6 Days in Czechia: The First-Timer Itinerary
Six days is where this stops being a Prague trip and becomes a genuine Czechia trip: two Prague days, Kutna Hora, an overnight in Cesky Krumlov, and a full day in Brno, Moravia’s capital, for the modernist villa most Prague-only visitors never even hear about. Want the Moravian wine day trip too? See our 7-day Czechia itinerary ; need less time, try the 5-day version ; or start with the Czechia travel guide for the country overview.
Book these before you go: the Sedlec Ossuary timed ticket (mandatory, sells out weeks ahead in season), a Cesky Krumlov hotel (check rates on Booking.com ), a Brno hotel for the last two nights (check rates on Booking.com ), and your Villa Tugendhat tour slot, which officially needs booking roughly two months out since tours genuinely sell out.
Day 1: Old Town, Charles Bridge, and a first Czech beer
Start at Old Town Square for the Astronomical Clock’s hourly show, then step into St. Nicholas Church before the crowds build. Cross the free, pedestrian-only Charles Bridge into Mala Strana. Dinner is a hospoda serving svickova or vepro-knedlo-zelo; a half-litre of world-class Pilsner Urquell runs CZK 60-90 in the tourist core, genuinely less than bottled water, and even less a few streets over.
Day 2: Prague Castle and the Jewish Quarter
Get to Prague Castle early, while the skyline view is still quiet, for St. Vitus Cathedral and the paid interior circuits (roughly CZK 250-450); grounds and courtyards are free without a ticket. In the afternoon, cross to Josefov, the Jewish Quarter, where a combined ticket (roughly CZK 600) covers the synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Day 3: Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary
Trains to Kutna Hora hlavni nadrazi take 41-50 minutes, roughly CZK 100-140 each way. The Sedlec Ossuary now requires that timed advance ticket (the combined Sedlec Area pass runs about CZK 220). St. Barbara’s Cathedral, a separate Gothic building in town, runs about CZK 180 standalone or CZK 360 combined with both Sedlec sites. Return to Prague by early evening.
Day 4: South to Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov is the payoff for this whole itinerary. Take the direct coach south, roughly 2h25-2h40, rather than the train, which forces a transfer at Ceske Budejovice and stretches to 3.5 hours. Spend the afternoon wandering the cobbled lanes below the castle; the courtyard, gardens, and the bear moat are free to enter. Settle in for the night and let the day-trippers clear out.
Day 5: Cesky Krumlov castle, then east to Brno
Spend the morning on the paid castle routes: Route I through the Renaissance and Baroque staterooms (~CZK 300) or the Castle Tower (~CZK 280) for the view over the river bend. In the afternoon, travel onward toward Brno rather than backtracking through Prague first; routing depends on current connections, so check the day before, since south-to-southeast rail links bypassing Prague run thinner than the Prague-hub routes. Arrive in Brno by evening and get a first look at the old town center.
Day 6: Brno, Villa Tugendhat, and Spilberk Castle
Villa Tugendhat , a Mies van der Rohe UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, runs a 60-minute guided tour at roughly CZK 500 and is the single reason architecture fans detour to Brno at all. Spilberk Castle, the hilltop fortress that dominates the skyline and once served as a Habsburg political prison, has tiered pricing from a basic museum ticket (~CZK 120) up to a guided circuit (~CZK 260). Close the trip with dinner in Brno’s old town , noticeably cheaper than the same meal in Prague, before departing.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Prague | Rough daily cost (CZK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Town, Charles Bridge, Mala Strana | 0 (in Prague) | 1,500-2,500 |
| 2 | Prague Castle, St. Vitus, Jewish Quarter | 0 (in Prague) | 1,800-3,000 |
| 3 | Kutna Hora, Sedlec Ossuary, St. Barbara’s | ~45 min by train | 1,200-1,800 |
| 4 | Travel to Cesky Krumlov, town and castle grounds | ~2.5 hrs by bus | 1,800-2,800 |
| 5 | Cesky Krumlov castle routes, travel to Brno | ~2.5 hrs bus, then onward | 1,600-2,400 |
| 6 | Villa Tugendhat, Spilberk Castle, Brno old town | ~2h36 by train from Prague | 1,400-2,200 |
Is Brno actually worth the detour, or just a consolation prize?
Worth it on its own terms, not a consolation prize for people who’ve already done Prague. Villa Tugendhat and Spilberk Castle are UNESCO-caliber and genuinely distinct from anything in Bohemia, and Moravia’s wine-and-modernist-architecture identity stands in real contrast to Prague’s beer-and-Gothic-spires one. If the trip is under a week, though, Prague plus its Bohemian day trips is still the higher-hit-rate choice; Brno is what you add once that’s covered.
How do I get from Cesky Krumlov to Brno without backtracking through all of Prague?
The practical routing runs back through Prague or via Ceske Budejovice depending on the day’s connections, since direct south-to-southeast rail links are thinner than the Prague-hub routes; check current schedules the evening before rather than assuming a fixed route. If the connection looks rough, treating Prague as a scheduled stopover rather than a detour keeps the day from feeling wasted.
Book the Villa Tugendhat tour before you book anything else on this itinerary; a two-month lead time is the official guidance, and popular dates go first.