Telc Town Square

Telč (German: Teltsch) is a town of around 6,000 inhabitants in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands of the Czech Republic.

Understand

Telč is a charming, rather quiet town. It is certainly worth a stop if you are passing nearby, but there is not enough there to warrant more than a short stay unless you are particularly interested in history or architecture – it is the best preserved of all the Bohemian and Moravian Renaissance towns and the historical heart of the town was registered in 1992 on the UNESCO's List of World Cultural Heritage sites. It is astonishingly beautiful thanks to the surrounding fish-ponds that prevented the town spreading, thus preserving the perfect town square, built in the sixteenth century. There is also an interesting chateau from the same period.

Get in

Railway connection from Kostelec u Jihlavy (Wolframs) near Jihlava (Iglau). Not far from Ceske Budejovice (Budweis), Cesky Krumlov (Krumau), Brno (Bruenn) and Linz. Trains are quite slow on this relation. The fastest variant is a combination of train and bus, see the online timetable.

From Prague, there is at least one direct bus a day. All other options (especially) by train imply several transfers. A rather cheap option is to go from Prague to Jihlava (150Kč using the Student Agency buses, that provide free electric power, free tea and free Wi-Fi on-board), then from Jihlava to Telč (42Kč, very frequent local buses).

There is a relatively large 1 parking lot within about a five minute walk away from the city center to leave a car; tour buses also seem to stop here. The parking lot utilizes a typical automated system found elsewhere in Europe that accepts coins and issues a voucher slip that one leaves on the dash of their vehicle. Signs on the roads leading to Telc direct travelers to the lot.

Get around

Telč is small. You can manage it all by foot. Most of the interesting parts of Telč are on the irregularly shaped square in the center of town. There are some scenic views on the old moat outside the center.

See

Historic Center

Beautiful coloured Renaissance houses, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site

• 1 Telč Chateau. Apr-Nov Tu-Su. 14th century originally Gothic castle was rebuilt into a Renaissance Chateau by a nobleman Zachariáš of Hradec. Several guided tours and a galery with exhibitions. (updated Oct 2015)

The chateau has a 2 Renaissance garden in the inner yard surrounded by arcades. There is a pretty 3 park outside of the chateau (no fee, open daily 06:00-21:00).

• 4 Municipal Gallery "Firemen's House", Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce 122, ☏ +420 567 112 410. May-Sep Tu-Su 10:00-12:00 and 13:00-17:00. (updated Oct 2015)

• 5 The Tower of the Holy Spirit. Iconic for Telč panorama, the Romanesque tower of the Holy Spirit is the oldest architecture in Telc. Open in summer months, view of the town. (updated Oct 2015)

• 6 The Tower of Holy Jacob. Open in summer months, view of the town. (updated Oct 2015)

• 7 Look-out tower Oslednice. Apr, May, Sep, Oct: Sa-Su 10:00-16:00, Jun-Aug Tue-Su 10:00-17:00. A 34 m high steel structure on a hill at the edge of Telč. Apart from carying antennae, it also hosts a view platform. 15 Kč. (updated Oct 2015)

• Steam mill. (updated Oct 2015)

Do

Boats can be hired to row on the moats surrounding the Town Centre.

There is a Tourist Information Office on the main square (Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce 10 588 56 Telč, Phone: (+420) 567 112 407, 567 112 408)

Buy

The ground floor of many of the Renaissance houses contain a variety of shops, art galleries, and tourist traps.

Be aware that the two rather small grocery stores close at 5.30pm latest. After that, only a very small and rather expensive Vietnamese-held shop right outside the old town remains open (until 9pm).

Tesco supermarket at the edge of town, but still in a walking distance from the town center (Myslibořská 299), is open daily 7am-21pm.

Eat

Restaurants

• 1 U Zachariáše, nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 33, ☏ +420 567 243 672. Summer garden at the main square. Ice cream. (updated Oct 2015)

• 2 U Marušky, Palackého 28, ☏ +420 602 771 031. Just a great pub with good food. Lunch menu 80 Kč. (updated Oct 2015)

• 3 Šenk pod Věží, Palackého 116, ☏ +420 567 243 889. (updated Oct 2015)

• 4 Švejk na Zámecké, nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 1, ☏ +420 567 213 151. (updated Oct 2015)

• 5 Hotel Černý Orel, nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 7, ☏ +420 567 243 222. (updated Oct 2015)

• 6 Restaurant Lihovar, Slavatovská 92, ☏ +420 567 243 862. (updated Oct 2015)

• 7 Restaurace na Kopečku, Jihlavská 4, ☏ +420 608 756 56. (updated Oct 2015)

Drink

Cafes

• 1 Cafe Baltazar, nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 57, ☏ +420 773 064 820. (updated Oct 2015)

• 2 Filmová kavárna, Na Můstku 37, ☏ +420 774 892 263. (updated Oct 2015)

• 3 Kavárna Univerzitní Centrum, nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 2, ☏ +420 603 519 903. part of University (updated Oct 2015)

• 4 Čajovna Scivias, nám. zachariáše z Hradce 39, ☏ +420 602 733 485. A tea-room. (updated Oct 2015)

Sleep

Many of the private houses on the Square hire rooms out at rates favourably comparable with a standard hotel.

Go next

• Trebic
• Zdar nad Sazavou
• Ceske Budejovice
• Cesky Krumlov
• Brno
• For short trips outside Telč, if you don't want to cycle nor walk, you can call the only taxi in town: +420 602 517 775. Standard fare: 25Kč/km. Note that the driver speaks very limited English, so it's advised to ask someone (e.g., the tourist information center) to call for you if you can't speak Czech.