Czech Republic

Prague is a fairy-tale city that somehow survived centuries of war intact. Gothic spires, baroque palaces, and art nouveau facades line cobblestone streets. The beer is world-class and cheaper than water, the food is hearty and satisfying, and the Charles Bridge at dawn is one of Europe's most magical experiences.

Český Krumlov is what tourists imagine when they think 'medieval Bohemian fairytale' — a 13,000-person town of red-tile roofs and pastel-coloured facades wrapped tightly inside an oxbow loop of the Vltava River, with a 7-hectare castle complex (the second-largest in the Czech Republic after Prague Castle) climbing the opposite bank. The historic centre joined UNESCO in 1992; the castle moat famously holds bears instead of water, a quirk inherited from the Renaissance-era lords of Rožmberk. Two-and-a-half hours from Prague by direct bus, Český Krumlov is the country's most-visited town outside the capital — and it earns the visit.

Karlovy Vary is the great-grandfather of European spa towns — founded around 1349 by Charles IV (who allegedly discovered the healing thermal springs while hunting deer), peaked in the 19th century when it hosted Beethoven, Goethe, Tsar Peter the Great, and 26,000 annual guests, and still draws spa-goers to its 80+ hot springs and 16 designated drinking fountains. The Mlýnská kolonáda (Mill Colonnade) and the cast-iron Sadová kolonáda anchor the river-valley promenades, and locals carry porcelain sipping cups (lázeňský pohárek) shaped like little teapots between the fountains. The Becherovka herbal liqueur was invented here in 1807 — the unofficial '13th spring' of Karlovy Vary.