Off the Beaten Track in the Czech Republic

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After doing most of the prescribed tourist sights of the Czech Republic - Kutna Hora, Plzen, Česky Krumlov, Karlstejn - during my first year here it's time to start looking away from the beaten track and finding more obscure places to visit. In this respect, the students that I teach are a goldmine. They can tell me if somewhere I find on google is an area of outstanding natural beauty or actually an industrial complex with low levels of gamma radiation and a cleverly-worded website. The last two weeks has seen two pretty warm weekends and two Bank Holidays so there's been plenty of time to get out and about.

The first weekend, from a tip-off, we decided on the horrendously-named Telč (Telch - a place that sounds like you've just stood in something). Telč (I should watch where I'm walking) is a small town again in the middle of nowhere somewhere below Prague and it was sold to us as a 'smaller Česky Krumlov'. With a large square bordered by multi-coloured houses and a series of town-centre lakes, it offered some excellent photo opportunities and was generally lovely - the kind of place your Grandma would love if only it wasn't full of foreigners and strange food. The day took a welcome turn for the slightly odd as we arrived during a classic car fair which saw the square (more of a kite-shape) fill up with pretty cool classic Skodas and motorbikes, and more unusually military vehicles and tractors. Then there were dogfights between enemy aircraft over the town, jazz bands and kids' pie eating contest which gave the place a bit of longevity and a great small-town-big-event atmosphere.

Next was Česky Sternberk - a 13th century Bohemian castle that I'd never heard of until that week and one that was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A three hour train journey - anywhere, no matter how close to Prague, seems to take three hours - got us to our destination in the most picturesque way possible. The scenic train journey snaked along the Sazava river, through forests and past colourful meadows before eventually dropping us off at a tiny shed in the shadow of the Česky Sternberk castle.

The castle was pretty nice and fairly standard as castles go - nice views, lots of stone and an expensive, relatively uninteresting interior - so we spent a good hour looking around up top before deciding enough was enough and coming down the hill for the highlight of the day. Unashamedly, this was lounging for hours, slowly baking in the blazing sun, on a terrace drinking cheap beer facing the castle with the Sazava in front of us and nature all around. One of those times where walking around seems pointless but sitting around with a cold beverage fulfills every need.

As well as the fun of exploring a country more in-depth, getting away from Prague also gives you the chance to experience a slightly more open side to the Czechs in public. Most of my students are really nice, warm and friendly people but there's no getting away from the face that the service industry is full of people that outwardly seem to hate you. Furthermore, the prices outside of Prague are always a lovely surprise as you get unbridled joy out of the smallest difference. Beer in Prague, for example, is gloriously cheap compared to Western Europe, but then you come out to the countryside and you can get a beer in the middle of a castle or on a sunny square for less than in Prague's dingiest pubs. In British terms, the discount is pretty miniscule (discounts range from 10-15 pence) but it's the disproportionate sense of happiness and satisfaction that counts. The tourist attractions are also cheaper as we got impressive panoramic views of Telc and the surroundings of Cesky Sternberk for not much more than an average Prague toilet entrance fee.

Neither destination is worth doing if you are in the Czech Republic for a few days and in a rush but both places are excellent if it's a sunny day (everyone knows that the sun could make a landfill site look homely) and you've got plenty of time on your hands for exploring.

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