Things to do in Czechia: 28 experiences worth the trip

1 hour with the bridge towerFree

At dawn Charles Bridge is almost empty and the first light reaches Prague Castle and St Vitus above Malá Strana.

3 to 4 hoursBook ahead

The largest coherent castle complex in the world, by Guinness, with St Vitus, the Old Royal Palace and Golden Lane on one ticket.

1 hour with the towerGo alone or with a tour

Every hour the twelve apostles appear above the dials of a medieval clock, then the tower looks straight down on the square and Týn.

1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

A house dark lager brewed on the premises and sold nowhere else, in panelled halls that have been a pub since 1499.

30 to 45 minutes insideTimed entry

A chandelier said to hold every bone of the human body, garlands of skulls and a coat of arms, all made from bone.

Half a day with the hikeNo booking needed

A sandstone arch spanning 26.5 metres, the largest natural stone arch in mainland Europe, seen from terraces beside a 19th-century summerhouse.

Half a day for the colonnadesFree

Walk a colonnade of 124 Corinthian columns sipping hot spring water from a porcelain spa cup, one spring at a time.

A full day, better with a nightBook ahead

A small town in a double bend of the Vltava, little changed since the 18th century, under the country's second-largest castle.

100 minutes for the tourBook ahead

End the brewery tour in the historic cellars with unfiltered, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell poured straight from an oak barrel.

1 hour for the square, a day for OlomoucFree

A 35-metre Baroque column of saints in tiers rising to gilded figures, in a relaxed university city with far fewer visitors than Prague.

2 hours to a full dayBook ahead

Float down the Vltava by canoe, kayak or raft past the castle and under the bridges of Český Krumlov, a Czech summer tradition.

Half a day with the cable carBook ahead

Walk through decorated cave chambers to the floor of a 138.7-metre sinkhole, then go on by motorboat along an underground river.

An eveningBook ahead

Hear the Czech Philharmonic play Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček and Martinů at home, in the neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum on the Vltava.

4 to 5 hours on siteBook ahead

A fortress town north of Prague that held a Gestapo prison and a ghetto, with two memorial sites a short walk apart.

2 hoursFree

The fortified hill where Czech legends place Prague's origins, with river views to the castle and the graves of Dvořák, Smetana and Mucha.

An afternoon and eveningBook ahead

Taste wine straight from the growers in the cellars of Mikulov's lanes, below the white limestone of the Pálava hills.

A late nightNo booking needed

Five floors of a former bathhouse by Charles Bridge, each with its own music, from pop hits and oldies to salsa and reggaeton.

A full day with ValticeBook ahead

A whole landscape designed by one family, with Baroque, Neoclassical and neo-Gothic follies scattered across parkland between two chateaux.

2 hours with the gardensNo booking needed

Ride the rebuilt funicular up Petřín hill, then climb 299 steps of a loose one-fifth copy of the Eiffel Tower.

40-minute tour, half a day with the walkNo booking needed

Two castle towers on two volcanic plugs, and from the lookout below the taller one, the rock towns and forests of Bohemian Paradise.

1 to 1.5 hoursBook ahead

Unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell from 12 tanks and svíčková, beef in a creamy root-vegetable sauce with dumplings, in one very long beer hall.

Half a day for the townNo booking needed

Climb a wooden staircase inside a medieval castle tower to a view of the town square, limestone peaks and the Beskydy mountains.

1 hour inside, a day with Kutná HoraNo booking needed

A great Gothic church paid for by silver miners, with a roofline of three tent-shaped spires unlike any other in the country.

Half a day, a full day with the Teplice RocksTimed entry

Walk a marked circuit through sandstone pillars, narrow gorges and past a small lake in two neighbouring rock towns.

2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed

A neo-Renaissance dome closing the top of Wenceslas Square, a restored staircase and pantheon, and from the steps the whole length of the square.

Half a day from PragueBook ahead

The Gothic castle Charles IV built to keep the crown jewels and holy relics, above the Berounka valley, an easy half day from Prague.

2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed

Europe's oldest active synagogue, a cemetery of layered gravestones and the Pinkas memorial to Shoah victims, all on one Jewish Town ticket.

60 or 90 minutes for the tourTimed entry

One of the founding houses of modern architecture, with an open living floor, an onyx wall and windows that sink into the floor.