Travel | Topic Archive

As an expert on protected landscape management, Michal Hošek is used to working in breathtakingly beautiful environments. However when he was sent to northern Georgia in 2012 he had no idea of the ties that would bind him to its pristine nature and warmhearted people. He recently visited Radio Prague’s studio to talk about his work in Georgia, his love for the country and the challenges of developing a tourist infrastructure in a country still largely undiscovered.

Mšeno is a picturesque little town, often described as a gateway to Kokořínsko, a protected landscape area just north of Prague. It also boasts one of the Czech Republic’s most charming swimming pools, an Art Deco bath house built in the 1930s.

EDISON Filmhub is a new boutique cinema in the heart of Prague. It exhibits top festival films, premiers, hosts debates, discussions and talks along with a modern café. The former Edison electric company venue, a functionalist building protected by UNESCO, opened its doors to the public on June 1st. I spoke to the director of Film Europe Media Company, Ivan Hronec, about what makes EDISON Filmhub so unique and how it aims to draw visitors to the cinema in the age of Netflix and other streaming services.

Krkonoše is home to the highest mountains in the Czech Republic, with majestic peaks protruding above the alpine tree line and a unique mosaic of ecosystems in valleys formed in the ancient glacial past. Dozens of mountain trails and alpine meadows paths in the Krkonoše or Giant Mountains are now accessible also for handicapped nature-lovers and families with prams.

Gerald Turner is a leading translator of Czech literature into English and is currently preparing to take on no less a work than Jaroslav Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk. Though now mainly based in his native England, throughout the 1970s Turner lived in Prague, where he lost his enthusiasm for communism and fell in with lots of notable figures on the city’s art scene. Our tour of “his Prague” begins at the pub U Parlamentu in the Old Town.

A miniature Dead Sea – that’s what they call Kamencové jezero or Alum Lake in Chomutov. It is said to have healing powers. The alum prevents the growth of algae and the clean water contains sulphate, chloride and iron which are said to have a beneficial effect on respiratory diseases, infections, and even acne.

Czechia has 12 cities, towns and other historic sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. They are as diverse as the magnificent center of Prague and rural cottages in the village of Holašovice in the South of Bohemia. Does inclusion on the prestigious list still help local authorities to keep them preserved? And aren’t the growing crowds of tourists becoming more of a problem? Vít Pohanka looked for the answers, both in the Czech Republic and at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris.

A large piece of graffiti on Charles Bridge, which was recently sprayed on the famous structure by two German tourists, mysteriously disappeared over the weekend. Official clean-up works on Charles Bridge, which were expected to take about two weeks, got underway on Saturday morning. However, someone secretly removed the graffiti that same night.

Around 24 kilometres east of Brno lies the village of Luleč. This typical Moravian village hides a picturesque natural pool, U Libuše, which is surrounded by rocky cliffs and natural greenery.

Prague’s John Lennon wall will become more actively protected. In response to a recent practice of tourist agencies that let visitors spray paint the surface, the Sovereign Millitary Order of Malta, which owns the famous sight, has decided to press charges. A special meeting between representatives of Prague 1, the order and local residents on Tuesday agreed to a new system of administering the wall.