An early start for us this morning as we had ordered a taxi for 8.15 to take us to the Hertz office at the Marriott Hotel. This meant we had to have the suitcases outside the door by 7.15! At least we could keep the room til departure so after putting the bags out we could go and have our final breakfast on board with our regular breakfast buddies Therese and Bob. The others preferred breakfast in the main restaurant but the four of us enjoyed the quieter, lighter fare served up in the Horizon lounge at the front of the boat inthe mornings. However this morning we headed down to “Reflections” ( the main dining room) for a more substantial start to our day. Neils plate was piled high with bacon and eggs, he’s sticking with the old advice to “feed a cold” !
The taxi was already waiting when we arrived at reception at 8.10 which was a good thing because the traffic was slow again this morning. At the Hertz counter we went through the usual paperwork and were soon back on the road again in a Hyundai i30. The drive out of Budapest was straightforward and we soon hit the M1 motorway heading towards ” Praha” ( Prague) . The fastest route to Cesky Krumlov took us back through Austria which meant a short stop at the border to buy an Austrian motorway vignette, the sticker for our windscreen that showed we’d paid the toll to use the motorways. You buy them at petrol stations so it was also a handy stop to buy a takeaway coffee and some snacks for our long drives in the coming days.
Eventually we left the motorway and headed north through pretty Austrian countryside and cute villages.
Austrian village
Driving today has given us an interesting persepective on the pace of river cruising. Four days earlier we’d been in Melk, Austria to visit the Abbey. Today, after only four hours of driving we passed the turnoff for Melk and spottted the Abbey again through our rear window!
Melk Abbey..again!
The roads became narrower and narrower as we finally approached and entered the Czech Republic and we drove on through green forests before finally arriving back into busier towns and roadways as we neared Cesky Krumlov.
Narrow Czech roads
It was after 2.30 when we finallly pulled into the carpark of Hotel Gold, and close to 3 when we left the hotel and walked across the bridge into the Old Town. Cesky Krumlov is a pearl of a village, dating from the 13th century on curves of the Vlatva River. it has cute laneways, an old town square, a lovely cathedral and a magnificent castle that really dominates the town. It’s on the UNESCO world heritage list and is a huge tourist attraction in southern Bohemia. One fortunate advantage of our arrival time was that most of the tour groups had left town and the crowds were dying down at the more scenic spots.
Our hotel is located across the river from the cathedral. St Vitus was built in the 15th century.
Just outside our hotel looking up to St Vitus Cathedral
Crossing the river we climbed up the hill past the cathedral to the Horni Bridge which was once the fortified entry gate to the town. The view of the town was lovely but there was better to come.
Walking up to the Cathedral
View from Horni Bridge, the castle complex runs across the opposite hill.
The main square has a huge plague column, built in 1712 as an expression of gratitude (albeit belated) for the departure of the plague epidemic that haunted the town during 1680-1682.
Old Town Square with plague column
Down from the square the Barbers’ Bridge crosses another bend in the river and joins the Old Town to the Castle Town.
About to cross Barbers Bridge
We climbed up a set of stairs and arrived at the First Courtyard of the castle. Here we had great view of the colourful round tower witn its 16th century Renaissance paint job.
The tower
From here we climbed steeply up through the second, third and fourth courtyards before finally reaching the three story high bridge that crosses a deep gorge and joins the castle to its gardens at the top of the hill. The views from up here were breathtaking, it really is a storybook town. What is less than breathtaking is the abundance of selfie-stick waving tourists! It makes me glad Ive ditched my stick in favour of a more discrete little remote control shutter gadget. 😂
Selfie stick hazards
The view from “selfie-central”!
We finally hit the top of the hill with its view down to the river. We’d seen a lot of people riding rafts and kayaks along the lazy current , its a popular activity here on a warm. At the very top are the castle gardens, with its pretty fountain.
Looking down on the river and rafters
Castle gardens
Strolling back down through the castle and, this time, out its main gate we explored some more of its little cobblestoned streets before heading back to the river. We were pretty hungry by now so we found a lovely little restaurant with a deck built out above the river and the cascades for an early dinner. I was keen to try traditional Czech fiood and the “Krumlov special” hit the spot. Roast pork, smoked pork and pork sausage served on sauerkraut with dumplings was hearty and yummy. We sat enjoying the sunshine, the castle view and the occasional groups of rafters floating down the river.
Nice spot for dinner
Strolling back along the other side of the river we watched another raft negotiate the little rapids and stopped to admire the reflections of the castle in the water before heading back to the hotel for a quiet evening.
Rafter on rapids
Reflections
Cesky Krumlov has really exceeded my expectations but Im excited about moving on to Prague tomorrow.
That dinner spot looks absolutely gorgeous! Don’t think I’d be too keen on all that pork, though. 😛
No, this is not a good country for vegetarians!
Loving the blog, Adrienne!
Thanks Gabrielle It’s the only way I’ll ever remember the details after we get home