Forget Prague — Czechia Has €1 Beer and Underground Rivers

Two hours from Prague, Czechia opens into a completely different country — and almost nobody from outside the Czech Republic ever visits. This is Moravia: the eastern half of Czechia, where underground rivers run beneath limestone hills, Renaissance squares glow in pastel pinks and mint greens, and family wine cellars open their doors when you knock. With Czechia hosting matches in the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup conversation and travel interest spiking, this is the side of the country most itineraries miss entirely. Ten stops across Moravia, from its underrated capital Brno to the wine villages near the Austrian border. What's covered: • Brno — Špilberk Castle, the ossuary beneath St. James (Europe's second largest after Paris), and €1.50 half-liter beers at the Cabbage Market • The Moravian Karst and Punkva Caves — float by boat through flooded cave passages to the base of the 138-meter Macocha Abyss • Olomouc — the UNESCO Holy Trinity Column, a communist-era astronomical clock with workers instead of saints, and Tvarůžky cheese • Kroměříž — the Archbishop's Palace and its perfectly geometric baroque Flower Garden • Telč — a UNESCO Renaissance square reflected in fish ponds • Mikulov and the Pálava Hills — Czech wine country, hilltop château, and tastings from €5 • Lednice-Valtice — a 700-year Liechtenstein estate with two châteaux and Europe's tallest non-Islamic minaret • Petrov and Plže — hillside wine cellars where you knock on the door and someone pours you a glass • Znojmo — 27 kilometers of medieval tunnels, 11th-century Romanesque frescoes, and Podyjí National Park Best visited May through October. A week gives you a proper loop. A car unlocks the wine villages; trains handle the cities easily. #Czechia #Moravia #CzechRepublic #PragueAlternative #EuropeTravel 0:00 Brno — Czechia's Second City 4:33 Olomouc — UNESCO Square and Stinky Cheese 6:15 Kroměříž — Baroque Palace and Flower Garden 7:11 Telč — Pastel Renaissance Square 8:26 Mikulov & the Pálava Hills 12:05 Lednice-Valtice & the Wine Cellars of Petrov 14:09 Znojmo & Podyjí National Park