Top Sights and Highlights of the Czech Republic

The D1 links Prague with Brno and Ostrava, the D5 runs to Plzeň and the German border, and the D8 to Dresden. But the Czech Republic's finest spots are by no means all located along those motorways. The selection below combines vignette-required main routes with destinations that are easy to reach by car, even if that means a shorter or longer detour.

Prague, historic old town

Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and the astronomical clock on Old Town Square: one of Europe's best-preserved historic city centres, largely untouched by the world wars. UNESCO World Heritage Site.

📍Prague is the hub where the D1, D5 and D8 converge, making it the logical starting or finishing point of your trip through the Czech Republic.

Český Krumlov

After Prague, the country's biggest tourist draw: a medieval town with winding cobbled streets wrapped around one of Europe's largest castles, embraced by a loop of the Vltava river. UNESCO World Heritage Site.

📍No direct motorway, but an easy detour: take the D3/I-3 south from Prague towards České Budějovice, roughly 2.5 hours' drive.

Moravský kras & the Macocha Gorge

A spectacular karst region featuring the 138-metre-deep Macocha Gorge and the Punkva Caves, where a boat carries you along an underground river to the bottom of the gorge.

📍About 35 km north of Brno, a short detour off the D1 between Prague and Brno.

Plzeň & the Pilsner Urquell brewery

The birthplace of pilsner beer: here, in 1842, the clear bottom-fermented beer that would later become known worldwide as "pils" was brewed for the first time. The brewery can be visited, historic cellars included.

📍Right on the D5 between Prague and the German border: a natural stopover on the way to Germany.

Karlovy Vary

An atmospheric spa town with colourful belle-époque façades lining the Teplá river, famous for its hot springs and its annual international film festival. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021, as part of the "Great Spa Towns of Europe".

📍Reachable via the D6 (rychlostní silnice, also vignette-required) from Prague, around 2 hours' drive.

Kutná Hora

A medieval silver-mining town home to the striking St Barbara's Church, one of Central Europe's finest Gothic churches, and the famous Sedlec "bone church", decorated with the bones of tens of thousands of people. UNESCO World Heritage Site.

📍No motorway, but an easy drive from Prague via the D11/silnice I/2, around an hour.

This selection is a starting point. Combine it with the prices and validity periods of the Czech vignette to complete your route.