The Czech Republic offers grand history, lively culture and beautiful countryside all in one trip. Explore gothic cities, hilltop castles and sample some of the best beer in Europe.
Travelling around the Czech Republic is straightforward, with good public transport and relatively short distances between major sights. Trains are the easiest way to move between cities such as Prague, Brno and Ostrava, offering regular and affordable connections. Buses are also reliable and sometimes faster on certain routes, particularly to smaller towns. Within cities, trams and metro systems make getting around simple. Hiring a car is a good option if you want to explore rural regions, national parks or wine areas in Moravia. They drive on the right.
The Czech Republic has a continental climate, which means distinct seasons with warm summers and cold winters. The best time to visit depends on what kind of trip you are planning: long sunny days exploring castles, colourful autumn city breaks or snowy Christmas markets in historic squares.
I always book my accommodation through trusted providers like booking.com and Hostelworld, but always read the reviews carefully.
The Czech Republic is part of the Schengen area, so some visitors will not need a visa, but you may need to keep an eye on your Schengen area day count, depending where you’re from.
I always recommend checking the official government advice from your own country of citizenship. For example, I’m from the UK so I use the UK Government’s Foreign travel advice website, and navigate to the “Entry requirements” section of the country I wish to visit. That will show me the most up-to-date advice and the correct links to use to apply for a visa officially, without being scammed. E.g. “Czechia: Entry requirements”.
Be aware that if you just google “Czech Republic visa”, you’ll find lots of 3rd party websites offering to do the application for you, which at best will charge you quite a lot of money and at worst may scam you completely.
If you would rather someone else take care of the application for you to save you time and hassle, I can recommend iVisa. iVisa offer an end-to-end visa application service where they take care of the entire application for you. You just need to sign up via their website and fill out the information they need from you for the application. Note that they charge a fee for this service, so it will be more expensive than applying directly yourself.
Here are some of the resources I’ve found particularly useful for travelling in the Czech Republic. Download the apps before you go to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience! Check out my Useful Travel Resources page for my complete go-to list of websites and apps.
Currency:
Czech koruna (CZK)
Capital City:
Prague
Languages:
Czech
