Czech Republic
Prague is the reason most people come and Moravia is why they stay longer — spa towns, sandstone gorges, UNESCO villages and the town where pilsner was invented.
Bohemia, Moravia
and rather more than Prague
Almost every first trip is a Prague trip, and Prague earns it — a city that came through the twentieth century with its medieval and baroque core intact, so the Old Town, the castle above the river and the bridges between them are the real thing rather than a reconstruction. What surprises people is how quickly the country changes once you leave.
Bohemia, the western half, holds the spa towns of Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně, the sandstone arches of Bohemian Switzerland, and Plzeň, where pilsner lager was invented in 1842 and where nearly all the world's pale beer descends from. South of Prague, Český Krumlov folds itself into a bend of the Vltava around a castle with its own baroque theatre.
Moravia, the eastern half, is a different country in temperament: wine instead of beer, Brno's modernist architecture instead of Prague's baroque, limestone caves, and Olomouc's enormous historic centre with barely a tour group in it. For Indian travellers the Czech Republic is one of Europe's better-value countries and one of its easiest to move around — the trains are good, the distances are short, and nothing is far from Prague.
When is your Czech Republic?
This is a continental climate — properly cold winters, warm summers, and two shoulder seasons that are the best of both. Prague has no off-season any more, so the question is less about weather than about how many people you are willing to share the Charles Bridge with.
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Czech visa — what you need to know
The Czech Republic is in the Schengen area, so Indian passport holders travel on a Schengen visa. The Czech Embassy in New Delhi publishes two rules that catch Indian applicants out more than any other: how appointments are released, and whose travel insurance it will accept.
The Embassy states that a Schengen visa allows a stay of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period, and that applicants legally residing in India apply at any VFS Global visa application centre. The New Delhi mission covers India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Only special cases — diplomatic and service passport holders, and family members of EU citizens — may lodge directly at the Embassy, and then only by prior appointment.
This is specific to the Czech Republic and worth diarising: the Embassy states that new appointment slots are released every second Monday of a month, for appointments in the following month. Applications may be submitted from six months before the trip and no later than 15 days before it — and because the application must reach the Embassy 15 days ahead, the Embassy strongly recommends applying at least three weeks before departure.
The most common avoidable refusal. The Embassy accepts travel medical insurance only from insurers on a published approved list of Indian companies, and states plainly that other travel medical insurances issued by Indian insurance companies are not accepted for the Schengen visa procedure. The same list is applied across the Schengen states. Minimum cover is €30,000, valid throughout the Schengen area for the whole stay, including repatriation, urgent treatment, hospitalisation and death. Check your insurer against the current list before you buy the policy, not after.
The Embassy states a short-term Schengen visa normally takes up to 15 calendar days, extendable to a maximum of 45 calendar days in individual cases where further scrutiny is needed. The fee is published as €90, and €45 for a child aged from six and below twelve, with the Embassy noting that its rupee equivalents are updated every month according to the current exchange rate. Final visa decisions remain with the relevant authorities.
For all Czech Republic journeys we design, we prepare your complete visa documentation package — the forms, the supporting documents, the sequence of submission. Our visa specialists help travellers prepare complete applications with careful document guidance. Final visa decisions always remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel the Czech Republic intelligently
Two things make a Czech trip smoother than most people manage: getting out of Prague for at least two nights, and handling money properly.
Czech travel FAQ
The questions Indian travellers ask most often before booking the Czech Republic.
A country for every
kind of traveller
The country is small enough that almost everything is within a few hours of Prague, which makes it unusually easy to combine a city with something completely different.
The Old Town Square and astronomical clock, Charles Bridge, the castle and St Vitus above the river, Josefov's synagogues, and Vyšehrad for the view without the crowd.
Český Krumlov in its river bend, Kutná Hora's St Barbara's Cathedral and Sedlec ossuary, and the UNESCO village of Holašovice.
Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně — colonnades, mineral springs and grand nineteenth-century hotels, part of the UNESCO Great Spa Towns of Europe.
The eastern half: Brno's functionalist Villa Tugendhat, Olomouc's vast historic centre, the Lednice-Valtice landscape and the vineyards around Mikulov.
Plzeň, where pilsner lager was created in 1842, České Budějovice, and the hospoda tradition that makes a Czech pub a dining room rather than a bar.
Bohemian Switzerland's sandstone towers and the Pravčická brána arch in the north, and the Moravian Karst caves with their underground river in the east.
Prague and Český Krumlov out of season, with a spa town or Moravian wine village in between — grand and quiet rather than beachy.
Castles, caves, trams and a compact capital make this an easy country with children, and short journeys keep travel days painless.
Prague's Old Town and Wenceslas Square markets, plus quieter ones in Brno and Olomouc, running through December.
Tell us how long you have and whether you want city, countryside, spa or wine, and our travel designers will shape the route around it.
How far in advance
should you book?
The Czech timeline is set by two things: a visa appointment system that releases slots monthly, and a December market season that fills months out.
Choose an insurer from the Embassy's approved list before buying, because the wrong policy means a refused application.
New VFS slots appear on the second Monday of each month for the month after. Plan around that date rather than around your flights.
From six months ahead. The Embassy's own recommendation is at least three weeks, and the fifteen-day close is a deadline rather than a target. Allow for 45 days in an awkward case.
Prague first, then whichever second region you have chosen — Bohemia, Moravia or the spa towns.
What to pack
for the Czech Republic
A continental climate and a great deal of cobblestone. Pack for the season properly — the winters are cold in a way a mild European winter is not.
Comfortable shoes matter more here than almost anywhere in Europe. Prague, Krumlov and Olomouc are all cobbled, and you will walk further than you plan to.