Czech Republic Beer & Walking Vacation

“My expectations were far exceeded.  I was shocked at some of the connections for events that were made for us.” – 2023 Taste Vacations Beer Tour Participant

Join us on this exclusive moderately active Czech Republic Beer Vacation. With amazing beer, welcoming brewers, an intriguing culture, enchanting towns, and the modern fantasy land of Prague, the Czech Republic has everything a beer lover could want. We combine this with daily walks and are led by two local beer industry experts for an outstanding inside look into what is so amazing about Czech Republic Breweries and Beer. (Please note: Because this tour is active, we are co-branding it with our Zephyr Adventures sister company.)

Czech Republic Breweries

There are so many facts that make the Czech Republic one of the leading beer destinations in the world.

• Birthplace of the first pilsner beer, Pilsner Urquell
• Home to the original Budweiser
• More than 400 Czech breweries, most of them small craft breweries
• Highest consumption of beer per capita in the world
• Producer of Moravian barley and Žatec (Saaz) hops
• A pint of beer at a brewery is less than $3

We will visit 14 breweries on this seven-day tour. We will tour a hop farm and hop research institute. Meet with brewers from both the most famous Czech breweries and small family-owned ones. You will even have the opportunity to enjoy a beer spa!

Walking Through Czech Towns

Most of our walking takes place within Prague and other smaller cities or towns. Prague is a magical city with such famous sights as Prague Castle and the medieval Charles Bridge. We do city walks combining historical sights and breweries on multiple days. We also walk through the smaller cities of České Budějovice (home to Budvar) and Pilsen (home to Pilsner Urquell). We take a cable car up the small mountain Kleť and walk down through forested paths on one day and take a walk through hop fields on another. You will have time on your own in Český Krumlov, one of the most beautiful cities in Prague and on the UNESCO World Heritage list for retaining its original layout since the Middle Ages. We walk from three to eight kilometers each day (two to five miles), so this is a tour that is accessible to most people but not suited for those looking for a strenuous workout.

Czech Cuisine

The Czech Republic is famous for its beer and rightly so. But it seems every restaurant in the country proudly features traditional Czech food dishes as well, most of which seem to pair perfectly with the local lager. Soups, including goulash, are a common starter paired with the traditional sourdough chléb (bread). Main courses in restaurants are often meat based, with beef and pork both popular, and served with side dishes such as dumplings. Vegetarians will find one or two dishes in every restaurant from which to choose: popular ones include salads, mushroom dishes, and homemade noodles.

Main photo courtesy of Pilsner Urquell

Czech Republic Beer Vacation Details

• Private Tour: Choose Your Own Dates
• Trip Price Per Person: $4,100
• Single Supplement: $700
• Guide: Yannick de Cocquéau & Local Guides
• Minimum for Private Tour: 6 people
• Meals:  All breakfasts, two lunches, and five dinners are included. Most lunches are specifically left on your own on this tour to give you the freedom to wander through the many towns we visit.
• General Tour FAQs

Plan Your Private Tour

PRIVATE TOUR BOOKINGS

• Private Tours are available to book with your own group on any date you choose, given guide and lodging availability
• Please note –  Our pricing is based on double occupancy lodging. If upon finalizing your private trip, your group has a solo traveler in a room without a roommate, the single supplement becomes mandatory. This amount will differ depending on the itinerary. Please contact our tour operations team for specifics
• Customizations to the itinerary are possible with additional per person fees

Have Questions? Request a Free Consultation

Please Note: We may need to adjust our itinerary to accommodate local changes and availability. We promise to find equal or better experiences if needed.

“I felt the trip was well coordinated and provided the travelers with a wonderful and enlightening experience in one of the world’s best known beer destinations. .” -2023 Taste Vacations Beer Tour Participant

Day 1: Prague Overview

Meeting at 2:00 at our hotel centered in Prague’s old town, we depart for a walking tour of the Old Town, Jewish Quarter, and Charles Bridge. We’ll stop into Pivovar U Fleků, one of the most famous breweries in the country and in continuous operation for over 500 years, for a tour and tasting. Then it is on to the medieval underground brewery of U Kunštátů.

After our walk, we’ll head back to our hotel, the U Medvídků Brewery Hotel, for a short rest followed by dinner in the brewery restaurant.

Day 2: Prague Highlights

Breakfast at the hotel under our belts, we’ll do as the locals do and take the Prague tram system (tram 22 for us) to Prague Castle, one of the most famous landmarks in the city. After our visit and tour, we’ll walk to Petrin Tower, perched on a hill with an excellent view over Prague, before continuing on to Lesser Town, a district of Prague founded in the year 1257, where you will have time to explore and eat lunch on your own.

In the afternoon, we continue on Tram 22 to Břevnov Monastery, which has its own brewery. We’ll take a tour with the brewmaster, learning about their lambic beers, and then sit down in the Klášterní šenk monastery restaurant for a beer, perhaps in the company of monks enjoying the fruits of their labors – in silence.

We return to our hotel for some downtime before reconvening for a walk to dinner at Restaurace Červený Jelen (Red Stag Restaurant).

Day 3: Budvar

Morning is a good time to travel and we we depart after breakfast Prague for the South Bohemia region of the Czech Republic, which borders Austria and Bavaria in Germany. Our first stop is Pivovar Obora, a relatively young brewery that prides itself on sustainability. Farmer Martin Novák founded the brewery by growing his own hops and barley; powering the brewery on biomass (cow dung); and using the brewing by-products to feed those same cattle.

After our tour and tasting it is on to České Budějovice, home to the famous Budvar brewery. We’ll first eat lunch in the Budvarka Budvar Pivnice or brasserie. Then it is off to a tour of the Budweiser Budvar facility (also called Czechvar in the United States due to a long-standing intellectual property fight with you know who), where if he is available we’ll meet brewmaster Adam Broz.

We’ll walk to our hotel for the night, the Hotel Budweis, and after a bit of rest gather again for a walking tour of old town followed by dinner at the Solnice brewery. If you have any energy left, feel free to head out to local beer highlights such as Minipivovar Krajinská 27, Klub Malých Pivovarů, and Žíznivá Gumovka.

Day 4: South Bohemia

České Budějovice is behind us, as we have moved on today to the small village of Krasetin, which happens to be the starting point for a cable car to the top of Kleť, at 1,084 meters (3,556 feet) the highest peak in the region. There is a lookout tower on top.

We’ll then walk eight kilometers downhill on forested paths (you have the option to take the cable car back down instead) to the city of Český Krumlov, whose center is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its historic preservation of the Middle Ages layout. You’ll have time to wander and grab lunch on your own in this beautiful town. After lunch we’ll walk to Brewery Český Krumlov, which as the only brewery in this castle town is continuing the tradition of local brewing started in the 13th century.

After our visit we travel onward to the city of Nepomuk, where we check into our hotel for a short rest – if we can pry you away from the flowing beer tap in each room of the hotel! We visit the hotel’s own brewery, Zlatá Kráva Brewery, and then dine at nearby Restaurace Švejk. After dinner you even opt to soak in a tub filled with hops, malt, and yeast at the hotel’s authentic beer spa.

Day 5: Pilsner Urquell

Nourish yourself with a good breakfast before we check out, leave South Bohemia, and transfer to one of the most famous beer cities in the world – Plzeň (Pilsen), which in 1842 was home to the first brewing of pilsner beer. Our first stop is the Pilsner Urquell brewery that brew that beer, where you will discover that fresh unpasteurized pilsner beer straight from the barrel is like nothing you have tried before. After our tour we will have lunch in Na Spilce, a cafe located in the original fermentation quarters of the brewery.

In the afternoon we stay on premises and visit Pivovar Proud, a small craft experimental wing of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. We will have a tour led by one of the two lead brewmasters, who is also a homebrewer.

We work off some of that food and drink by walking to our hotel for the evening, for a little relaxation time. We’ll then head out for a historical walk of Pilsen (the only major Czech city liberated by the Americans in WW2). Dinner is on your own this evening and we’ll give you a number of options you can try.

Day 6: Žatec Hops

Today we move on to the small city of Žatec, which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site for its hop growing and beer making tradition. Our first stop is the Hop-Research-Institute Žatec, where we’ll learn more about hop growing in the region.

We will then do a walk in town and along the main Ohře River, which cuts right through this small city. Lunch is on your own in Žatec.

After lunch we transfer to the Zichovec brewery, considered one of the best modern craft breweries in the country (and producing some of the best beers). They are not generally open to the public but we will be able to taste their barrel-aged beers as well as a few meads, wines, and ciders.

After a tour and tasting, we’ll transfer back to Prague, check into a different, upscale hotel, and then eat dinner at Cobolis brewery, where we’ll meet up with local Czech homebrewers to trade secrets (and perhaps taste some of their beers).

Day 7: Prague & Farewell

On our final morning, you’ll enjoy a last leisurely breakfast and then we’ll head out to once again explore Prague’s historic sights. Our final beer stop of the trip is back at U Medvidku, where we stayed on our first two nights. The small, modern brewery was opened in this historic building in 2005. However, the original brewery equipment is still in place and we can see brewing technology which is no longer used today such as stock cooling, open fermentation tanks, wooden lager barrels and manual racking into bottles with patented caps. We’ll do a tour; a tasting of OLDGOTT, their signature semi-dark lager; and a lesson in bottling lager, walking away with our own personalized BLONDGOTT  lager as a gift.

We’ll finish by 12:30 PM and you are then on your own – to eat lunch in the brewery restaurant, hang out in Prague, extend your vacation elsewhere in Europe, or head back home. Na zdraví!