Big List: Kvety Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful Places Still to Be Discovered in the Czech Republic

After a few years, it can seem like you’ve done all the out-of-town trips that the Czech Republic has to offer. But Kvety, the “magazine for the whole family with a TV supplement”, begs to differ, listing 50 Czech attractions they think don’t get the attention they deserve.

A couple of selections have a hint of advertorial about them, and some – the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Holasovice, for instance – are pretty well known. And perhaps inevitably, there’s a preponderance of selections out in Zeman country (Moravia and Vysocina) where delicate Praguers fear to tread.

Despite this, PraguePig.com was impressed with Kvety’s suggestions – which is why I’ve ripped their list off here.

1. The beautiful stretch of river between Kacov and Cesky Sternberk, Central Bohemia Region

2. Virsky mlynek, a waterwheel-powered puppet show in Vir-Hrda ves, Vysocina Region

3. A modern wooden church in the Hrabova neighbourhood of Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region

4. The architecturally impressive castle and chateau in Horsovsky Tyn, Plzen Region, which Kvety compares to Cesky Krumlov

5. The hilly countryside of the Litencicka pahorkatina upland, straddling the border of the South Moravia and Zlin Regions

6. First Republic military fortifications on Tok hill near Brdy, Central Bohemia Region

7. The Sealsfield viewpoint in the Podyji national park, Zlin Region

8. The castle complex in Benesov nad Ploucnici, Usti nad Labem Region

9. Kelcsky Javornik hill near Rajnochovice, Zlin Region

10. The Zamek Kratochvile chateau in Petruv dvur (near Netolice), South Bohemia Region

11. The almond farm in Hustopece, South Moravia Region

12. The remains of a “cursed” chateau in Lanskroun, Pardubice Region

13. The ROCK-IT-NICE bikepark in Rokytnice nad Jezerou, Liberec Region

14. The Propast Macocha gorge — the deepest sinkhole of its kind in Central Europe — near Vilemovice, South Moravia Region

15. Central Europe’s oldest dam in Jevisovice, South Moravia Region

16. Holasovice, UNESCO-protected traditional village in South Bohemia Region

17. The bridge over the Libusino udoli valley in Trebic, Vysocina Region

18. A museum dedicated to kroj (traditional Czech dress) in Zubri, Vysocina Region

19. The former Czechoslovak presidential residence in Namest nad Oslavou, Vysocina Region

20. The standing-stone memorial in Resice, South Moravia Region

21. The Zemeraj adrenaline park by the Orlicka prehrada reservoir, near Kovarov, South Bohemia

22. The Bila vez tower in Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove Region

23. A museum dedicated to Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz-Josef I in Terezin, Usti nad Labem Region

24. The Archdiocesan museum (Arcidiecezni museum) in Olomouc, Olomouc Region

25. The Malovany sklep (“Painted Cellar”), a wine cellar decorated with folk art in Satov, South Moravia

26. A balloon flight around Brno, South Moravia Region, taking in scenery from the 2006 film Vratne lahve (Empties)

27. The all-weather bobsleigh run in Kutna Hora, Central Bohemia

28. The beautiful Baroque-era apothecary in Klatovy, Plzen Region

29. Replicas of religious relics at Kromeriz chateau, Zlin Region

30. The historic model train exhibition in Holysov, Plzen Region

31. The Dachov outdoor swimming pool in Horice, Hradec Kralove Region

32. The “Three Musketeers” attraction at Dobris chateau, Central Bohemia Region, where large parts of the BBC TV show were filmed

33. The skanzen (outdoor heritage museum) in Vesely Kopec, near the town of Vysocina, Pardubice Region

34. A bust of cult poet/eccentric Vaclav Svoboda Plumlovsky, a possible prototype for fictional Czech hero Jara Cimrman, in Plumlov, Olomouc Region. (Plumlovsky’s ideas include a combined church/pub, sadly never realized.)

35. The huge arboretum and educational trail in Krtiny, South Moravia Region

36. The Belveder viewing point/terrace, connected to the ruined Bynovec chateau near Labska Stran, Usti nad Labem Region; part of the Ceske Svycarsko (Bohemian Switzerland) area

37. Reconstruction of an Iron Curtain-era border crossing near Nove Hrady, South Bohemia Region, which operates as an outdoor museum. Originally built by a man called Radomil Mark in Borovany near Ceske Budejovice, it was moved to Nove Hrady, on the Austrian border, in 2013. (Many websites still list it under the old Borovany location.)

38. Gorlice, a giant underground hall near Vysehrad castle in Prague 4 where six original statues from Charles Bridge are now kept

39. The Jansky Vrch chateau/former bishops’ residence in Javornik, Olomouc Region

40. The ruins of a Gothic church sacked by Hussites in Benesov, Central Bohemia Region

41. A cave containing sculptures of the Knights of Blanik near Kunstat, South Moravia Region

42. Betlemsky rybnik, a scenic swimming hole near Tepla, Karlovy Vary Region, in the Slavkovsky les forest

43. Decinsky Sneznik, the Czech Republic’s highest mesa/tableland, among the Labske piskovce (Elbe Sandstone Mountains) range, near Decin, Usti nad Labem Region

44. The monumental stables, described as a “palace for horses”, at the Lednice chateau, South Moravia Region

45. The Jordansky vodopady waterfalls near Tabor, South Bohemia Region

46. An architecturally interesting former monastery in Plasy, Plzen Region

47. Kamencove jezero, an artificial lake near Chomutov, Usti nad Labem Region, probably created when mines flooded in the late 1700s

48. Detsky skanzen Altamira, an outdoor museum for children near Kosmonosy, Central Bohemia Region

49. The unexpectedly interesting regional museum in Koprivnice, Moravian-Silesian Region, with exhibits covering Tatra trucks, legendary athletes Emil Zatopek and Dana Zatopkova, artist Zdenek Burian and modern criminology

50. The eight-kilometre-long Vate pisky (“Blowing Sands”) trail, leading through the sand dunes between Bzenec and Ratiskovice in the South Moravia Region. The trail is part of a largely wooded area that’s officially named Doubrava but which is popularly known as the “Moravska Sahara” (“Moravian Sahara”).