Landlocked in the very heart of Central Europe, the Czech Republic is where the rolling green hills of ancient Moravia clash with the misty forests, looming mountain ridges and winding river lands of Bohemia. Hereg is a country alive with glorious hilltop chateaux, lichen-studded Gothic castles, UNESCO-attested woodlands and endless, undulating miles of barley fields, all feeding the endless brew houses of Pilsen and Ceske Budejovice in the south.
Ask any Czech Republic tourist guide for the reasons why this relatively young country remains a perennial favourite on the visitor’s trail through the continent, and your answers are bound to be varied. Some will say the world-class beer, unpasteurised and quick from the thousand-year-old brewing basements of Bohemia. While others will highlight the history, to be found lurking in the apses of the grand St Vitus Cathedral, amidst the old Jewish graveyards of the capital’s old town or between the cobbled streets where Kafka once roamed.
Then there’s just the ambience of it all—from the palpably genuine locals, with their steaming plates of beef dumplings, their fervent love of ice hockey, and their chilled-out café culture, to the wild party nights and backpacker scene, with its sprawling pub crawls and gaudy super clubs.