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Forget Prague – the Czech city break you should really be booking
With breweries, castles and (almost) no crowds, the Czech Republic's second city makes the perfect alternative to its capital
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Beneath Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city, there is a labyrinth. Venture underground and you will find more than half a mile of interconnected vaults and passageways dating from around the 13th century and forgotten for years, until they were excavated and opened to the public a decade ago.
Much like the labyrinth below its streets, Brno has long been hidden from the curious gaze of tourists. This is surprising, given what locals have always known about their city: it has castles to rival those of Prague, brewing traditions as ancient as any in Bohemia – and (almost) no crowds.
For although it is just a two-hour drive from the Czech Republic's capital, Prague, Brno has somehow managed to stay off the mainstream travel radar. However, all that is about to change as those in the know begin to discover it. Go now, before it hits the big time.
Moravia’s historic capital
“Prague is meant for tourists,” says Mari Stankova, a local craft-beer fanatic who works (appropriately enough) in one of Brno’s many craft breweries. “But in Brno, we don’t go with the flow. This is a small city with its own life. Everyone knows each other, and there’s just one street where we all drink at weekends. That’s what people love about Brno, and that’s just not possible in Prague.”
Brno has always been in Prague’s shadow; it is the Czech Republic's second city in almost every respect. It has the second-largest population (approximately 380,000), the second-largest land area (90 square miles), the second-largest museum (the Moravian Museum; mzm.cz), and even the second-largest library in the country.
Locals such as Stankova wouldn’t have it any other way, and Brno willingly plays second string to the Czech capital. Nevertheless, as the historical capital of Moravia, one of three traditional regions that once existed in what’s now the Czech Republic, Brno does give Prague a run for its money when it comes to historical clout.
For centuries, the Moravian nobility ruled vast tracts of land from Spilberk Castle (admission £5.70; spilberk.cz) – a 13th-century fortress on the hill that looms large over the city’s many spires – and from Veveri Castle (guided tours £6; hrad-veveri.cz), in the south Moravian countryside, overlooking Brno reservoir.
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Moravian history still inspires Brno’s identity. The Moravian eagle adorns public buildings, traditional blue-and-white Moravian dress is often seen around the city, and the Moravian dialect is proudly spoken. There’s even a Moravian independence party.
More than cabbage
Autumn in Brno is the season of burcak, a semi-fermented wine prepared from the first-pressed grapes of the harvest, and at Zelny trh, Brno’s medieval-era Cabbage Market (trhynazelnaku.cz), stalls are stacked high with bottles of it.
It’s an enduring Moravian tradition, but it’s not exactly what you’d call traditional wine. Burcak continues to ferment after it has been made, and the sugary, carbonated drink could be anywhere between five to nine per cent alcohol. The problem is, you don’t know its true strength until you’re a few bottles deep.
The “real” wine comes later in the season, and given that the south Moravian region is home to 96 per cent of the Czech Republic's wine producers, here you’re never more than an hour away from the best vineyards in the country.
But Brno is really made for beer drinkers, and the oldest brewery is almost as old as the city itself. The Starobrno Brewery was founded by Cistercian monks in 1325 AD, less than a century after Brno had been officially granted its city charter by the king of Bohemia. At the end of the Starobrno Brewery tour (£5.40pp, including tasting; heinekenceskarepublika.cz), you can pour yourself a pint the Moravian way – unfiltered, unpasteurised and with a large foamy top.
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Meanwhile, the best pubs in Brno also double up as microbreweries, producing fresh brews right next to the bar. Czechs drink an average of 30 gallons, or 245 pints, of beer per person, per year, and much of this seems to be consumed within the walls of Brno’s many cosy pubs and breweries.
At Harry’s (harry.beer), a former post office, you can drink freshly brewed beer from just £2 a pint, and at U Tomana (utomana.cz) – where you’ll pay just £1.50 for a pint – you can try light and dark beers straight from the bar’s microbrewery. Fancy a cocktail instead? Then have a go at seeking out the Bar That Does Not Exist (barkteryneexistuje.cz), where success is rewarded by an extensive list of gins.
When hunger pangs inevitably strike, head for Restaurace Spalicek (next to the Cabbage Market) – one of Brno’s oldest restaurants, where you’ll find Czech classics such as goulash, potato dumplings and fried schnitzel. Lokal (lokal-ucaipla.ambi.cz), meanwhile, might just make cabbage soup your new favourite food (yes, really), while an outdoor food market serving beer, wine and hearty Moravian favourites sets up shop in Namesti Svobody (Freedom Square) at weekends – the same square that’s home to the Brno Christmas market, which opens on November 25.
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A tale of two cities
Brno is a tale of one city above ground and another beneath. Below the Cabbage Market, Brno’s medieval labyrinth is a maze of underground vaults and chambers, once used to store beer, wine, meat and vegetables (entrance from £3.20; gotobrno.cz), a tour of which reveals stories of mysterious alchemists and illicit subterranean taverns.
Under the 13th-century Church of St James, you’ll find a chilling medieval ossuary – a place used to store remains when burial space is scarce, and the second largest in Europe. And hidden away under Spilberk Castle is Kryt 10-Z, a former Cold War bunker that’s now a museum (guided tours £6.40).
It’s a tale of two halves at ground level, too, where Brno’s beautiful medieval buildings sit alongside striking modernist architecture. “They used to call Brno the Moravian Manchester,” says Martina Pospisilova, who works for Brno’s tourism board. “After the First World War, lots of manufacturers, textile producers and designers based themselves in the city, and this led to a new style of ‘functionalist’ architecture.”
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The functionalist style puts practicality above artistry, and you’ll see this modern approach in buildings such as the Hotel Avion, Zeman Café and Villa Stiassni. The most famous example is Villa Tugendhat (40-minute tours £5.40; tugendhat.eu), a Unesco World Heritage-listed Mies van der Rohe building that’s the first example of a modernist home in Europe.
And it’s a tale of two cities in a wider sense, too. Brno isn’t just a second city to Prague, it’s also a very different one – one with its own character, identity and history, quiet and undiscovered by tourist crowds – and rare in its desire to stay that way.
“In Prague,” says Pospisilova, “the city centre is for rich Czechs and foreigners. But here in Brno, you only have local restaurants, you pay local prices and you eat and drink as the locals do. We are not focused on big crowds and tour buses – we want individuals and small groups, and not just doing sightseeing tours, but enjoying the gastronomy, the culture, and really having a good time.”
Essentials
Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from London Stansted direct to Brno from £9.99 one way. Hotel Passage (00 420 530 352100; hotelpassage.eu) offers double rooms from £129 per night, including breakfast.