Programme B

8 DAYS

Programme:

Day 1.   Arrival in Prague
During the transfer from the airport to your hotel you will have a familiarisation panoramic tour in your bus. Within about one hour of your arrival you will be served lunch at your hotel, nevertheless there will be sufficient time for settling in and a bit of a rest. During most of the remaining time on your first day you will be shown the centre of Prague namely Staré Město (the old town) and Karlův most (Charles bridge) and go on to a boat trip to the island Kampa, which has been arranged to take place between 6 and 7 p.m.
After the boat trip we take a walk through Malá Strana (literally translated as "Small Side" which is the oldest part of Prague) to Malostranské náměstí (square) where we will have dinner at a wine bar U tří zlatých hvězd (at the three golden stars) for 20 US dollars per person. Back to sleep at the hotel.

Day 2.   Whole day tour of Hradčany (Prague castle) and environs
We will first tour the castle and then Malá Strana (Small Side), taking a break for lunch at the public house U sv. Tomáše (at St. Thomases). Dinner is back at the hotel, after which we will arrange, if you wish, for you to go to a performance of your choice.

Day 3.   A day long tour of Staré Město and completion of the tour of Hradčany
Inspection of Staré Město and Židovské Město (the Old town and Jewish quarter), lunch is at the historic restaurant U černého slunce (at the black sun). The afternoon will be used to complete the inspection of Hradčany castle, which includes the Loreto (a treasury containing the famous monstrance "Prague sun") and Strahovská knihovna (library - containing an exceptionally beautiful hall). Dinner is at the hotel, which is followed by an optional coach tour of Prague by night including the Křižíkova fontána (fountain).

Day 4.   Trip to Telč and environs
In the early hours we will depart to Telč circa 7.30 a.m. En route we will stop at Zelená Hora (green mountain), recently added to the UNESCO listing of world heritages, which is primarily noted for the best baroque Gothic work of Santini Aichel. We will then inspect the square and castle of Telč. Our last stop is at Třeboň to see its main square, the court yard of the castle and the church of sv. Jiljí (St. Jiljí) and its paradisiacal court. We then drive to České Budějovice where we stay overnight in the hotel Zvon (bell) and have dinner there.

Day 5.   Český Krumlov and nearby towns
After breakfast we drive to Český Krumlov where we will inspect the castle in detail, we will follow the two tourist routes, walk through the gardens and its centre. Then we will see the regional museum, the Egon Schield centre and have lunch.
We then travel on to Vyšší Brod. On the return route we may stop at hrad Rožmberk nad Vltavou (castle Rožmberk over the river Vltava), depending on the time available and period of the year. We continue by travelling along a very romantic route by the side of the Šumava mountains and then through this mountain range itself. The route then runs alongside the river Vltava and the artificial Lipenská lake. We return through Český Krumlov to České Budějovice. If there is time we stop off for an inspection of the klášter Zlaté Koruny (cloisters of the golden crown). Dinner and overnight stay in České Budějovice.

Day 6.   České Budějovice to Tábor
We take a short sightseeing tour of České Budějovice and then travel to Hluboká where we make a thorough inspection of the castle by both tourist routes and see the Alšova gallery, which has the second richest collection of Czech gothic art after the klášter of sv. Jiří (the cloisters of St. George). We have our lunch at the castle.
This tour then takes us through the picturesque countryside of Southern Bohemia to the romantic water castle Červená Lhota. We finally arrive in Tábor where we will stay at the hotel Palcát and take a walk through the town, after which we have dinner.

Day 7.   From Tábor to Konopiště castle and Kutná Hora
Before leaving Tábor we inspect its Hussite museum. We then leave for Konopiště castle in which we follow both tours and have our lunch there. We drive on to Kutná Hora, which was the second regal city after Prague, during the middle ages. This city is also in the UNESCO heritage listing. After inspecting it we return to Prague and stay at our hotel where we have dinner.

Day 8.   Last day
Depending on your flight schedules we can offer you various extra outings. The art and architecture of the twentieth century and/or the gallery of European and Czech art. Lunch time is free. Transfers to the airport.

Number of participants minimum 21, maximum 33.