A 10-Day Czechia Road Trip Itinerary (Yes, It's More Than Just Prague)
Updated: Jul 25
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The first time I stood on Charles Bridge, my son was still a teenager who'd agreed to be seen in public with us, and we did exactly what everyone tells you to do in Prague. Astronomical Clock. Cobblestones. And we climbed a staircase on a whim that dump us, completely by accident, inside the grounds of Prague Castle through an unlocked gate. Free self-guided tour of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, no idea how we got there, but it was worth the accidental self-guided tour, even if we did it completely backwards.
From there we made our way to Český Krumlov, the other place everyone tells you to see, and it earns every bit of its reputation too. But that was the whole trip, Prague and Český Krumlov, full stop, and that part was entirely on us. For that first trip, we hadn't researched a single thing beyond the two places everyone mentions. We only found out what we'd missed on the way out of the country, when we caught a train and spent the whole ride with our faces pressed against the train window. The countryside rolling past looked nothing like what we'd planned our entire trip around, and somewhere on that train ride, we made a promise to come back and actually drive the entire country ourselves. It took a few years, but we kept that promise, and it was worth every bit of the wait.
This time, ten days, one rental car, and Czechia, as the Czech Repulic is now known as, turned out to have far more range than the postcards, or our first trip, ever let on. Here's the full route, where we stayed, and what we'd do again without thinking twice.
The Route at a Glance
Day 1: Prague.
Days 2-5: Karlovy Vary.
Days 6-7: Hluboká nad Vltavou, used as the base for a day trip to Český Krumlov.
Days 8-10: Mikulov, with stops in Třeboň and Telč on the way there, used as the base for day trips to Lednice and Valtice.
The further from Prague we drove, the better the trip was. That's not a knock on Prague. It's just the truth about what's waiting beyond the city limits.
If you're planning to drive this route yourself, here's everything you need to know about renting a car in Czechia, including the part where Brno nearly finished us.
Day 1: Prague
We stayed at Hotel Černý Slon, tucked just off Old Town Square in a building that predates Canada by several centuries. Central, walkable from the train station if you don't mind a bit of cobblestone cardio, and quiet, unless a football match happens to be playing in the square below, in which case quiet stops applying until well after midnight. If it's full, Týn Yard Residence is a solid four-star alternative right by the main square.
This time, we skipped the deliberate sightseeing and let ourselves get lost in Old Town on purpose, gothic spires and centuries-old stonework around every turn. The Astronomical Clock is worth timing your walk around, show up on the hour for the mechanical show, then cross Charles Bridge early before the crowds arrive. Prague Castle is still worth the climb, even though we did it on self-guided tickets, a guided castle tour with admission included would have connected the historical dots faster than we managed on our own. After that, get pleasantly lost in Malá Strana and duck into whichever pub looks the least touristy, or skip the guesswork entirely with a historic pub tour, drinks included.
We also flagged a few things for next time: a river boat cruise past Charles Bridge, the view from Letná Park, and a classical concert in one of the chapels near Old Town. Czechia rewards a return trip, even within the same itinerary.
Days 2-5: Karlovy Vary
About an hour and a half outside Prague, the road opens up into Czech countryside that caught us completely off guard. Flat, easy, oddly meditative, until it dips into a forested gully and the rooftops of Karlovy Vary suddenly appear like you've driven through a side door into a different century.
We stayed at Spa Resort Sanssouci, a short tree-lined walk from the centre, with world-class spa facilities, 50-plus health professionals on staff, mineral pools, saunas, thermal baths. Low effort, high reward. If you want something smaller and more private, Villa Julius a Emma sits right next door. If you'd rather be in town and don't mind channeling your inner Bond villain, Grandhotel Pupp is the real filming location for Casino Royale, and afternoon tea there is exactly as you would expect. Grand! Spa Hotel Imperial, perched above the town, is another strong option if you want the views with your treatments.
Karlovy Vary has been pulling in wealthy bathers since the 14th century, when Charles IV's injured hunting dog allegedly stumbled into a thermal spring and came out healed. True or not, the town built an empire on it. Walk the colonnades, sip the mineral water from one of the tiny doll-sized mugs locals swear by, and don't skip the hiking, 180-plus kilometres of trails wrap the hills above town. We took the funicular, directly from town, up to the Diana Lookout Tower and walked the Deer Leap trail back down, landing conveniently close to a pint.
If you’re deciding whether the spa town deserves a place on your route, here’s my complete guide to visiting Karlovy Vary, including what to do, where to stay and why I recommend spending at least two nights.
Days 6-7: Hluboká nad Vltavou & Český Krumlov
Two hours south, the landscape goes from spa town to storybook. We stayed at Hotel Štekl, a castle property right next to Hluboká Castle itself, the Romantic Neo-Gothic reconstruction modelled on Windsor Castle in the 19th century. Every evening, once the day visitors had left, we took a bottle of South Bohemian wine up into the castle gardens and watched the sun go down over the valley. That alone fulfilled my childhood dream of feeling like a Princess.
Most guides tell you to see Hluboká as a quick stop on the way somewhere else. We stayed two nights on purpose, partly because Český Krumlov books up solid in high season and partly because having a car meant we didn't have to choose, we had the quiet evenings in Hluboká and the easy day trip into Český Krumlov without fighting for a room in either place.
Český Krumlov itself is the kind of town that looks built by film set designers, wrapped in a bend of the Vltava River with a 13th-century castle, an honest-to-god bear moat, and cobblestone lanes that earned it UNESCO status. If you're driving, parking gets tight in high season, arrive early or stay outside town the way we did. Feed the bears, wander the old town, and if it's warm enough, raft the river with Maleček Rafting & Canoe, past medieval towers and pop-up wooden riverside bars selling beer to anyone floating by. If Hotel Štekl is full, Garni Hotel Castle Bridge and Hotel Krčínův Dům are solid options inside Cesky Krumlov itself, and Guest House Olšakovský is the better budget-friendly pick.
We slept in Hluboká nad Vltavou rather than Krumlov, which I realise sounds contradictory given everything I just said about the place. It isn't. Český Krumlov is very much worth it as I've described. It's just better visited than slept in, at least in July. Here's the case for Hluboká and here's the full Krumlov day, kayaks, lanterns, and one very soggy iPod included. Between the two posts you'll have everything you need.
Days 8-10: Mikulov, Wine Country, and the Unexpected Cold War Detour
The final stretch took us southeast into South Moravia, and it turned into the part of the trip that surprised us the most. On the way, we stopped in Třeboň, a spa town known for peat mud baths and centuries-old fish ponds still in operation, and Telč, a UNESCO-listed Renaissance square that's a perfect midday coffee stop even if an afternoon isn't enough to call it a full destination.
We based ourselves in Mikulov at Pension Baltazar, a cosy guesthouse looking out over Svatý Kopeček, Holy Hill, a forty-minute hike from bed to summit with panoramic views over the vineyards below. Boutique Hotel Templ sits next door if Baltazar is full. Mikulov has been a cultural crossroads for centuries, once a stop on the trade route between Brno and Vienna, and it's still the easiest base for exploring South Moravian wine country without committing to one town for the whole stretch.
From Mikulov, two day trips stood out. Lednice, which I started calling the Versailles of the East the moment we walked in, a riverside Neo-Gothic estate with a full minaret tucked into the grounds and a lazy river cruise past romantic ruins. And Valtice, where we went looking for a neoclassical colonnade and instead stumbled onto an abandoned Cold War border post, the actual Iron Curtain Museum, and, without warning, a group of Czech teenagers performing a full choreographed routine to a Grease song in front of a 19th-century monument. We also briefly and accidentally drove across the Austrian border, which is a story in itself.
We said goodbye to our rental car in Brno, Czechia's second-largest city, before catching a train to Vienna. We didn't linger there, but it served its purpose as a central place to end a ten-day loop.
What Surprised Us Most
Outside of Prague and Český Krumlov, I had no idea what to expect going in. What we found was a country with far more range than its reputation suggests, spa towns, vineyard valleys, castle-dotted countryside, and roads good enough that driving never once felt like the hard part. If you're even considering Central Europe, Czechia earns a spot on the list. We'd go back without hesitation.
If you want help building a route that actually fits how you travel, I'd love to put one together for you. And if you want the next post in this series the moment it goes up, the TMT newsletter is where that happens first.
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