Ceske Budejovice Things to Do

1 more image

The Black Tower was built by the Germans who lived here as a guard and bell tower in the mid 1500s, paid for with silver and salt. You can climb the tower for a view over the city if you're willing to climb the 225 stairs to get there, this was one tower that we didn't climb.

This website has more information on the Black Tower if you are interested.

3 more images

Ceske Budejovice's main square, namesti Premysla Otakara II, is probably the loveliest main square we saw on this trip, lined with beautiful ornate buildings in a rainbow of colors, anchored by the Sampson fountain. It's named after the founder of Ceske Budejovice, King Otakar II

We finished up in Cesky Krumlov earlier than I expected so we asked what was nearby that we could see and they suggested the Hluboka Chateau just a few miles north of Ceske Budejovice. This was my favorite of the four castles/chateau that we visited, the sumptuously decorated interior, almost all done in wood, blew the interiors of the other three in Cesky Krumlov, Konopiste and Prague away. Make sure you go on a tour, even if it is only in Czech, they did have English text.

We drove there and had a little difficulty figuring out where to park, we ended up parking by the visitors center and walking up the hill, only people with permits can park closer than that. If you are relying on public transport, there is a bus from Ceske Budejovice.

If you are down in southern Bohemia, Cesky Krumlov is not to be missed. We had a car so we drove there, there are several daily buses if you don't. I think it was only around 20-25 km between the two, we were surprised at how quickly we got there. Most of the city is pedestrian only so find a parking lot and be sure to have small change to feed the meters and the town is just a short walk away.

Most people visit to see the hilltop Krumlov Chateau (Krumlovsky zamek) and have a walk through the medieval city, if you are there during the warmer months there is also quite a bit of activity on the Vltava River, kayaks, rafts and inner tubes, make sure you arrange for these in advance or you may be subjected to standing there watching enviously.

I'll have a Cesky Krumlov page up shortly.

3 more images

Černá vĕž (the black tower) stands beside chrám svatého Mikuláše (Saint Nicolas cathedral) and is 72 meters high. After a long walk upstairs you can watch the entire city from the walkway.
Here you can see that námĕstí Přemysla Otakara II (Otakara II square) is really square, which means that it's really Czech ( in contrast with the extensivebsquare of Trebon which means it has been founded by German colonists).

Open: from tuesday till sunday from 10 till 18
in july and august daily

The radnice, which houses the city and regional government offices, dominates the vast and impressive central city square. This enormous structure is easily the largest building in the city. The architecture of the radnice, which was completed in 1730, is a combination of Habsburg high Baroque and neo-classical. The onion domes topping the three towers are similar to the church bell tower domes of the empire. A scrolled Baroque facade fronts the central roof gable. However, neo-classical architecture dominates the exterior.

The four large statues positioned along the top of the wall are of maidens representing the virtues of courage, justice, rationale, and wisdom. These of course are obviously the qualities always posessed by those selected to rule over the people ( this is so obvious that the Habsburg's found it necessary to sculpt large dominating statues to remind the peasentry of this fact ). Much of the majestic interior of this great and spacious building is open to the public. I was told that there are some great art works inside, but the weather was much too nice for me to spend the day wandering around aimlessly in stadium sized buildings.

footnote to above travel tip: I don't know why the Habsburg's found it necessary to erect such huge and expensive buildings to house government offices, when the vast majority of the citizenry of the empire lived packed like sardines in small apartments. One reason is that they felt the need to show the church who was really in charge. Such are the privileges of power I suppose.

The Black Tower and Katedrala ( cathedral ) sv. Nicholas, occupy one of the corners of Ceske Budejovice's immense city square. The tower functioned both as a guard tower and as the bell tower of the cathedral. Construction of the tower began in 1552, and was completed more than 20 years later. The tower which is 72 meters high, is open to the public for a modest admission fee. Views of old town C. Bud are excellent from the upper deck.

Entrance to the tower is through a fascinating wood and wrought iron door at the base of the corbelled turret shown in the photo. To get to the top of the tower you climb the narrow and steep circular staircase housed in the turret. The only windows in the turret are the peculiar keyhole shaped variety shown in the photo. The architecture of the tower itself is bold, plain, and forceful. Needless to say, only the lower part of it is shown in the photo. Note the brilliant ceramic tiles of the city square adjacent to the tower.

Old town Ceske Budejovice has many well preserved ancient buildings, especially adjacent to the incredibly large central square, and along the streets leading to the square. The building shown at the right of the photo is a good example of Renaissance architecture of the area. The paintings of peasant folk of the era all along the upper floors of the outside walls are an interesting feature. The lower two floors exhibit classic Renaissance architectural features.