Czech Republic is the cradle of amazing and unique cultural heritage.
It is the embodiment of European country with magnificent architecture, rich history, colorful traditions and habits, delicious cuisine and lifestyle that could make everyone dreams at least for a while to go there.
The main reason is its location between the cold north and hot south of Europe and between the rich west and booming east of the continent.
When to Visit Czech Republic?
June, July and August are the best time to visit the Czech Republic.
This is especially true for July which can offer you an incredible combination of perfect weather conditions and nature at its best.
Most appropriate is to wear light summer clothes and a light coat, jacket or anorak for the night.
Will be better for you to bring also comfortable shoes or slippers if you are planning to explore all the interesting sites in the country.
Weather
Czech Republic is located in the temperate zone.
Winter usually lasts during the period from December to February.
It is cold with temperatures reaching up to 0-3 degrees.
Snowfall is quite frequent, especially in the mountain areas.
Winter nights are chilly with temperatures below zero.
This is, however, the driest season in the Czech Republic.
Spring usually lasts from March to May.
During this part of the year precipitation increases rapidly.
In March the thermometer shows only 8 -10 degrees, but in May climbs to about 18°C.
Summer is the rainiest part of the year.
Summer rainfalls are usually sudden and intense.
Day time temperatures are very nice – around 23°C, but sometimes are much higher.
Nights however, are quite cool and rarely exceed 12°C.
September, October and November are typical autumn months.
Autumn is characterized by rapid decline in rainfall and temperatures.
September is still relatively warm – about 18 – 20°C.
In November however, the thermometer rarely shows more than 5-6 degrees.
Sights to See and Things to Do in Czech Republic
A trip to the Czech Republic have to start from the capital Prague.
This is a city with a turbulent history, which combines centuries-old architecture and modern European civilization.
Large green areas and beautiful urban parks diversify the ancient architecture of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Between the brick and stone buildings colored in soft bright colors runs the deep Vltava river.
It would be wonderful if you go for a little boat trip.
In this way you will see the city in a manner inaccessible from the shore and will take you back a few hundreds years.
Walking along the narrow streets of the Czech capital you will see magnificent churches and cathedrals.
If you visit some of the incredible museums telling about the history of Prague, you will learn everything about the city.
This unbelievable cultural wealth will make you feel proud you’re here.
Once you have enjoyed the charms of “Golden Prague”, you can proceed to the most popular spa resort on the planet – Karlovy Vary.
Founded in the 14th century, the beautiful resort town is located west of the capital and has good transport links with Prague.
For a country that has more than 200 mineral springs is not surprising that is one of the world leaders in spa tourism.
In Karlovy Vary you can walk among European aristocratic-looking streets with beautiful architecture or to watch passers while drinking a glass of beer at some square.
And do not forget to take advantage of the numerous mineral springs with healing properties.
Traveling through the Czech Republic, you will be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery, especially if you travel during the summer months.
During the warmer months the Czech Republic is covered with lush greenness and the pastoral landscape is full of small and quiet villages, farmland and medieval-looking towns.
These romantic views are often diversified from some century old castle, whose facade rises proudly above the wooded suburban or rural landscape.
Czech Cuisine
One of the pleasures of visiting the Czech Republic is the opportunity to enjoy delicious cuisine.
The local dishes are typical for the region of Central Europe.
Duck, rabbit and pork meat present quite often into the daily menu of the Czechs.
Commonly consumed are vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, carrots or pumpkin.
Czechs are known for their love for sweets.
Here you can taste different kinds of cakes, pastries, sweet rolls and biscuits.
The country is also very popular for the light breakfast which locals and tourists love to consume in different parts of the day.
This includes a wide variety of delicious sandwiches and sausages that are often flavor with cheese and seasoned with various sauces.
One of the most famous culinary delights in the Czech Republic are the dumplings.
They are oval in shape and resemble meatballs.
The dumplings are most often made from potatoes, bread or different kind of vegetables, but they can be also made of meat, and sometimes can be even sweet.
Nature
Czech Republic has beautiful scenery, but most impressive is the variety of landscapes.
Much of the Czech territory is covered by forests, which are considered to be among the most beautiful on the continent.
Numerous deep rivers cross through the territory of the Czech Republic.
The number of marshes and lakes that one can find there are more than 15.000!
Larger rivers are the Elbe, Morava (Danube tributary), Vltava (passes through Prague), Liba and Odra.
In southwestern Czech Republic is located the amazing Bohemian forest.
Fauna of the Czech Republic today recover its former species diversity.
For a certain period of time many animal species were completely disappeared from the country.
Bears, wolves and lynx recover their populations coming in local forests from the territory of neighboring countries.
Although the restoration of local wildlife is slow, the first step has already been made.
In the Czech Republic can be seen also some other smaller, but widespread predators such as foxes, for example.
The territory of the country is also habitat of deer, rabbit and wild boar.
Some interesting representatives of the bird kingdom are Barn Owl, falcon and golden eagle.
Geographic location, boundaries and size
Czech Republic is located in the central parts of Europe, approximately on the halfway between the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea.
It borders by Germany, Poland, Austria and Slovakia and occupies an area of 78,864 sq.km.
Its geographical location is very strategic.
Through the territory of the country pass dozens of international railways and highways, linking different parts of Europe.
Relief
Czech Republic has a varied topography.
Here one can see not very high mountains, plateaus crossed by scenic river valleys and lowland areas.
In the northwestern part of the country around the German border are located the Ore Mountains.
In the southeastern part of the Czech Republic near the border with Slovakia is located the Carpathian mountain range.
The highest peak Sněžka reaches a height of about 1602 meters.
It is located in close proximity by Poland.
The major relief forms inside the Czech Republic are the Czech Massif and the Bohemian Heights.
Population
Czech Republic has a population of about 10.5 million people.
The major cities are Prague (near 1.3 million inhabitants), Brno (405,000 inhabitants) and Ostrava (about 310,000).
The main religion in the country is Christianity, which was introduced by St. Vaclav 1st in the 10th century.
Today most residents are Catholic.
Czech Republic in our days is very cosmopolitan country.
There is increasingly growing number of foreigners who live here permanently.
On the streets of the big cities one can often hear foreign speech.
Today in the country, especially in the capital Prague, there is a large number of people coming from Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, USA, France, Austria, China and many other states.
The Czech population is relatively evenly distributed in the country.
Economy
Czech Republic is versatile developed country. Its economy is equally well developed in services sector, agriculture and industry.
During the last few years tourism industry enjoys unprecedented boom.
Once Eastern Europe succeed to shake off the burden of the communist regime, the Czech Republic, unlike many other countries, has not ditched its old economic sectors and industries.
The Czech Republic just updated everything in a way that allows the Czech goods to be highly competitive in the global market.
Proximity to the powerful and advanced economies of Western Europe traced a bright future for this small Central European country.
Czech Republic was able to take quick advantage of all its economic sectors.
A typical example of Czech products with high qualities is the local beer, which is exported around the world and has made the country a world leader in this field.
Brands such as “Pilsen,” “Staropramen” and “Budvar” are among the most successful in the world and competing with leading German and Netherland brands.
Besides beer in the Czech Republic produced a large number of global brands – Peugeot, Citroen, Toyota, Hyundai, Skoda.
The country is a large producer and exporter of food – meat and dairy products, freshwater fish, variety of cereals, as well as typical European fruits and vegetables.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the division of Czechoslovakia into two countries – the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the young country with centuries-old history began to carry out serious reforms.
In 1999 it became part of NATO, and May 1, 2004 to join the European Union.
Extremely favorable impact on the local economy appears that the country offsets its lack of sea with using two own river ports – the city of Hamburg, located on the Elbe River in Germany and Szczecin, which lies on the river bank of Odra in Poland.
The country has also its own fleet.
It provides the Czech Republic especially important connection with the Baltic Sea.