All Posts By

Allan Wright

Feb 06
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Czech Republic beer tourism

Czech Republic is the Number One Country in the World for Beer Tourism

By Beer, Taste Vacations No Comments

Many people passionate about beer believe the Czech Republic is one of the best countries in the world for beer tourism. Here are just a few reasons why.

  1. Brewing Tradition: The Czech Republic has a rich history and deep-rooted tradition in brewing beer. In fact, historians uncovered evidence of a brewery being established in the year 933 (almost 1,500 years ago) at Břevnov Monastery in Prague, which still has a brewery to this day.
  2. Pilsner Beer: The Czech Republic is renowned for creating the Pilsner style of beer. Pilsner Urquell, brewed in the city of Plzeň (Pilsen), is considered the archetype of the pilsner style. This beer has influenced the brewing of beers globally and, according to TasteAtlas.com, is now the #2 most popular style of beer in the world.
  3. Variety and Quality: Czech beer culture is diverse, offering various styles beyond pilsners, such as dark lagers (tmavé pivo), wheat beers (psenicne pivo), and more. The country also boasts a wide range of breweries, from large-scale producers to smaller craft breweries, ensuring a vast selection of high-quality beers for tourists to explore.
  4. Beer Culture and Hospitality: The Czech Republic has a vibrant beer culture deeply ingrained in its society. Pubs and beer halls are plentiful, offering a cozy and inviting atmosphere for locals and tourists alike to enjoy a pint of fresh, flavorful beer. In fact, the Czech Republic is the top consumer of beer per capita in the world.
  5. Affordability: Beer in the Czech Republic is relatively affordable compared to many other countries. A decade ago the country’s health minister proposed a law requiring pubs and restaurants to offer at least one non-alcoholic drink on the menu priced lower than beer. That proposal failed and beer is still very reasonably priced in the country.
  6. Accessibility: If you want to talk beer tourism, it is important to include locations outside Prague. The Czech Republic is not a large country and thus distances to key points of interest are reasonable. From Prague it is only 1.5 hours drive to Plzeň, home of Pilsner Urquell, or one hour 45 minutes drive to České Budějovice, home of the original Budvar.

So if you are interested in traveling to a destination for the beer or at least incorporating beer and breweries into your travels,  the Czech Republic is, indeed, one of the top destinations in the world for beer tourism. Interested in experiencing this? Join our September 10 – 16, 2024 Czech Republic Beer Vacation or create your own Czech Republic beer tour.

Jan 22
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Best foodie vacation

What Makes For The Best Foodie Vacation?

By Food, Taste Vacations, Travel Tips No Comments

Foodie vacations cater to those who seek food (and beverages!) as a central focus of their travel experience, hoping to immerse themselves in the culinary richness of different cultures and destinations they visit. The best foodie vacations often involve exploring destinations that are, of course, known for their culinary scene and diverse gastronomic offerings. But, with a little know-how, a foodie vacation can be had almost any destination! Here are some of the key elements to look for when planning a foodie vacation:

Cover the Local Cuisine

Destinations that allow you to explore a breadth of traditional dishes, street food, and regional specialties allow you the best shot at getting an authentic taste of the culinary culture.

Hands-on Learning

Cooking classes immerse you in the local scene by allowing you to learn how to prepare traditional dishes. Often finding a culinary workshop will allow you to learn a specific skill such as pasta making or chocolate crafting, and then you get to bring a bit of the local flair back home with you.

Local Markets

Another tangible experience is exploring local markets where you can sample fresh produce and local specialties and get to chat with the vendors. It’s a great way to experience the food of the region straight from the source. 

In-depth Foodie Vacation Visits

Finding opportunities to visit with local food producers or tour hidden gems provides insights into the traditions of an area not found by just visiting restaurants. 

Food & Beverage Pairing

If you enjoy wine or are a beer geek, consider destinations with these as an important part of the culture and economy. Participating in tours and tastings and getting to experience pairing food with local beverages, provides another special level of culinary immersion. 

Intimate & Extraordinary Meals

When you think you have found a good destination, look a bit deeper to see what unique and out-of-the-ordinary dining experiences might be available there. An extraordinary meal can be an event you’ll never forget (or will always want to go back for). 

Sharing Culinary Experiences

We are strong believers that getting to share the outstanding experience of foodie travel with other enthusiasts, makes the experience (and the food) even better. Joining a tour focused on this kind of travel offers a special kind of dynamic joy of shared camaraderie when you are all in the moment with a tasty or unique delicacy.

For a sampling of ideas of terrific destinations we believe offer the above, visit the Vacations page of this site.

Dec 04
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Czech beer guides

Our Czech Beer Guides Make our Tour Special

By Beer, Taste Vacations No Comments

We have hired two Czech beer guides that make our Czech Republic Beer & Walking Vacation the best beer vacation in the country. We work with Jakub Neužil and Martin Havlin to make sure we are visiting the best breweries in Czechia and get inside access when we do.

Industry Experience

Both Martin and Jakub work at (Budweiser Budvar), the famous state-owned brewery. Martin is a Business Development Manager and Jakob is a Export On-trade Development Manager. Before that, Martin worked at Pivovar Proud, the experimental craft brewery that is part of even-more-famous Pilsner Urquell, and at the Czech Brewmasters s.r.o., which provides technology consulting and construction services to breweries, and did contract work for , a Prague brewery.

Czech Beer Tours

All the above experience alone would make Martin and Jakob perfect as our beer tour guides, since they have worked in or known most of the top breweries in the country. In addition, however, Martin and Jakob together founded Prague Craft Beer Tours in June of 2019. They take locals and tourists to some of the best beer spots in Prague. The company started as a side business but has now grown to where they are hiring additional guides.

Personal Experiences

Martin has a family history in the beer industry, having worked in the family company that specializes in hops sales. His brother is a brewmaster and his mother has worked in the hops business for more than 20 years. Martin is also a certified beer sommelier and even worked for a year as a tour guide in Spain. He has degrees from universities in France and Spain and is fluent in English.

Jacob is an economist by training who has specialized in the beer industry. He is a homebrewer and so also has an excellent understanding of the production side of beer. He even has a wine sommelier certificate!

Our Czech Beer Guides

Our Czech Republic Beer & Walking Vacations are designed around … the breweries and the beer. We have worked with Martin and Jakob to create what we believe is the best beer vacation on offer in the country. Make no mistake – we also visit fantastic cities, tour the Prague Castle, visit a monastery, and more fun. This is still a vacation. But if you are into beer, look no further than this tour.

In 2024 we are offering a Czech Republic Beer & Walking Vacation from September 10 – 16 that is open to everyone and a perfect way to meet other beer enthusiasts. Jakob and Martin will combine to guide on this tour along with one of our professional tour guides. It is also possible to book this tour as a private group with as few as six people on your own chosen date. In this case, the local guide might be Jakob, Martin, or one of their other professional guides.

Czech Beer Guides

Martin Havlin

Czech Beer Guides

Jakub Neužil

Feb 20
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Sydney riding in the snow

Are You Ready to Travel? The Malaise of COVID

By Travel Tips No Comments

Recently I have found myself in a travel malaise.

I did not plan any travel at all during the first week of January, when my daughter was off school for winter break. We were in the peak of the Omicron variant surge. Instead, we hung out at the house and, frankly, had a great time.

I canceled my participation in a cross-country ski weekend I had planned with a local outdoors group. Granted, we were supposed to get a snowstorm making traffic terrible – but others who were signed up continued as plan while I stayed home.

This past weekend, over President’s Day, I researched flights to Florida for warm weather or to Colorado for a ski weekend. The flights were either super expensive or leaving at terrible times. I opted not to go.

I run a travel company. I traveled to Mexico to run a sea kayaking tour in December. I am scheduled to guide five trips later this year. Yet I have been reluctant to travel and content with that decision. What is going on?

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Nov 30
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How to Fly Safely During COVID & Omicron

By Travel Tips, Travel Well Series No Comments

We have not recovered from the Delta variant yet, only to enter a new phase with the onset of the Omicron variant. While we don’t yet know whether the new variant is more severe (the initial evidence is that it is not) or whether it can more easily get around the vaccines, we do know it is much more infectious.

Many of you are likely considering a flight for the upcoming holidays or for a winter vacation. After all, news outlets (and we at Taste Vacations) have been talking about living with the pandemic and moving on with our lives. So how do you fly safely during COVID, especially with the more contagious Omicron variant?

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