We had heard from a few people that a Czech ‘must see’ was the 13th century medieval town of Český Krumlov, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Due to its economic importance but relatively peaceful history, Český Krumlov has retained its entire medieval layout and has 300 protected historic buildings including an enormous castle which the town was built around.But first we had to get there. It was only 34km from České Budějovice so it was going to be a cake walk. The day started with gorgeous paddocks covered in dandelions. We were 4km in, snap happy and loving it.

Then a slight but consistent incline began for the rest of the 30km. As you can see I was having the best time.

But we rounded the final corner and was met with the first view of Český Krumlov. Wowza! The Vltava river almost completely surrounds the little pocket-sized town. We couldn’t wait to get down the hill to explore.

We scored with our room, it was big enough to fit the bikes in. There was a kettle, fridge, bathroom and great big window ledges to perch on drinking tea.

We took a walk up Old Town Wall into the castle complex.

Which gave us stunning views of the town.

Even in the low season and a drizzly day we could see that the town was braced to the hilt with tour companies, tat stores and almost every building was a hotel, pension or hostel. And being such a pocket-sized town, you couldn’t escape it by walking down a different street. We found out later that once Český Krumlov had earned its UNESCO spot (in 1992) it had become the Czech Republic’s second busiest tourist town after Prague. We were in two minds about it. We were very grateful that we saw it’s beauty, and it is very beautiful, but we were happy to continue on the next day. Maybe we didn’t give it enough of a chance but it was quite expensive for accommodation so it was hard for us to stick around. Never mind, the next day we continued onwards!

Daily Costs:
Accommodation: 880Kc
Market Stall: 50Kc
Groceries: 244Kc
Total Cost: €42.75/$60.60AUD