Julie Czech Republic 26 Comments

Cesky Krumlov is a town in the Czech Republic that we love love love! The town is amazing and absolutely should not be missed on a trip to the Czech Republic.

Located in Bohemia, Cesky Krumlov is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town escaped the bombings in World War II, which is the reason why the old city is so well preserved.

This city is a delight to walk through. It is small and compact and very, very photogenic. It doesn’t take very long to visit, just a few hours on the fastest of itineraries or worth an overnight stay on a longer visit. But Cesky Krumlov is worth the visit, even if it requires going out of your way.

Cesky Krumlov is one of our favorite small cities in Europe.

Tim and I visited Cesky Krumlov in April. On the day we visited Cesky Krumlov it was overcast and chilly, but at least it had stopped raining. We were here on a day trip, driving from Vienna to Prague.

In this article, visit Cesky Krumlov through our photo tour and then learn how you can visit this charming city.

Phototour of Cesky Krumlov

View of Cesky Krumlov

Czech Republic Souvenirs

Souvenir houses for sale

 

Walking through Cesky Krumlov

Walking through the city streets

 

Cesky Krumlov Street

Cesky Krumlov City Street

Cesky Krumlov Buildings

Street Cesky Krumlov

 

Tim picked out our restaurant for lunch, Bolero, which was a small place overlooking the Vltava River. The place was charming. The restaurant was tiny, rustic, and very cozy. From our table we could look out of the window for views over the river. We ate traditional Czech food…meat, potato pancakes, potato dumplings, sauerkraut, and pork, and drank the Czech beer Pilsner Urquell.

Lunch in Cesky Krumlov

Czech Cuisine

Trdelnik

After lunch Tim bought a Trdelnik, a cinnamon pastry.

 

Vltava River in Cesky Krumlov

A view of the Vltava River

 

Cesky Krumlov Square

The Main Square

 

Bear Cesky Krumlov

In Cesky Krumlov, bears guard the castle

 

We walked up to the castle for the best views over the city.  It was here that we said good bye to Cesky Krumlov.  Maybe we will return one day…

Cesky Krumlov April

How to Get to Cesky Krumlov

From Prague

To get from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, you have multiple options.

Self-Drive

If you have a car, it takes approximately 2.5 hours (175 km) to drive from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. In Cesky Krumlov, there is parking near the city center.

Train

Taking a train is a great option if you do not have a car. Trains connect Prague and Cesky Krumlov throughout the day. Most journeys require a transfer in Ceske Budejovice although a direct train was recently added. The trains with transfers only take about 10 to 30 minutes longer than the direct train. 

For a timetable and train tickets, visit the official website here.  This is a good website to get the timetables and prices for the direct trains to and from Cesky Krumlov. If you want to get the timetables for the trains with connections, I had better luck with this website.

Important Note: The train station is located outside of the heart of Cesky Krumlov. To get into town, you can walk (30 minutes) or take the local bus. Click here to learn more.

By Bus

LEO Express runs two buses per day between Prague and Cesky Krumlov. The cost is relatively cheap but they get terrible reviews on Trip Advisor. I’d take the train instead.

By Shuttle

There are also numerous shuttle companies that connect Prague to Cesky Krumlov and other nearby cities such as Vienna, Salzburg, and Bratislava. These shuttles are more expensive but offer door-to-door service. They can pick you up right at your hotel and drop you off at the city center in Cesky Krumlov.

CK Shuttle connects Prague with Cesky Krumlov and Vienna, so if you are planning to visit Cesky Krumlov in transit between Prague and Vienna, this may be a convenient option.

From Vienna

Self-Drive

It takes approximately three hours (200 km) to drive from Vienna to Cesky Krumlov. To drive in the Czech Republic, you will need a special highway sticker that you place on your windshield. This sticker costs CZK 310 and can be purchased at petrol stations and at the post office. We purchased our sticker at the first gas station we came to after crossing the border from Austria into the Czech Republic. For full details on this sticker, click here.

Note: You will also need a vignette for Austria. It costs €9 for a 10 day sticker and this is the cheapest option.

Shuttle Bus

From my research, both the train and the bus options take up a lot of your time. If you do not have a rental car, your next best option is to use a shuttle service. These services pick you up in Vienna and transfer you directly to Cesky Krumlov. CK Shuttle gets great reviews.

Visiting Cesky Krumlov when Traveling from Vienna to Prague

If you have plans to visit Cesky Krumlov while traveling between Vienna and Prague, what’s the best way to do it?

The most convenient way to travel is by rental car. Pick up the car in the morning in Vienna, drive to Cesky Krumlov and tour the town, and in the afternoon or evening, drive to Prague and return the car. Of course, this can also be done in the other direction.

In recent years, the price to drop off a car at a different location than the pick up point has skyrocketed. It could cost several hundreds of dollars to do this (in addition to the rental car fee!!). If you like the idea of renting a car, check the prices, but you may get hit with a huge drop charge.

If that’s the case, you have several options.

Skip the rental car and use the CK Shuttle. While you are visiting Cesky Krumlov, you can store your luggage in the tourist information office. Just be aware that CK Shuttle is not cheap. But if you are traveling solo or with one other person, this works well (since you pay per person). However, if you are a family or group of four or more people, the rental car could still be the cheaper option.

Using the train does not work well, since there are no direct trains between Vienna and Cesky Krumlov (that I could find).

You can also travel by bus, but this can be time consuming.

Your final option is to rent a car and day trip to Cesky Krumlov from one city. For example, rent the car in Prague, see Cesky Krumlov, and then return to car to Prague the same day. This takes additional time, since you are not conveniently visiting Cesky Krumlov as you travel past it, but this could save you a lot of money.

LUGGAGE STORAGE:  If you are visiting Cesky Krumlov while traveling between two cities you will need to store your luggage if you do not have a rental car. The Cesky Krumlov Tourist Information Center advertises that they will store luggage while you explore the town. The Tourist Information Center is located in town whereas the train station is located outside of town. From the train station,  you can walk or take the local bus to get from the train station to the TI office. Get updated hours and learn more on the Tourist Information Center website.

Tours to Cesky Krumlov from Prague

Finally, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of arranging your own transportation, here are tours to Cesky Krumlov from Prague, plus a walking tour of Cesky Krumlov.

 


Are you making plans to visit Cesky Krumlov? If you have any questions (or advice for our readers) leave them in the comment section below.

More Information for Your Trip

PRAGUE: For a list of the top experiences, check out our article Best Things to Do in Prague.

CENTRAL EUROPE: Plan your visit to Central Europe with our 10 day Central Europe Itinerary, which includes Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.

AUSTRIA: Learn about the best things to do in Vienna, how to spend one day in Salzburg, and how to have the best experience in Hallstatt.

POLAND: Plan your trip to Poland with our 10 Day Poland Itinerary. We also have guides to Warsaw, Krakow, and Gdansk, and information on how to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau.

EUROPE TRAVEL INSPIRATION: For more great ideas on where to go in Europe, check out our article 30 Beautiful Places to Visit in Europe. You can also get more travel ideas in our 10 Days in Europe itinerary guide, which has 10 great itineraries for your next trip to Europe.

Read all of our articles about the Czech Republic in our Czech Republic Travel Guide.

Cesky Krumlov Pictures

Cesky Krumlov from Prague or Vienna

 

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Comments 26

  1. Avatar for Karen
    1. Avatar for Julie Post
      Author
  2. Avatar for Ris
    Ris

    Hi, what option should I choose if I would like to include Prague, Cesky Krumlov and Budapest? Will it be car rental? Is it advisable to take the car from Prague and drop it in Budapest? Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. Have a nice day ahead.

    1. Avatar for Julie Post
      Author
      Julie

      All 3 cities can be visited with a rental car. You will have to run the prices for the time of your trip. It could be expensive, because there will be a drop fee in Budapest and it can be quite expensive. I also recommend that you get pricing for a day trip to Cesky Krumlov from Prague plus a train from Prague to Budapest. Then, pick the option with the cheapest price. If it’s slightly more expensive to rent a car, it could be worth the extra price to travel from Prague -> CK -> Budapest, but that also depends on your preferences. Sorry I can’t give you a more concrete answer without you running the prices, but rental car fees can vary a lot from month to month so I don’t have a ballpark price for this. We use all the major rental car carriers, pricing out all of them for each trip, and then choosing the company with the cheaper price. You can also quickly check the prices for the major companies in one search on Autoeurope.com. Good luck! Cheers, Julie

  3. Avatar for Peter
    Peter

    Thanks for the information.
    We will be traveling from Munich to Vienna and plan on visiting Linz and Steyr.
    When in Linz we’d like to do a day trip to CK. What would be the best way using public transportation.
    Thank you.

    1. Avatar for Julie Post
      Author
      Julie

      I’m not sure how public transportation works between Linz and Cesky Krumlov. If you have a hotel picked out in Linz, they might be able to give you information on the public transportation network. – Julie

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