the lower square offers numerous restaurants where you may be tempted to try Olomouc’s traditional cheese, the delicious Olomoucké tvarůžky. Despite its rather strong taste, it is definitely worth it, especially you’re a cheese fan!

Some websites to check before leaving

– Information, restaurants and videos of Olomouc on Czech Tourism’s offcial website: http://www.czechtourism.com/t/olomouc/

– Official website of Olomouc’s tourism office, a great source of information
http://tourism.olomouc.eu/welcome/en

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Chapeau Rouge, Prague 1, old town

Chapeau Rouge is one of these bars that stands out in Prague’s old town nice scene. First, each day they offer different kind of music and ambience in their 3 different levels. But it’s also a great crowd of locals, expats and tourists. This great mix creates a nice and lively atmosphere.

Chapeau Rouge, lively bar 7 days a week

Chapeau Rouge is open 7 days a week and opens until late every night, and there is always a good crowd of people around, and it’s nice to go there either for an after work-drink or late nights drinks with friends.

Finally, drinks are quite cheap in Chapeau Rouge, you’ll pay 40CZK (about 1.5 EUR) for a Staropramen beer, and around 100CZK (about 4 EUR) for mixers and cocktails, depending on what you get.

If you want to know more about Chapeau Rouge, and get programs, have a look at their website.

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Where to eat if you have a backpackers’ budget ?

You’re in Prague for a couple of days or longer and only have a backpackers’ budget. If you’re looking for a place to eat, the best solution for you would be to avoid the city center… but it’s not that handy when you’re a tourist! If you only have a small budget, here is one restaurant (in fact, it’s more like a canteen) you might want to try: “Havelska Koruna”.

Traditional Czech food and beer

They serve traditionnal Czech cuisine and also the best beer on tap, Pilsner Urquell (34 CZK for a pint… or 1.40 EUR, if you’re not used to go from CZK to EUR!). They only speak a bit of English, but still enough to be understood.

When you enter the place, you get a piece of paper where anything you order will be written down. Keep this piece of paper until you get to the counter (when you leave, at the exit) where it will be asked as you pay the bill. Be careful not to lose your paper, they’ll make you pay an extra charge…

A place for small budgets

In a word, Havelska Koruna is a good place to go to if you’re really on a small budget, but if you can afford a little bit more, I would recommend something like Kolkovna or Celnice, that are definitely of better quality and offer a service which is definitely better!

Havelska Koruna
Havelska, 23
Stare Mesto
Prague 1
Tel: + 420 224 239 331

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