In college I wanted to study abroad in Prague. I’m not sure where I got the idea, I didn’t know much of Prague’s history, I think it was because I’d heard there was a lot of art/culture in Prague? More likely I probably thought Prague was cool. Well I failed stupendously when I tried to get a Czech visa and ended up switching to Salzburg, Austria last minute. And I loved Salzburg, but there is something about Prague that still entices me.
I knew H would love Prague and it was quickly added to our Europe road trip itinerary. With a little help from—dare I say, chat gpt—we found some other Czechia stops. Reader are you familiar with Bohemian Switzerland? I was not, but what a beautiful place it is.
From Bohemian Switzerland we crossed back into Germany to do a day hike up to the Bastei Bridge (Saxon Switzerland) before heading to Prague. (I am getting more and more obsessed with a cold beer mid-hike. We spoke to a German about this and he believes that the US not offering beers at the top of mountains is criminal.)
We made our way to Prague that night, setting up camp in Praha 7 and taking the metro into the downtown. Prague is magical. We spent a few days doing free walking tours, drinking beer, eating kebabs, and taking so many damn photos. Prague wasn’t *really* bombed during WWII. I say not really because while other cities were pummeled, Prague wasn’t and you can tell by the views.
From Prague we drove to Cesky Krumlov, an ancient castle with a still active bear moat. We pulled into our campsite and found that we were the only non high schoolers camping there. There was some type of outdoor rafting camp set up. It was a bit overwhelming at first with hundreds of high school kids running around, drinking booze, singing songs at their campfires, and vaping, but they pretty much kept to themselves. The next day we spent exploring the ancient city before heading to Salzburg.
Did you know the Czech Republic surpasses every other country for the most beer drunk every year? We didn’t!