Czechia Road Trip, Part 2: Pilsen to České Budějovice

Day 416 (August 18, 2019) – České Budějovice, Czechia

We left Pilsen for České Budějovice but stopped at Písek to grab lunch and walk around town. Písek was smaller and a quainter than Pilsen. It’s most known for an old stone bridge that passes over the Otava River. The bridge is famous because it's one of Czechia's oldest, originally built in the 1200s. Travis has relatives who were originally from Písek, so we spent most of our time there running around town taking a bunch of pictures.  

On Písek's famous stone bridge. 

The Otava River in Písek.

When we were admiring the town's main church, there just happened to be a tour of the bell tower starting. We gathered that the tower was normally locked, but at two in the afternoon they unlocked the door and provided a free tour to whoever was around. Unfortunately, the tour was all in Czech, so we didn’t understand a word and it also lasted over 30 minutes, which was unfortunate because we only had 10 minutes of parking left when we started the tour. We were thinking, how long could it take to walk up five flights of stairs, look around, and head back to the car? Well, the tour guide was very passionate and talkative and we were up there for over half an hour, worrying that the car was going to get a parking ticket for most of that time. We couldn’t just leave because he had locked us all inside and it would have seemed a bit rude to just up and leave. We wouldn’t even know how to explain our abrupt departure in Czech anyway. When we were finally let out, we rushed back to the car but were happy to find that the car was still there and there weren’t any tickets on it. From then on, we decided to be extra generous with the amount of time we paid for when parking the car.

The bell tower in Písek that we got stuck in.

The view of Písek from the bell tower.

We stayed in České Budějovice for three nights, in a room above a bar called KMP. It seemed a little strange at first but then we realized that it’s quite convenient to live above a bar. They were a craft beer bar and had all sorts of atypical Czech beers on tap that we had a chance to try. 

We learned that there are some benefits to living above a bar.

We were a solid 30-minute walk from downtown České Budějovice, but we made it downtown a few times. There was a large town square and a bell tower that we climbed up. 

See how similar the story is for each town? It's déjà vu of Písek earlier in the day and Pilsen the day before. Walk around the cobblestone streets, climb the bell tower, then go find some Czech food and a beer… 

Out by where we were staying there weren’t that many restaurants, but there was one right next to us that was really quite good and very inexpensive. It had nothing in the way of ambiance but it was a bargain. We tried going to another restaurant by us one night, but the patrons were only drinking. No one was eating, so we decided that wasn’t a good sign for the food, so we went back to our usual restaurant next door. It never disappointed us. 

Walking around the České Budějovice town square.

Another town, another bell tower to climb.

The České Budějovice town square from the top of the town's bell tower.

We got Travis' favorite for lunch: svíčková na smetaně.

Some of the streets around České Budějovice.

From České Budějovice we took a day trip to Český Krumlov. Český Krumlov is probably the number two stop on most Czech Republic travel itineraries, with Prague being the first. We understand why it’s so popular. It’s really cute. The Vltava River (the same as in Prague) wraps around three quarters of the town, so it feels like you’re on a little medieval island. Cobblestone streets, fancy old buildings, and a castle that sits high above the town below. We sat by the river and watched people float down on inflatable rafts and walked through the Český Krumlov Castle grounds. 

The very cute Český Krumlov, surrounded by the Vltava River.

A walkway connecting the Český Krumlov Castle to the sprawling grounds behind it.

The Český Krumlov Castle grounds.

It was super hot out that day and we watched hundreds of people float and swim past town on the river.

The only problem Český Krumlov was that it was super touristy. The streets were packed with people. It was just too crowded to enjoy it to its full potential. It made us appreciate having a car because we had a chance to see all these other towns that were almost as cute but with far fewer tourists. We were glad to have stopped in Český Krumlov but we were also glad to leave.