A tour of the historical old town center in České Budějovice: 4 km

• Most of the larger Czech towns and cities appear today, at least from the outskirts, to be relatively industrial and offering little for walkers and tourists to explore. The South Bohemian city of České Budějovice is no exception. Mostly known today as a center for beer production – in particular for the original Budweiser – České Budějovice is often ignored by visitors on their travels, especially those making for the nearby UNESCO listed town of Český Krumlov.
• However, there is a lot to discover in České Budějovice and it is definitely worth spending a little time to explore the old town, which dates back to its foundation in 1265 by Přemysl King Otakar II. The oldest Gothic buildings in the city – the Dominican monastery and the Church of the Sacrifice of the Virgin Mary – date from this time.
• The old town is situated at the confluence of the Vltava and Malše rivers. It is neatly (almost) enclosed by the Mlýnská stoka (Mill canal), created from the medieval moat system. This creates an obvious circular route for exploring the town. The typical medieval grid-street plan is centered on the Přemysl Otakar II square and the streets are lined with a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
• A highlight of the town is the South Bohemian Museum, which has excellent permanent exhibitions detailing the interesting history and archaeology of the city and surrounding region. České Budějovice also has a number of good refreshment spots, particularly boutique cafés. Three of the best are highlighted in the map below (points 8, 9 and 10). The 16th century ‘Black Tower’, situated just off the northeast corner of the main square (map point 7) offers an excellent viewpoint over the town.
• The bus and the train stations are located 800m from the edge of the old town and it is little more than a 3 km circuit to explore the main highlights of the old town. The area is completely flat and exploring with a stroller is not an issue.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• If traveling by bus or train to the main stations, head up Lannova tř. to reach the edge of the old town in 800m
• There is no particularly recommended route around the old, but it is suggested to start by following the canal in an anticlockwise direction until reaching the Dominican monastery
• From the monastery either continue along the Malše or cut into the town to explore the old streets
• The museum is located on the southeast side of town, just outside the old town area (map point 11)