Hi everybody, originaly I am from The Czech Republic, but now I have been living in Canada for 20 years. I could recommend to you very nice area, where I lived before I came to Canada. It is about 100 km northward from Prague. It is Bohemian Pradise (Cesky Raj). Here is one of many web pages. http://001yourtranslationservice.com/tr ... adise.html
Thank you for that link.. Actually, I am not thinking to go out of Prague. I am going next Feb with my wife and 18 month girl. I think walking there will be difficult with the girl.
I live near the Bohemian Paradise. It's really beutiful. If you in this area, you have to visit Jičín! It's one of the prettiest Czech towns ever. There is a beutiful square with a huge church, a chateau, one boulevard with historical buildings...I'm really glad I live in this city. There are some Dutch, German, Polish and Slovak tourists, but all those Japaneses and Americans, who are in Prague and Český Krumlov, could also visit it! And there is a lot of good pubs!
Thanks, Zik. We were in Český raj this summer and did a 17km walk which I think is the furthest I've ever walked in my life! But it was really good and we will certainly go again next summer. We will make sure we get to Jičín. We don't have a car though so will we be able to get there by train/bus?
Yes, of course, it's possible. There live about 17 000 people in Jičín, so there is a bus stop and a railway station (direction Prague - Turnov). Where do you want to go to Jičín from? From Prague, about 20 buses go to Jičín everyday. It takes about two hours. I personally prefer the train - if you go from Prague, you have to change at Nymburk. It takes a little bit more time, but it's more comfortable. And you know it, in Prague, there are sometimes blocks, because the Prague orbital is still under construction. The old trains were horrible, but in last 5 years, it got much better. There are usually new trains, Czech made and quite luxury. Two months ago, I have been to the UK and I went by a train from Warwick to Stratford-upon-Avon. The quality of the British train was equal as the quality of these new Czech trains... :wink: You probably know this page, but anyway, I will give you the refer - all timetables you can get on IDOS. The page is avalaible in English. By the way, both the bus stop and railway station in Jičín are nothing special. It's about to be recontructed soon. It's not very important, you quicky leave it, but I just say you not be disgusted of them... :lol:
Hi, is it easy to get there for non-czech speakers. I did try to go to the train station to go to Kalovyvary but they did not understand me in that time. also for bus... I was in Brashcov valdik for 2 weeks. the bus time table were in Czechs only. I was in bad mod most of the time bcoz of that.
Polednikova: I'm sure you will like this town. Oh, I forgot to tell you a quite important information. The best time for visiting Jičín is in September, because there is a famous festival Jičín - město pohádky (Jičín - the town of the fairy tales). The date for the next year is not known yet. Jičín is known for the writer and painter Václav Čtvrtek, who lived hire. His knownest character is Rumcajs, a shoemaker in Jičín, who became a bandit, because the aristocracy closed his shop. But you know Czech fairy tales, they are not violent - and this one is typical for the Czech sense of humour. The strip cartoon was quite popular in Germany. During this festival, there are historical workshops, knights, fairy tales characters, trade fairs, playground for the childern, centrifuges and other adrenaline attractions near the town centre. The last day, there are beutiful fire-works. A lot of people from whole Czech Republic and also from foreign countries come to see it. eyesmax: Well, as far I know, in Prague, the shop assitents who sell tickets, speak English. But in smaller cities and towns, they sometimes don't. In Karlovy Vary, maybe you could be more succesful with German. Older Czechs sometimes don't speak English, because this language was quite forbidden. The middle generation speak Russian, the older people German (it's the picture of our tragical history in the 2nd half of the 20th century). If they will not understand, just say „Jičín“ [Yihcheen]. If they will still not understand, try to ask some people in the railway station to be an interpreter. Quite all young Czech speak English. Well, the time tables are only in Czech, it's truth, I think it's in all countries, isn't it? Anyway, it's just important to learn some basical symbols, like „The train doesn't go in Sunday“. Unfortunately, I can't find some page with these symbols, but as I told, you still can ask other passangers. You can also call to the Czech Railway's information link - +420 840 112 113. I'm not sure, but I think they should be able to speak English. And the best thing is to find the time tables on-line, on IDOS, it's in English (click on the British flag on right). If you don't own a notebook, you can find some internet café or a public library with public internet conection (libraries are cheaper). I don't use „classical“ timetables yet... :wink:
