Visit Cesky Krumlov

First impressions of Cesky Krumlov

Český Krumlov sits inside a tight S-bend of the Vltava river in southern Bohemia, the loop wrapping the medieval old town in a near-perfect natural moat — the postcard view from the painted Renaissance Castle Tower over a sea of red-tiled roofs is one of the great urban panoramas in Central Europe. The town's UNESCO-listed core is essentially intact: the second-largest castle complex in Czechia after Prague Castle (climb the 162 steps of the tower, then wander the Cloak Bridge, three-storey arched passage between courtyards), the cylindrical 16th-century Castle Theatre with its original baroque stage machinery still working (one of only two such theatres surviving in the world), and the formal Castle Gardens above. The lanes below are crammed with the wonderfully restored Egon Schiele Art Centrum — the painter lived here in 1911 — and the medieval St Vitus Church. Rent an inflatable raft for a lazy 1–2 hour float through the centre of town, or take the longer trip down to the picturesque Zlatá Koruna monastery. Quietly atmospheric in winter; brutally crowded mid-summer.