A beautiful Czech city has been hailed as a “mini-Prague”, offering the kind of architectural grandeur and world-famous beer culture you can find in the country’s capital – without the crowds of tourists.
Travelpulse.com named Olomouc, a city in the eastern province of Moravia, among some of the best holiday destinations for avoiding over-tourism, lauding its main square, where you can find “lovely pastel buildings with the UNESCO-listed Holy Trinity Column at its centre”.
The Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since the turn of the millennium, is Central Europe’s largest-ever grouping of Baroque statues within a single sculpture, standing 32 metres high.
Visitors also marvel at the heliocentric Astronomical Clock on part of the northern wall of the town hall, which a reporter for The Independent who visited said was “far more riveting than Prague’s more famous one.”
The city, which is pronounced “Oh-la-moats,” is also known for its ornate fountains. At least 25 of them are in the city, seven of which are designed in a lavish Baroque style.
Notable fountains that can be found around the city include Horní náměstí: Caesar’s Fountain, Arion’s Fountain and Hercules’s Fountain, as per Amazing Chechia.
Close to Ceasar’s Fountain is The Church of St Maurice (Kostel svatého Mořice), a tourist favourite with asymmetrical towers synonymous with Olomouc.
The southern tower is open to the public and provides stunning panoramic views of the surrounding area.
Other architectural highlights include the remains of Olomouc Castle near Wenceslas Square (Wenceslas Square), with the Olomouc Archdiocesan Museum and Saint Wenceslas’ Cathedral (St. Wenceslas Cathedral), one of the tallest buildings in the country, housed within the complex.
According to Travelpulse, the city also boasts a top-notch beer culture, with breweries “ranging from traditional basement bars filled with antique furniture and copper brew kits that knock out batch after batch of Czech Pilsners,” according to the Man vs Globe travel blog.
There are also modern breweries offering almost any style of beer you can imagine, as well as traditional restaurants that embrace the authentic culture of the Haná region if you’re feeling peckish.
The nearest international airports are Brno and Ostrava, which are approximately one and two hours away by car and train, respectively.
One option is to get a train from Ostrava Airpot Ostrava-Svinov, where you can catch a direct train to Olomouc, which takes around an hour and 40 minutes.
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