Liberec (German: Reichenberg) [1] is nestled in the Jizera Mountains, at the foot of Ještěd mountain in the Bohemia region of the northern Czech Republic.

Get in

By bus

• Prague: Buses depart from Černý most metro station, the terminus station on the yellow line (B) up to 25 times per day with Student Agency [2]. Dopravní podnik města Liberce also operates a bus service from the same station. As of 2009, adult tickets are Kč 95 and journey time is 1 hour 5 minutes.

By train

• Prague: Rail from Prague to Liberec is quite slow and there's no direct train from Prague. With change in Turnov the trip time is two times longer than by bus.
• Dresden: 2h, four regional expresses a day. The Sachsen-Böhmen-Ticket can be useful.

Get around

The train and bus station are next to each other. You can walk about 1 km to the city center or get a tram No 3. From there almost every sight can be reached on foot.

Liberec city transport [3] consists of trams, buses and a inter-city narrow gauge tram line to Jablonec nad Nisou. The central terminal is Fügnerova stop. Single ticket costs Kč 20 (Kč 24 if bought at driver), one-day pass costs Kč 80. See city line map [4] and online timetable [5].

If you travel outside Liberec, a good solution is the Euro-Nisa network ticket [6], available at train stations. It's valid for one day in all trains and most of buses in Liberec region, Upper Lusatia and Zgorzelec region (see map [7]), as well as in cableway to Ještěd. Price is Kč 160 for one person or Kč 320 for group up to 5 people.

See

• Tourist information center, Náměstí Dr. E. Beneše 1 (next to the city hall). Mo–Fr 8AM–5PM, Sa–So 9AM–12PM. 

• Dr. Edvard Benes Square (Náměstí Dr. Edvarda Beneše). Main city square, named after the wartime president, Edvard Beneš. 

• City Hall (Radnice), Náměstí Dr. E. Beneše. The pride of the locals, a luxurious neo-Renaissance architecture built in 1888–93. 

• Theatre of F.X. Šalda (Šaldovo divadlo), Zhořelecká 5 (behind the city hall). Built in 1883 (same year as the National Theatre of Prague), named after František Xaver Šalda, an avant-garde playwright. 

• Church of St. Anthony the Great (Kostel svatého Antonína Velikého), Železná Street (behind Hotel Praha). A neo-Gothic church, no public access to the inside. 

• Liberec Castle (Zámek Liberec), Felberova Street. A Renaissance chateau with glass collection, but no public access to the inside. 

• North Bohemian museum (Severočeské muzeum), Masarykova 11 (tram stop „Muzeum-výstaviště”). Tu–Su 9AM–5PM. Kč 30. 

The stop

• Regional Gallery (Oblastní galerie), Masarykova 723/14 (next to the North Bohemian Museum), oblgal@ogl.cz. Tu–Wed 10AM–5PM, Thu 10AM–7PM, Fri–Su 10AM–5PM. Kč 80 (Admission free on Thursdays). (updated Nov 2015)

• Zoo, Masarykova 31 (tram stop „Botanická-Zoo”). 8AM–5PM. The first zoo in former Czechoslovakia, founded in 1919. Kč 90/120 (depend from the month). 

• Botanical garden (Botanická zahrada), Purkyňova 1 (next to the main entrance to zoo). daily 8AM–6PM (summer) or 8AM–4PM (winter). Kč 140. 

• Bus stop - sculpture Feast of Giants by David Černý. A table set with, among others, a carnivorous plant, knocked over menorah, German and Czech beer mugs and head of Konrad Henlein on a plate (all allusions to Liberec complex history).

Do

Summit of Jested in Liberec

• Ještěd Mountain. Is a well-known dominant of Liberec city with a famous tower on the top. The tower built in 60's has an unique hyperboloid shape, naturally extending the silhouette of the mountain. It serves as a hotel and TV transmitter. By good weather you can overlook most of northern Bohemia as well as part of Germany and Poland from the summit. Take a tram No 3 to Horní Hanychov and then either by hiking one of the trails or by cableway (Kč 60) to the top. 

• Cross-country skiing The city is famous worldwide for winter sporting events like FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 [8] or the Jizerské Mountains, where you can enjoy the majestic beauty of the Nordic nature on 115 km of cross-country paths.

• Centrum Babylon, Nitranská 1. Rebuilt from an former textile factory, the Babylon is one of the largest Czech entertainment complexes. It offers aquapark, lunapark, 3D motion simulator, golf simulator, laser game, wellness center an many others. 

• Golf at two golf resorts with an unforgettable atmosphere.

Eat

• Duli, Moskevská 4. Pizza and pasta on the 1st floor, more on 2nd. 

• Kavárna Pošta, Náměstí Dr. E. Beneše 24. Viennese cafe, dances on Friday nights (with extra admissions) 

• Café Praha, Železná 2. Belongs to Hotel Praha, with some veggie dishes. 
• Om Restaurant, Husova 23/9, ☏ +420 485 111 293. For Indian and Nepalese & Himalayan foods 

Drink

• Hotel Radnice, Moskevská 11. bar/restaurant 

Sleep

• Interhostel, Svobody 2 (bus stop „Svobody”), ☏ +420 777 848 484, fax: +420 485 163 336, info@interhostel.cz. Double/triple with shared bathroom from Kč 279/person, double with private bathroom from 749 Kč/room. 

• Pension Bambino, Heliova 287, ☏ +420 603 449 185, pensionbambino@seznam.cz. Very nice apartments close to the city center. One person Kč 500, two people Kč 900, three people Kč 1200/room. 

Go next

Jizera Mountains

• Jizera Mountains (Jizerské hory) are a true island of Scandinavian nature in central Europe. The central plateau with endless forests is ideal for hiking and cycling in summer or cross-country skiing in winter. Although in recent years crowds of tourists head there and the nature park authority issues too many car entry permits, you can find there a lot of quiet deserted places where only birches, pines and long grass whisper between rocks and boulders. Good start points to Jizera mountains are:
  • Bedřichov, easily reached by bus from Liberec, but also full of tourists
  • Josefův Důl and Kořenov train stations
  • Harrachov train station, ideal for exploring the Polish part of Jizera mountains

• Lusatian Mountains (Lužické hory) are lower than Jizera mountains but also less touristy and surely worth to visit. Military enthusiasts will be interested in remnants of interwar Czechoslovak fortification system with a lot of deserted concrete bunkers. Good start points are Rynoltice, Lvová and Jablonné v Podještědí (train stops) or Jitrava (bus stop).

• Ralsko is a center of former military area, formed by vast plains with pine forests, quiet ponds, sandstone rocks and mysterious dilapidated military structures. Take a bus to Stráž pod Ralskem and get off in Osečná or Hamr na Jezeře.