Six cultural excuses to visit the Czech Republic in 2024

The Czech Republic needs few excuses to be a perfect spring and summer travel destination. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Spanish tourists stay only in Prague, ignoring the rest of a country with regions as diverse as Bohemia or Moravia-Silesia, with cities of medieval imprint declared World Heritage by UNESCO - such as Telč or Český Krumlov - , and where music and art are in the historical DNA of its population. Czechia is the country of Kafka - the centenary of whose death is celebrated this year -, of Smetana, Mucha and Kundera.

Here are six cultural proposals to do in the Czech Republic in the coming months.

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1. 2024, year of Czech music

The celebration of the Year of Czech Music includes a very extensive program (can be consulted here) that offers a very accurate representation of the country's cultural diversity. Furthermore, it coincides with the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, a composer born in Litomyšl, recognized as the father of Czech music. The figure and work of the author of the opera most performed at the National Theater in Prague,

The Sold Bride

, under the name of Smetana200, will be remembered.

2. Proposals in Prague for the centenary of Kakfa's death

One of the rooms of the exhibition 'KAFKAesque', at the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in Prague.Alamy Stock Photo

In 2024 we commemorate the centenary of the death of a universal Czech, the writer Franz Kafka, an essential figure in any Prague tour. A walk through the most Kafkaesque Prague is essential: the Old-New Synagogue, the Charles Bridge, the Clementinum Library, the Old Town Hall, the Kinsky Palace - which now houses the National Gallery and was its institute -, the Savoy and Louvre cafés, as well as other proposals such as visiting the Franz Kafka museum or the

KAFKAesque exhibition

,

at the DOX Contemporary Art Center (until September 22).

3. Music festivals in Ostrava

The Dolní Vítkovice complex during the Colors of Ostrava Festival.Alamy Stock Photo

Ostrava, capital of the Moravian-Silesian region, hosts, just 10 days apart and in the same setting (Dolní Vítkovice, a former industrial complex transformed into a social and cultural center and recognized by UNESCO) two of the most famous festivals in the world. Czech summer. The first is Beats for Love, a reference in European electronic and dance music, which celebrates its 10th edition between July 3 and 6. From July 17 to 20, it will be time for the Colors of Ostrava Festival, this year with Lenny Kravitz or Queens of the Stone Age among its stars.

4. Cinema and spa in Karlovy Vary

The column of the Holy Trinity in Karlovy Vary, a spa city in the Czech Republic.tunart (Getty Images)

Recognized worldwide for the quality of its waters, Karlovy Vary is one of the cities that forms the Spa Triangle of the Czech Republic, together with Mariánské Lázně and Františkovy Lázně. In the first city it is easy to feel part of the aristocratic elite of the 19th century in exclusive hotels such as the Grandhotel Pupp or the Imperial. As a summer cultural extra and complement to its thermal waters, the Karlovy Vary film festival, which takes place from June 28 to July 6.

5. Bohemian nature from an 'art nouveau' villa

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A post shared by Vila Čapek (@vila_capek)

With the Czech Paradise Geopark (Český ráj), in Central Bohemia, just half an hour by car from the Vila Čapek hotel, this travel proposal to the municipality of Branžež is a perfect plan for a romantic or family getaway. Vila Čapek, built in

art nouveau

style at the end of the 19th century by the architect after whom it is named, won the Amazing Places award in 2022 and has a tough history: in World War II it became a center for the Hitler Youth.

6. Sleep in a beer factory

In Pilsen, where a world-famous beer has been brewed since the 18th century – the city, in fact, gives its name to the pilsener-style beers – there is a factory that is also a hotel and restaurant and has a

spa

and bowling alley. It's called Purkmistr. In addition to tasting beer and learning about its production, you can visit St. Bartholomew's Cathedral, the Great Synagogue, the golden fountains of Ondřej Císler, the interiors designed by architect Adolf Loos, the Puppet Museum and the DEPO2015 cultural center, among others. .

You can also follow Paco Nadal on Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X. And listen to him every Friday, at 7:00 p.m., with Carles Francino on

La Ventana,

on Cadena SER.

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