Planning a Trip

Getting There

If you're driving, leave Prague to the south via the main D1 expressway and take the cutoff for Highway E55, which runs straight to Ceské Budejovice. The trip takes about 1 1/2 hours.

Daily express trains from Prague make the trip to Ceské Budejovice in about 2 1/2 hours. The fare is 306Kc ($15/£7.30) first class or 204Kc ($9.70/£4.85) second class. Several express buses run from Prague's Florenc station each day and take 2 1/2 hours; tickets cost 120Kc ($5.70/£2.85).

Visitor Information

Tourist Infocentrum, námestí Premysla Otakara II. 2 (tel. 386-801-414), provides maps and guidebooks and finds lodging. It is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 6pm, Saturday until 5pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm. In winter it is open Monday and Wednesday 9am to 5pm; Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 4pm; and Saturday 9am to 1pm. There is a good website about the city; go to www.c-budejovice.cz for information.

Special Events

Each August, Ceské Budejovice hosts the largest International Agricultural Show in the country.

If you're passing through in the late fall or winter and want to see Czechs at their most emotional, head out to a match of the Czech Extraliga hockey league at the Budvar Aréna on ulice F. A. Gerstnera, where the local team does battle. Arguably some of the best hockey in the world is played in the Czech Republic, which you can see for a fraction of the price -- from 80Kc to 120Kc ($3.80-$5.70/£1.90-£2.85) -- you'd pay to see players of a similar caliber in Western countries. The games are never sold out. The box office (tel. 386-352-705) opens 1 hour before the game. The local newspapers, tourist information center, and posters pasted around the town will tell you what time the next match is.

Orientation

Ceské Budejovice's circular Staré Mesto (Old Town) centers around the Czech Republic's largest cobblestone square, námestí Premysla Otakara II.