Karlstejn Travel Guide

 doug48 Says:  the well tower is one of several defensive towers at karlstejn. this tower has a wooden treadwheel for hauling water up to the castle. 

 doug48 Says:  the building with the spire in the center of the picture is st. mary's tower. inside is st. catherine's chapel and a painting of charles IV receiving two thorns from the crown of jesus from the french dauphin. 

 doug48 Says:  on the first floor of the grand tower are two rooms with paintings of karlstejn and other bohemian castles. on the second floor is holy cross chapel with a collection of paintings by master theodoric, the court painter of charles IV. 

 doug48 Says:  finally i get to the castle and it is worth the hike. see my transportation tip for some alternatives to hiking up to the castle. karlstejn was built for holy roman emperior charles IV between 1348-1357. it is one of the most visited castles in bohemia. 

 doug48 Says:  when you enter the castle the first place you come to is the castle courtyard. here you can purchase a tour of the interior of the castle. tour 1 lasts about an hour and tour 2 an hour and a half. tour 2 must be reserved in advance. the tours are in czech, german, and... 

 doug48 Says:  i arrived from prague by train and across the street was a restaurant. my first impression was that i was in the village of karlstejn. wrong ! i had to walk down a street to the car park then across a bridge over the berounka river. the walk took about 10 minutes. but at... 

 doug48 Says:  pictured is a statue of st. sebastian on the road up to karlstejn castle. a great place to stop and catch your breath. this is approximately the half way point to the castle. by the way, st. sebastian was a christian martyr who was killed in 287AD during the rule of emperor... 

 doug48 Says:  finally after a 15 minute walk i have reached karlstejn village. the street is lined with tourist shops, cafes, and restaurants. good news-bad news. i have reached the village but now the road gets steep. 

 doug48 Says:  after crossing the bridge i finally see karlstejn village. from the bridge it looks like a charming bohemian town. wrong again ! still more walking to go. 

 turistauk Says:  I visited this castle in summer 2007 and i was amazed by huge castle in small town.English talking guide was very funny, talked very easily. 

 PeteG Says:  If you get the opportunity, climb in Karlstejn. I'm sure it isn't difficult for advanced climbers, but for the rest of us, including absolute beginners it is a great fun place.A local climbing school use an old quarried cliff face which has many different degrees of... 

 PeteG Says:  You can rent canoes locally. Sorry, I don't have the details but the firm were easy to find when we visited. You can canoe for miles along the river and it is beautiful. We saw lots of Heron and several Kingfishers on our journey. There are a few small sections of moving... 

 alancollins Says:  The castle was designed by Matthias of Arras and built by Emperor Charles IV between 1348 to 1357 to safeguard the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, and they remained there for nearly 200 years. Though parts were added over the years, the castle was restored to its... 

 doug48 Says:  from prague you can take a train to karlstejn (direction beroun). the trains leave prague central station about every half hour during the day and the trip takes about 45 minutes. once you arrive at karlstejn station you have a 30 minute walk up to the castle. 

 alancollins Says:  If you travel to the area by car or coach, you have to park approximately 2kms from the castle and walk the rest of the way past all the touristy outlets. There are alternatives to walking horse drawn carriages and local taxis can drop you off at the castle. But you will... 

 el_ruso Says:  There is another beautiful, but less known castle located just a few kilometers to the West in Krivoklat. I highly recommend visiting it if you are in the area.