🇨🇿 Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

We love the towns and nature parts of our trip the best.  The problem with Cesky Krumlov was getting here.  It is a quaint town in the south of the Czech Republic.  We set off early from Budapest on a four hour train ride to Linz – a city in Austria.  We waited for our shuttle bus to collect us.  We waited.  We emailed them.  They weren’t coming.  Sorry!  So what to do?  It was 2pm.  There was a series of train or buses at 4 pm that would have us getting to Cesky in 3 hrs.  But it was only an hour by car.  We decided to bite the bullet and negotiated with a taxi driver to take us there (it still cost us almost $200).  He was very nice about it all and it took a bit more than an hour to get here (in snowy winding hills, no lane markers to determine your side of the road, and he drove like a race driver at times!).

 

But it was worth the slog to get here. The gorgeous old town of Cesky Krumlov was encircled by a frozen river. The snow fell each day which made this town feel even more romantic and full of mystery.

 

At times the pathways of cobbled stones beneath your feet felt like you were sliding on Lux Flakes. Great for finger paint not so good for walking on especially if you have a sore back and are scared of slipping over.

 

Our accommodation was beautiful and in the perfect location. The provincial antique shop housed in our apartment building was a sure treat. Our apartment was cosy with windows that looked out onto the cobbled street below. It was also filled with furniture from the antique shop.  We stayed here and would highly recommend it.

New to Airbnb?  Click here to get $55 credit.

 

We fell in love with many things in the antique shop especially the timber lamp which we purchased and hope to post home!!

We knew when we were planning our stay here that it was one that we would really enjoy. Just the name alone just rolls off your tongue in a sweet way! Cesky Krumlov!!

 

It was nice to be in a small town with so much character. The streets were full of marionette handmade puppet shops and many tasty treats.

 

Even though we did cook 3 meals ourselves we also enjoyed eating out. The food here was excellent we enjoyed mushroom and spinach strudel, apple strudel, amazing homemade ice cream, gingerbreads, Camembert , onion ham and cranberry crepes with homemade ginger beer.  There is only a small food store here with limited fresh food so eating out is a must!!!

 

Our Airbnb host also spoiled us with 5 local craft beers to sample, chocolate and hazelnut waffle biscuits and aniseed lollies.

 

We explored beautiful Cesky Castle. At the entrance there is a bear pit. They have been keeping bears here since . We could only see huge bear paw prints in snow. I don’t blame the bear for hiding in his cosy warm den as it was freezing outside.

Even in the off season streams of Japanese tours ploughed through the street making it near impossible to take photos inside the castle grounds.  Luckily we climbed the castle tower early. I found the steep medieval staircase tough going as I have injured my back from lifting my 17 kilogram bag onto the steep train steps. I feel like I have the flexibility of a 90 year old. Note to self! Less is more when traveling on trains, buses and trams with luggage and do my back exercises twice a day!!!

Once at the top the view was worth the pain and effort. The panoramic views of the river and town below was spectacular.

 

At a bridge crossing once back in the town we enjoy watching both the ducks and two tourists stand on the frozen lake. If the frozen lake cracked, my bet was that the ducks would have survived not sure about the tourists seeking a thrill photo!! Canoeing here in Summer would be amazing. I think we thought we were going to be canoeing this time of year. Now that is funny!!!

 

We explored the Museum of Torture, which I found a little creepy and scary as it was in a dark dungeon underground. Though the back stretching contraption may have been good for me!

 

The day we left Cesky Krumlov the sky was clear and blue with the sun shining. Gosh it felt good to see sun. I think we are lacking in good old Sunshine Coast vitamin D!We had to do a kilometre hike up hill with our luggage (with a big box as we just purchased a lamp to send home). We were removing coats and beanies to make it up the steep snowy pathway to the station to catch a train to Prague. Our Airbnb host is going to pick us up at the station. We have our fingers crossed xxxxx.

We also brought this saying which took my eye!