Central Bohemia
Central Bohemia is a region in the Czech Republic. It has two regions for agribusiness purposes: Central Bohemia Region, and capital city Prague. Central Bohemia is a great option for those who want to experience a different part of the Czech Republic beyond crowded Prague, but do not have much time.
Cities
- 1 Prague. World city and capital of the Czech Republic, great starting point for one-day trips in Central Bohemia
- 2 Beroun. City (pop. 19,000) located in beautiful hilly landscape near Křivoklátsko, with remains of gothic fortification with two city gates.
- 3 Kutná Hora. Historical town (pop. 20,000) in UNESCO with famous St. Barbara cathedral, old silver mines and the Chapel of All Saints, which is decorated with thousands of human bones.
- 4 Kolín. Historic town (pop. 31,000) lying on the Elbe river with a big Gothic church
- 5 Kralupy nad Vltavou.
- 6 Mladá Boleslav. City (pop. 44,000) with history of car factories, Laurin and Klement in past and Škoda auto factory today
- 7 Poděbrady. Historical spa town (pop. 14,000)
- 8 Příbram. Big city (pop. 33,000) with rich mining history. In contrast with industrial past, on the hill above the town is Svatá Hora (Holy Mountain) baroque complex and sanctuary, also a good starting point for hiking in Brdy
- 9 Zruč nad Sázavou. the main sights of the town include a castle and the church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross
- 10 Říčany. Smaller city near Prague.
Understand
Central Bohemia played major role in creation of Czech state. The oldest building in Czech Republic, Church of Saint Peter and Paul is located here. Large Karlštejn Castle and Kutná Hora with silver mines and Gothic cathedral and baroque monastery are reminders of the era when Bohemia was one of the most wealthy and powerful parts of Europe.
Landscape is mostly flat due to rivers Elbe and Moldau, whose confluence is here. It is one of the most fertile parts of the Czech Republic. Mountains can be found in south part of Central Bohemia, with maximum elevation of 864 meters.
Get in
You can reach most of the places in Central Bohemia in less than one hour from Prague. Visiting some sights in Central Bohemia can be an ideal one-day trip from Prague.
By car
- Prague-Kladno 30 minutes
- Prague-Beroun 30 min.
- Prague-Příbram 46 min.
- Prague-Mělník 38 min.
- Prague-Benešov 46 min.
- Prague-Kutná Hora 1h7min.
- Praha-Mladá Boleslav 46 min.
By train
Travelling by train is possibly the best way to get into Central Bohemia. Czech Railways provides long-distance trains from many big cities in Czechia and from all capitals of neighbouring countries to Prague often with more stops in this region. For more accurate information look at IDOS.
- Berlin - Prague: 6x EuroCity a day, 4h5min
- Vienna - Prague: 7x RailJet + 1x EuroNight a day, 3h57min
- Warsaw - Prague: 2x InterCity + 1x ExpressInterCity + 1x EuroNight a day, 7h52min, IC stops as well in Kolín
- Bratislava - Prague: 7x EuroCity + 2x EuroNight a day, 3h57min, EC and EN stop in Kolín as well
- Brno - Prague: via Česká Třebová: 9x RailJet + 7x EuroCity + 1x InterCity + 1x EuroNight + 7x Rychlík Vyšší Kvality, 2h29min, EC, IC, Rx and EN stop as well in Kolín; via Havlíčkův Brod: 9x Rychlík, 3h37min, R stops in Čáslav, Kutná Hora and Kolín as well
- Ostrava - Prague: 6x SuperCity + 2x InterCity + 3x EuroCity + 4x Expres + 2x EuroNight a day, 2h55min, EC and Ex stop as well in Kolín
Get around
Buses and trains are a good option. Some Central Bohemian local roads can be in relatively bad condition. Traveling by foot could be recommended for some beautiful landscapes of Křivoklátsko, Kokořínsko and Brdy.
By train
Travelling by train in Central Bohemia is generally a good idea because of a dense railway network and frequent lines. You can buy single ride tickets, return tickets or for example regional day ticket at stations or in trains if at station is not a ticket counter. Or you can buy a time tickets of PID integrated system that are valid on trains, buses, tramways and metro in Central Bohemia. Note that it is not valid on all services.
Main railway hub in the region is Prague main train station (Praha hlavní nádraží) from where depart most long-distance trains and many regional trains. Many regional trains and some long-distance trains also depart from Prague Masaryk's station (Praha Masarykovo nádraží).
Besides normal services you can ride on historic trains too, for example see website of KŽC, historic train carrier, or Czech Railways Museum. Note that on most of these trains you will need special ticket. Some railways are even a tourist attraction because of picturesque landscape. For example railway called Posázavský Pacifik (Prague - Světlá n/S via Vrané n/V, Čerčany, Sázava, Zruč n/S and Ledeč n/S) is routed in beautiful valley of Sázava. You can reach for example Sázava Monastery, Český Šternberk Castle or Zruč nad Sázavou on this railway.
See
Castles and ruins
- 1 Karlštejn. Hiking trip to the famous castle and an off-the-beaten path monastery
- 2 Budeč. Ruins of Slavic hill fort and oldest standing building in the Czech Republic - Church of Saint Peter and Paul from 895(!), near Kladno
- 3 Český Šternberk Castle. A 13th century castle, open to the public, considered being one of the best preserved Gothic Bohemian castles.
- 4 Jenštejn. Ruins of a 14th century castle.
- 5 Křivoklát. Originally a 12th century castle, several times fire-damaged. A museum can be visited, with collections of hunting weapons, Gothic paintings and books. Also theatrical exhibitions happen here few times a year.
- 6 Kokořín. A castle built in 14th century.
- 7 Okoř. Originally, a 13th century stronghold, deteriorating since 18th century.
- 8 Točník and Žebrák. Žebrák is a ruin by all standards, however Točník is still in reasonable shape and open to public.
Chateaux
- 9 Dobříš.
- 10 Hořovice chateau.
- 11 Konopiště Chateau. Chateau of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination started World War I.
- 12 Lány.
- 13 Mnichovo Hradiště.
- 14 Mníšek pod Brdy.
- 15 Mělník. A baroque chateau in one of the prettiest towns in Central Bohemia. Lies nearby a confluence of the two longest Czech rivers, the Moldau and the Elbe. Additionally a old and large Gothic church and local vineyards are worth a visit.
- 16 Poděbrady.
- 17 Veltrusy. A small chateau, with a spacious and picturesque park surrounding it.
Other historic buildings
- 18 Sázava Monastery. founded in 1032.
- 19 Svatá Hora at Příbram. Marian Pilgrimage site of European significance
Nazi and communist history
- 20 Lidice Memorial. Memorial of village completely destroyed during the Nazi occupation, as revenge for assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in 1942.
- 21 Vojna Memorial. Community working camp near Příbram
Do
- 1 Blaník. A natural reservation including a mountain of Blaník. A legend says that an army of Czech knights led by St. Wenceslas sleeps inside the mountain ready to awaken when the Motherland is in great danger.
- 2 Brdy Mountains. An area of wilderness in Central Bohemia located south of Prague with deep forests. It used to be a testing ground closed for visitors, but since 2016 became a Protected Landscape Area.
- 3 Kokořínsko. Lying between Central and North Bohemia, this Landscape Protected Area offers some pretty sandstone rock formations, few castles and Máchovo Jezero lake.
- 4 Koněpruské Caves. 6 kilometers from Beroun largest cave system in Bohemia
- 5 Křivoklátsko. Protected Landscape Area and UNESCO biosphere reserve with unique species of plants in forests of Berounka River valley. Křivoklát Castle is there.
- 6 Průhonice Park. 250 hectares of natural park with rare flowers and chateau is along with Prague historic centre in UNESCO. It is located right on the edge of Prague.
Itineraries
Some one-day trips from Prague:
Southeast of Prague
- Prague-Průhonice Park-Sázava-Český Šternberk Castle-Konopiště Chateau-Prague (2h30min. of total time driving)
Around Beroun
Kutná Hora
- Prague-Kutná Hora (UNESCO)-Prague (2h15 min.)
North of Prague
Eat
There is no food specific just to this region.
Drink
Some of the Czech Largest breweries are located in central Bohemia, these areː Velkopopovický Kozel in Velké Popovice, Krušovice in Krušovice, Postřižínské pivo in Nymburk, Bakalář in Rakovník and Únětice in Únětice, with the last mentioned being probably the best of them.
There is also a wine-making tradition, centred around Mělník and Litoměřice.
Stay safe
Go next
Your next stop can be almost anywhere in the Czech Republic, because of Central Bohemia's position in the middle of the country.