Our second full day in Prague was actually spent outside the city. We got up and took the tram to the main train station and bought tickets to Karlstejn. Karlstejn is home to the castle built by Charles IV to house the coronation jewelry and other valuable items. The trip by train was about 40 minutes and was nice. We arrived at 8:30 a.m. and then took about 30 minutes to walk up the hill to the castle. We bought tickets for a tour - the only way to see the castle itself - and had to wait for about an hour until 10:10 to go on the tour.
The tour through the castle was in English and we were in a group with about 6 other people. Our tour guide was a cute lady who sometime stumbled for words, but who was very nice. The castle had been built in the 14th century, updated during the Renaissance, and then restored in the late 19th century. The castle itself is a really impressive building and consists of a few different wings. The main tower where the jewels were kept had walls that ranged from 2-6 meters thick.
We really enjoyed the tour and the views. Karlstejn is located in a beautiful canyon that rises up from a mountain river valley. The views from the castle were amazing, as were the views of the castle. The end of the tour had replicas of the crown jewels and other items and that was pretty impressive to see.
When we finished with our tour, we walked down toward the station and stopped at one of the many restaurants in the town on the way. We had delicious Czech food - Shnitzel and potato dumplings - for a pretty reasonable price. After lunch we walked back down to the train station and only had to wait for a little while before loading up and heading back to town.
We went back to the apartments and rested for awhile before going out for dinner in the evening. We ate at an Asian fusion place not too far from our apartment that had nice food and nice portions. The day was a lot of hiking, but beautiful. We were glad to have made the trip out to the castle.
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| Crossing the river from the train station. |
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| Stairs up to the town after the bridge. |
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| Looking up to the castle from the base of the village. |
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| Here we go, up the hill. |
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| The full castle coming into view. |
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| Hundreds of these moths were flying around. |
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| Stopping for a rest before hitting the big climb up. |
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| View from the castle. |
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| The village and river valley viewed from the castle. |
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| The courtyard. Waiting for our tour to begin. |
The tour through the castle was in English and we were in a group with about 6 other people. Our tour guide was a cute lady who sometime stumbled for words, but who was very nice. The castle had been built in the 14th century, updated during the Renaissance, and then restored in the late 19th century. The castle itself is a really impressive building and consists of a few different wings. The main tower where the jewels were kept had walls that ranged from 2-6 meters thick.
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| Inside the castle. Map of ancient Holy Roman Empire. |
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| Charles IV |
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| Room where knights waited. The cabinets were their armor storage areas. |
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| Chests to store valuables. The lock on the first one is originally from 16th century. |
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| Charles carved this sculpture as therapy for his hand. |
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| Fireplace. |
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| Guard room. |
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| King's bed. |
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| Throne. Positioned so he was in the shadows, but could see everyone's faces and reactions. |
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| Original wood in throne room (lighter) and restored (darker) |
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| Dining Room. |
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| Treasure replicas. Crocodile skull believed to be skull of dragon slain by St. George. |
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| Replica of crown and crown jewels. |
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| Moving through the castle grounds. |
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| Bell room. |
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| Castle Well |
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| Looking down the well - around 80 meters deep. |
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| Our castle crew, outside the well tower. |
We really enjoyed the tour and the views. Karlstejn is located in a beautiful canyon that rises up from a mountain river valley. The views from the castle were amazing, as were the views of the castle. The end of the tour had replicas of the crown jewels and other items and that was pretty impressive to see.
When we finished with our tour, we walked down toward the station and stopped at one of the many restaurants in the town on the way. We had delicious Czech food - Shnitzel and potato dumplings - for a pretty reasonable price. After lunch we walked back down to the train station and only had to wait for a little while before loading up and heading back to town.
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| Eating lunch |
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| Traveling by train. |
We went back to the apartments and rested for awhile before going out for dinner in the evening. We ate at an Asian fusion place not too far from our apartment that had nice food and nice portions. The day was a lot of hiking, but beautiful. We were glad to have made the trip out to the castle.
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