16 historic sites
Castles in Czech Republic
Bohemia and Moravia contain one of Europe's densest concentrations of castles per square kilometre. Prague Castle — the world's largest ancient castle complex — anchors a country where Gothic towers and Baroque palaces seem to appear around every bend in the river.
czech republic · Prague
Vyšehrad
The rocky promontory where Czech myth and Czech history converge above the Vltava
czech republic · Central Bohemia
Konopiště Castle
The last home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand — a castle whose history ignited the First World War
czech republic · South Moravian Region (Jihomoravský kraj)
Valtice Chateau
The Habsburg Baroque palace at the heart of Europe's largest designed landscape — Valtice Chateau was the Liechtenstein family's primary seat, Fischer von Erlach's masterwork, and now houses the National Wine Salon of the Czech Republic in its UNESCO-protected cellars
czech republic · South Moravia
Lednice Castle
A UNESCO fairytale — a Neo-Gothic palace in the most designed landscape in Central Europe
czech republic · South Bohemia
Hluboká Castle
Bohemia's Windsor — a gleaming white Neo-Gothic castle rising above the Vltava valley
czech republic · Central Bohemia
Nelahozeves Castle
Beethoven manuscripts, Bruegel paintings, and Dvořák's birthplace — Nelahozeves combines the Lobkowicz family's extraordinary art and music patronage with the composer's childhood home in a single small Bohemian village on the Vltava
czech republic · Central Bohemia
Kokořín Castle
A Romantic Gothic keep above a sandstone labyrinth — Kokořín Castle was restored from ruin in the early 20th century and now commands the most dramatic landscape in Central Bohemia, with a 12-hour hiking tour through the canyon-like sandstone valleys below
czech republic · Moravian-Silesian Region
Silesian Ostrava Castle
The castle that marked the border between Silesia and Moravia — a 13th-century fortress at the confluence of two rivers, pulled back from industrial-era ruin by a major restoration, and best understood alongside Ostrava's extraordinary industrial heritage
czech republic · Bohemia
Prague Castle
The world's largest ancient castle complex, rising above a thousand years of Czech history
czech republic · South Bohemia — Červená Lhota, Jindřichův Hradec District, 10km from Jindřichův Hradec
Červená Lhota Castle
A red Renaissance castle on a rock island — South Bohemia's most photographed water castle, unchanged since the 16th century
czech republic · Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj), Hradec Králové Region — Podkost, near Sobotka, ~90km northeast of Prague
Kost Castle
A Gothic castle hidden among three valleys, never conquered, rising above the sandstone rock formations of Bohemian Paradise
czech republic · Central Bohemia, Křivoklátsko forests, 50km west of Prague
Křivoklát Castle
The Bohemian kings' favorite hunting castle for four centuries — the Gothic chapel Vladislaus Jagiellon built here rivals anything in Prague, 50km away
czech republic · Karlovy Vary Region / West Bohemia
Loket Castle
The elbow castle — James Bond's Montenegro and Goethe's favourite fortress in a perfect river loop
czech republic · South Moravia
Špilberk Castle
Brno's hilltop castle and prison — the former seat of the Moravian margraves, later the most feared Habsburg military prison in Central Europe, now the city museum with panoramic views across Moravia
czech republic · South Bohemia
Český Krumlov Castle
A medieval fairy-tale town and castle looped by a river — Bohemia's best-kept secret
czech republic · Central Bohemia
Karlštejn Castle
The Gothic crown jewel of Bohemia — built by Emperor Charles IV to guard the Holy Roman regalia