Travel | Topic Archive

The human resource consulting firm Mercer released the results of its annual World Cost of Living Survey this week. Covering 143 cities across six continents, it measures the cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The comprehensive study ranks Moscow as the most expensive city. Compared to last year, Bratislava jumped from 48th to 31st. To find out more about the survey and how Prague fared, I spoke to Mercer's Jana Kurtinova:

The picturesque town of Prostejov lies in Moravia's Hana region, near the town of Olomouc. Sitting on a key trade route connecting Europe's south with Europe's north, Prostejov has become an important centre of culture, trade, and industry. In a past edition of Spotlight, we took a tour of the town's National Theatre House; today, we find out more about Prostejov's history and take a brief look at some of the other places that are worth a visit.

434.2186 is the number of a famous historic locomotive that has appeared in countless Czech films including "Pani Kluci" about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, a favourite among children and adults. Last Saturday visitors to Prague's Main Station were able to see the jet-black steam engine prepare for a rare but much anticipated journey along part of one of the most picturesque routes in the Czech Republic.

As the summer approaches many Czechs have begun planning their holidays, and those keen on travelling abroad couldn't choose a better time than now. The weakening US dollar, dropping tour prices, and above all higher spending power have all had an impact. In short, many vacations abroad for Czechs have never been cheaper.

In this week's Spotlight we will travel to the small town of Stara Boleslav just northeast of Prague. According to legend, it was in this town that the Premyslid Prince Wenceslas, later St Wenceslas, was slain by his own brother Boleslav in the 10th century.

The Bata Canal is a man-made waterway that runs through South Moravia. Surrounded by numerous historical sites and a beautiful landscape, tens of thousands of tourists take a ride down the canal every year. But this year, it is expected to attract many more visitors as, for the first time in over a decade, they are able to travel into neighbouring Slovakia without facing a fine.

In Spotlight this week, we go to Vyskov, a town of 23,000 inhabitants, which lies about half an hour's drive from the Moravian capital of Brno. The first written reference to Vyskov dates back to 1141, where its name appears on an ecclesiastical document. By the thirteenth century, Vyskov was listed as part of the property of the Bishop of Olomouc and it was prosperous enough to be considered one of the bishopric's most important towns by the fourteenth century.

Welcome to Prague Airport located just east of the capital. All it takes is a thirty-minute metro and bus ride from the centre of Prague to get to a place which connects the Czech capital with the rest of the world. Where there were fields just a few decades ago, you get off the bus in the middle of a steel and glass airport city. It's hard to believe that the history of the Prague airport goes back seventy years.

Without question the town of Kutna Hora in central Bohemia is a must-see destination for anyone visiting the Czech Republic, a town with a long and fascinating history. In the 13th and 14th centuries the site became increasingly famous for silver deposits, which attracted miners and eventually accounted for as much as a third of all the silver production in Europe.

Holesovice market is the largest in Prague and attracts 12 million visitors a year. Fruit and vegetable stalls are perhaps its biggest draw, though it also features some regular shops, and lots of Vietnamese stalls, selling everything from knuckledusters to fake designer clothing. Now its operators are working hard to modernize the market and clean up its image. They have even given it a new name: River Town Prague.