Czechia’s small towns can satisfy the cravings of most European travellers – castles, palaces, town walls, cobblestones and historical streetscapes with architecture of several periods.

When these destinations are relatively unknown and free of swarms of tourists, their lustre is magnified. If you can enjoy low accommodation rates and eat inexpensively, there are only two questions: how do you get there and when should you go?

Czechia’s small travel gems maintain an outstanding cultural heritage from the Holy Roman empire.

Two UNESCO world-heritage sites, Český Krumlov and Kutná Hora, are places rich in beauty and culture that owe much to their wealth in trade and mineral resources.

Telč, Mikulov na Moravĕ and Znojmo were medieval and Renaissance power centres that today preserve palaces and other stunning architecture.

Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov’s outstanding architecture and cultural heritage were recognised by UNESCO listing in 1992 and today it is the second most popular Czech tourist destination after Prague, even though its permanent population is only about 13,000.

The town became influential from the 13th century, when wealth from the central European salt trade began to flow along the river Vltava. Carp fishing, brewing, and gold and silver mining developed.

The town could not be what it is today without princely patronage. The leading aristocratic Rosenberg-Rožmberk family, strong supporters of the Holy Roman emperors, dominated Český Krumlov for three centuries after inheriting the first Gothic castle in the town about 1300. They remained the local lords until 1602, when the Habsburg emperor Rudolf II bought the castle.

By then the castle complex, now Státní hrad a zámek Český Krumlov, was a powerful and ornate Renaissance residence and some of the richness of this period has been preserved. But in the 1620s it was granted to the Eggenberg princes and in the 1680s Johann Christian von Eggenberg made extensive Baroque extensions.

These included a library and a theatre, which with the Baroque garden was reached from the main castle by the multi-level bridge now known as the ‘cloak bridge’. It is now one of only four Baroque theatres (two each in Czechia and Sweden) preserved in Europe with original sets and stage machinery.

After the end of the Eggenberg line in 1719, the Schwarzenbergs inherited the castle and the art-loving Josef Adam zu Schwarzenberg became its last great cultural patron. He remodelled the chapel and added a level, which included the richly decorated Rococo 'masquerade hall', and upgraded the theatre and gardens.

Tours of the castle (from April to October, about one hour) and the Baroque theatre (May to October, 45 minutes) and visits to the castle museum and tower are leading attractions. Outside high season, opening can be limited to weekends. The complex is closed Mondays.

Český Krumlov town houses include the three-storey Krčínův dům, first built in the 14th century but now in Renaissance style. The Gothic church Kostel svatého Víta includes mid-15th century interior wall paintings and chapels built by the leading families. Kláštery Český Krumlov, a monastery and convent of the Franciscan Minorite order, includes Gothic and Baroque elements and a foundation of the Clarissan order is open to the public.

Thanks to a maternal connection, a museum of the life and work of the controversial 20th century Austrian artist Egon Schiele is in the town.

Český Krumlov can be reached by train or bus from Prague (2½ to 3½ hours) or České Budějovice, making a day trip possible from Prague, but it’s an unwise travel strategy to try to take in all town’s riches this way. The variety of attractions mean that at two nights, preferably three, will deliver travellers a satisfying stay.

To book an excellent free town walking tour in English, visit thewisemanfreetour website. 

The Raven Travel Guides Europe YouTube page has a short slideshow of Český Krumlov’s attractions. 

Kutná Hora

Another UNESCO-listed old town with stunning attractions is less than an hour by train from Prague. It’s hard to believe today that in the 14th century Kutná Hora might have been one of the world’s biggest cities, almost the size of London. But the chance discovery of silver in medieval times secured its importance and influence.

So far as it is known to travellers outside central Europe, Kutná Hora is recognised as the site of the extraordinary Chrám svaté Barbory, an outstanding example of the church style known as perpendicular Gothic with distinctive double-arched flying buttresses and an unusual roof profile. But that is only the exterior.

Inside are other remarkable features. Interior frescoes, surviving in fragments from the late medieval period, are complemented by full Baroque walls painted in vibrant colour. Other Baroque additions were contributed by the Jesuit order. Varied ceiling rib-vaulting is decorated with heraldic devices and an extensive interior gallery allows visitors to get closer to the beauty. This upper area also forms a virtual museum of the church’s construction.

It is not the only remarkable church in the small town. More conventional in its Gothic form is the Kostel svatého Jakuba Staršího, with its 80m tower and medieval frescoes, although the high altar is Baroque.

The beautifully restored Baroque church Kostel svatého Jana Nepomuckého is a now a cultural space and concert venue dominated by ceiling paintings showing the apotheosis of the Czech saint Jan Nepomucký.

But there are two further churches of outstanding interest in the neighbouring town precinct known as Sedlec. The Cistercian abbey Sedlecký klášter is the oldest of the local church foundations, beginning in the 12th century with the cathedral Nanebevzetí Panny Marie a svatého Jana Křtitele, remodelled as a Gothic basilica the following century and consecrated to the Virgin and St John the Baptist. The five-aisled building was destroyed by the Hussites but reconstructed in the 17th century and its imposing nave was restored. It now preserves the relics of St Felix. Further restoration is under way, restricting access to some parts of the church.

A cemetery had been established near the cathedral and a small chapel now known as Kostnice Sedlec was built in the 14th century. But this was only the beginning of a fascinating story. A famine hit Kutná Hora about the same time and the later toll of the 15th century Hussite wars on the large population put extreme pressure on the cemetery. Many bones had to be exhumed so graves could be reused.

By Baroque times a remarkable ossuary was being developed into what was at once a memorial and decoration and today forms a unique and grotesque attraction. Photography of the interior is forbidden to the public, but take a look at the website. Tickets to both churches are available at an information centre set up between the two buildings.

That is not the end of the appeal of Kutná Hora. Museums of silver (České muzeum stříbra) and minting (Vlašský dvůr), both in small Renaissance palaces, explain the wealth and influence of the town. The central Bohemian gallery complex now known as GASK occupies a vast former Jesuit college site. Monuments like the Gothic stone fountain Kamenná kašna in the old town are rare.

Kutná Hora’s main station is about 3km from the old town and a winding bus trip takes rail passengers into the historical centre. Based on the opening times of Chrám svaté Barbory and the Sedlec churches, visiting most times of year (except Christmas Eve) is worthwhile. Combination tickets are available.

Again, two to three nights in the town is a better travel strategy than trying to cram some of the sites into a day’s travel from Prague.

Telč

World heritage-listed Telč has a population of only 5,000, but is valued for its superb old town with an unmatched ensemble of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings and monuments. Most of these are arranged around a single triangular space, Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce, named for the cultured Renaissance aristocrat who made the town his rural seat.

Despite the effects of the Hussite wars and the Thirty Years War, much remains for us to marvel at. Telč, partly protected by ponds either side, is a near-perfect example of how a small town best maintains its character without the impact of urban progress.

Almost any building or backdrop is Instagram material for any traveller who is that way inclined. The Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce facades include richly detailed sgraffito houses of Renaissance date.

The castle Státní zámek Telč (Czechs tend to translate the term zámek as ‘chateau’) has remarkable interiors including a richly decorated ceremonial hall.

Among all this beauty, it’s hard to pick a highlight, but the burial chapel of Zachariáš z Hradce and his first wife is a stunning remnant of aristocratic culture with its stuccoed and painted interior details.

Telč is about half an hour by train south-west of Jihlava. It can be reached in just over three hours from Prague, including a change of trains.

Mikulov na Moravĕ

It seems remarkable that such small towns have so much to offer the visitor. Mikulov, with a population of 7,600, is something of a secret from most foreign travellers.

Perhaps that’s due to the 1km mostly uphill walk from the tiny rail station, which is avoidable if you work out the local bus routes.

Most of Mikulov sits on the smallest of three local hills in the Moravian rural landscape and is classified as an urban monument reserve. The town’s crooked streets and picturesque squares lead up to and wind around Zámek Mikulov, best described as a palace.

The main palace tour is arranged to represent the various periods of its occupants and patrons, the Liechtenstein and Dietrichstein families, who held it for almost seven centuries up to the end of World War II. Standing atop the town, it is a striking monument surrounded by gardens.

There are two vantage points to admire views of Mikulov. The highest is the Kaple svatého Šebestiána, uppermost point of the town’s pilgrimage climb past cross stations. A little closer is the top of the ‘goat tower’ ruin, Kozí hrádek, which can be climbed for a small fee.

Mikulov, like many Czech towns, was dominated by a German-speaking aristocracy. But it is also one town where the Jewish heritage is well preserved in the monuments. A remarkable synagogue museum preserves the temple’s main chamber, which can be viewed from two levels. To the north of the town centre is another museum with an extensive cemetery attached.

The central Catholic church Kostel svatého Václava houses a Loreto Black Madonna.

Mikulov is accessible by train from either Prague or Vienna with a change at Břeclav or Znojmo.

Znojmo

The royal town of Znojmo in south-west Moravia was founded in the 13th century and was another town to suffer during the Hussite wars. At that time it held out against the attackers, thanks partly to an underground tunnel network that can be toured today, when the population is 26,000.

Znojmo‘s tunnels merged defensive communications with the cellar spaces needed to preserve food and wine and the vital town wells. Things didn’t turn out so well for the town in the Thirty Years War, but prosperity later returned.

The striking Gothic tower of the old town hall is the most conspicuous landmark today. But the small remnant of the castle, especially the rotunda tower dedicated to St Catherine, is the most prized. The reason is the striking Romanesque frescoes within what used to be a church, one depicting Přemysl, founder of the first Bohemian dynasty.

There are several urban palaces, such as the impressive Palác Daun and the house at Horní náměstí 9, where Napoleon stayed overnight before the Battle of Austerlitz.

The churches of Znojmo include Kostelo svatého Michaela, an imposing Baroque remake of a medieval church that has the most impressive proportions of any church within the town walls. The Baroque Capuchin monastery church Kostel svatého Jana Křtitele is another to visit. The monastery’s facade to Masarykovo náměstí includes a statue of the saint Jan Nepomucký and an impressive sculpted scene of Christ on the Mount of Olives.

Chrám svatého Mikuláše, poised dramatically over the valley of the river Dyje, is fitted with a glass coffin that holds the claimed relics of St Boniface, supposedly brought from the catacombs of Thebes.

But its little brother, the twin-level Kaple svatého Václava, is even more intriguing. A magnificent and precious polychrome Gothic oak and limewood altar once stood in this little gem of a church, but was whisked away and now stands in the art museum that occupies Vienna’s Oberes Schloß Belvedere. What remains in the upper chapel are painted ceiling reliefs of saints amid patterned rib vaulting. A sculpted Crucifixion and painted motifs are in the older, Gothic lower chapel, which was created with unusual geometry.

Varied remnants of the town defences, some of which extend over the steep slopes above the river, present a dramatic view. For another perspective on the southern and eastern walls, climb the square tower Vlkova věž, where shuttered windows can be opened to give a 360-degree panorama.

The Louka abbey on the south edge of the town is set for major restoration work, but the Baroque facade of its church promises a magnificent result.

Znojmo can be reached from Brno with a change of train, or direct from Vienna.

Thinking small can be a beautiful thing

Travel in Czechia might seem to be all about Prague. But travellers who fail to get out of European capitals and away from well worn tourist trails miss a lot.

Seeking out smaller destinations has the effect of making us discoverers. Lesser-known places bring a keener sense of adventure to our travel. They are less crowded.

Big cities tend to be more Westernised, which goes with all the tourist attention.

Smaller regional centres are different. They display more eccentricity and variety. Visiting smaller places gives us time and space to notice smaller things.

Smaller is slower in another sense. Change tends to be less sweeping in small destinations because there is less pressure to replace what is old. Character is preserved and the precious past survives.

Visiting any of these small Czech destinations is worthwhile any time from April to the end of October, but many attractions are open most of the year.