Cesky Krumlov

The old town of Cesky Krumlov is a UNESCO listed world heritage site. It seems to have remained intact from the middle ages, avoiding attack from past wars that impacted many of the large European centers. Reaching the town in winter from Austria is a son of a

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$!+€# We had to take a train first to Linz. Expensive but no problem. We got there around noon. From there a flyer in our hostel advertised daily shuttles to the town for cheap. Two thirty came around but the shuttle did not. The only train would get us there (100km) by 8pm and we couldn't find any info on buses. We spent two hours searching on line and calling shuttle companies. We were ready to give up when we got a hold of one company that agreed to come pick us up for the price of three passengers in order to cover their costs. It was slightly more than the train but got us there several hours earlier.

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We picked a great little hostel that had a low key, laid back atmosphere. There were about 12 other people there so we were able to get to know most of them. The price was dirt cheap, 15 cdn per night and probably one of the best sleeps yet. The beds weren't bunk beds and they were huge, almost doubles!!

Staying there was a chance to see a cute little town while also getting some much needed down time. We went for a hike on the first day and ended up in the middle of nowhere, seriously. We took the wrong way back and ended up in a forest that was being harvested. We did find our way back by find the color marked hiking trails. The town had a huge castle that we could walk through the grounds of, but the interior was closed for the season. A family of bears live in the drained castle moat. Apparently bears have been there since the 17th century. It's pretty sad because the area is small. We also saw what we thought was wild weasel one night. The hostel staff said Pine Martins have been seen in the area but none of them had seen it. We had some amazing meals here also. One restaurant served an enormous supper for about 7€. We got a platter with a bunch of different Czech specialities (beef, pork, veal and lamb). We were just stuffed after eating and had to retire for the night and watched some czech films.

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This town would be great in the summer. Tons of outdoor activities including tubing. A river winds through the town and there are sectionswith wicked rapids. We were told bars are set up along the water to grab a beer as you go. Oh the beer! Czechs are well known for their beer. The land of pilsner and budweiser. Both of which are much better than our varieties back home. In the bars you can buy 500 ml bottles for around 1.5 cdn!! We love the Czech Republic already. We ended staying a few extra nights and would definelty return (in the summer).

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