Brno

Brno (pronounced Burno) (German: Brünn, Štatl in the local dialect) is the major city of Moravia (a historical region in the Czech Republic). It is the largest city in Moravia and the second-largest city in the Czech Republic by population and area. It was founded around the year 1000; and since the 14th century, the city served as the capital of Moravia. Brno is the heart of Moravia and its cultural hub; it's home to many institutions related to Moravian history and culture. At the same time, Brno represents the administrative centre of the contemporary South Moravian region. It has a population of over 400,000 people (2024), and it's in a beautiful natural environment between South Moravian vineyards and the Moravian Karst.

Understand


The city was founded about 1000 years ago, it received city status in the year 1243, and for centuries it served as the capital city of Moravia, until 1948 when communists abolished Moravia's autonomy. The city flourished mainly during the 19th century. Today's Brno is a mixture of many different architectural styles, there are many beautiful places. But it remains home to significant cultural offerings, and countless beautiful buildings, the city has the third largest historic preservation zone in the country (the biggest one is in Prague, the second in Olomouc). There are three castles, Špilberk (former royal castle, and former seat of rulers of Moravia), Veveří Castle (near the Brno reservoir), and Líšeň Castle.

Brno is not particularly well known by tourists so you can easily avoid crowds and overpriced services.

Brno is the cultural hub of Moravia, it's the home to several notable Moravian institutions, e.g. Moravian Gallery, Moravian Museum, National Theatre Brno, and Brno City Theatre. It's a city with a long tradition of motor racing (on the Masaryk Circuit), huge exhibitions and trade fairs (in the Central European Exhibition Center), and a vibrant university city. There are about 89,000 university students in Brno, a city with 400,000 inhabitants, which makes it the country's largest student city by percentage of population. Since 1998, there has also been an international firework competition held annually at the end of May and beginning of June – Ignis Brunensis, it attracts about 100,000–200,000 visitors every day it's being held.

The most interesting places in Brno include the Brno Underground, a labyrinth of underground cellars which includes the second biggest ossuary in Europe (after the Catacombs of Paris), the two (or three) castles in Brno, the cathedral on the Petrov hill (Pope Benedict XVI visited the cathedral in 2009), the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady in the Old Brno District, the St. Jacob's Church, the Moravian Museum (the biggest museum in Moravia and the second biggest in the country), Lužánky Park which is the oldest public park in the country, Denis Gardens, and various historical squares, churches, palaces, and other interesting buildings.

There are also many places worth visiting outside the city centre, such as an old Jewish cemetery in Brno-Židenice (by area, the biggest one in Moravia), or the Marian Valley in Brno-Líšeň, a cascade of lakes between forested hills. From the north, Brno is surrounded by hills and very pleasant countryside, the most notable place is probably the Moravian Karst.

Brno lost its capital city status but still has the feel of a 'cosmopolitan' capital, there is a rich variety of cultural events, clubs, pubs, etc., and several excellent museums and theatres. There are also two interesting things about theatres in Brno, Reduta Theatre is the oldest theatre building in Central Europe, and Mahen Theatre (part of the National Theatre Brno) was the first theatre anywhere in Europe to be illuminated by Thomas Edison's electric light bulbs (at that time, it was only a four-year-old invention). Brno also serves as the capital of judicial authority of the Czech Republic (it's the seat of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Administrative Court) and many other state authorities, the rest of it is located in Prague.

Tourist information

 * City of Brno website
 * City of Brno website
 * City of Brno website
 * City of Brno website
 * City of Brno website

By train
Brno is on the Prague–Vienna and Prague–Bratislava–Budapest routes, and all IC, EC and Railjet trains stop here. Some trains originating in Prague terminate here.


 * Prague: 2½ hr, IC/EC/RailJet trains every 30 minutes to every hour: Standard tickets are expensive (the regular fare is 360 Kč), but there are cheaper ways: You can either get the SuperAkční fare for 119 Kč or a Včasná ticket for 205 Kč. The SuperAkční ticket can be used for a particular train only. There are limited numbers of SuperAkční and Včasná tickets for a particular train or day and they are generally only available when you buy the tickets in advance. You can buy all types of tickets both online and at the ticket office at the train station. For regular journeys, it is good to buy a ČD loyalty card (In Karta), see Czech_Republic. A new operator RegioJet provides train service nine times a day. Tickets are generally sold online and start at 99 Kč.
 * Olomouc: 1½ hr, every 2 hours: Be careful that you get into the proper train, because another train to Brno via Břeclav departs at around the same time which will add 2 hours more to your trip.
 * Ostrava: 2¼ hr, hourly
 * Bratislava: 1½ hr, EC trains every 2 hours
 * České Budějovice: 4½ hr, every 2 hours
 * Vienna: 1¾ hr, Railjet trains every 2 hours (depart from Wien HbF station, though you can also depart from other stations further from the city center)
 * Rijeka: the overnight Regiojet calls here on its way to Prague.

By car
Using highways - D1 highway from Prague and Ostrava or using any of the national roads, D2 from Bratislava or D52 from the south (it runs towards Vienna, but ends about 25 km ahead of borders). For the highway, you have to buy a toll sticker.

By bus
There are coach services from various European destinations including Prague where frequent buses run touting assorted amenities and stops (such as Prague Airport). A timetable of all buses (including international) can be found on IDOS.

Two main bus stations are used. A few hundred meters north of the train station is, used e.g. by RegioJet (formerly Student Agency). A much bigger but also much more remote station is used by local and international buses. Usually buses only stop at one of the stations, check your ticket which one it is upfront.



Taxi
Try to avoid getting a taxi on the street (public transportation is always the better option in Brno) and if you have to, try to negotiate the price in advance. For taxis hailed on the street, the maximum price set by the city council is 30 Kč/km. It's advisable to call one of the major Brno Taxi services:


 * Lido Taxi, +420 542 214 221 . (30 Kč/km)
 * City Taxi Brno, +420 542 321 321 . (30 Kč/km)

By plane


Ryanair flies in 2017 up to 7 times a week a week to London-Stansted. Wizzair flies to London-Luton 3 times a week and twice a week to Eindhoven. During summer there are also various flights to Bulgaria, Egypt and Greece. Bus 76 runs every 30 minutes from about 04:30–23:30 to the bus and train stations in the city center. The fare is 25 Kč, and you can buy your ticket beforehand in the information centre or the ticket machine in the airport. At night there is a connection by night bus line N89.

Other airports in the major cities "nearby", accessible within 1-2½ hours, include:



By boat
An unconventional, but beautiful way to get to Brno (well, from just outside town) is to take a boat from the village of Veverská Bitýška, which takes you (in the summer season only) on a trip across Brněnská přehrada (Brno dam lake) to Brno-Bystrc. From there you can continue to the city centre by tram.

Get around


The Integrated Transport System of the Southern Moravia Region (IDS JMK) covers public transport over Brno and the whole Southern Moravia Region; it includes local trains, trams, buses and trolleybuses. Daytime transport ends up at 23:00, the night buses go hourly and have a central transfer node at Main Station. Some night buses have a connection to night buses in the region, so you can get from Brno at night to surrounding villages.

For journeys within the city, a short transfer ticket (valid 15 min, 20 Kč) and long transfer ticket (60 min, 25 Kč) are available. Tickets are available at yellow ticket vending machines at bus and tram stops, and also at railway station counters. People aged 70 and over travel for free, show your passport is there is a ticket inspection.

Brno has a system called Beep&Go, where every bus, trolleybus and tram in the city has a terminal for contactless ticket purchases using your credit card, smartphone or smart watch. This has since replaced purchasing tickets from the bus driver. It costs the same and the ticket is then stored virtually on your card/phone. You can also purchase tickets for people travelling with you or tickets for more zones. When a ticket controller comes, you have to use your device on a special reader that they will present to you. You need to use the same device you used to purchase the ticket, because services like Google Pay or Apple Pay create virtual credit cards when paying.

South Moravia Region is divided into tariff zones. Brno consists of two zones. IDS JMK tickets are valid in all buses and local trains (category Os, Sp and R), the price varies on number of zones you travel over.

One-day network ticket costs 90 Kč for Brno and 190 Kč for the whole region. On weekends up two adults and three children can travel on a single network ticket.

If you decided to bring your bicycle with you, there is a map of bike paths available on Brnonakole.cz. Even though the city centre is flat and easily accessible by bike, it is forbidden to ride a bike in the pedestrian zone (mainly Freedom Square (náměstí Svobody) and surrounding streets) during workdays from 09:00 to 17:00. There is also bike sharing service Rekola (minimum fee is 400 Kč/bike for 2 months). Bike and e-bike rental RentBike.cz is in the city centre opposite St. Michael's Church but after reservation via web form they can delivery bike or bikes to you (price is 280 Kč one way as of Nov 2018). They also do guided bike tours.

See


The city centre is full of historical buildings, old churches, theatres, fountains, sculptures, clubs, restaurants, etc. It is very compact, so one can just walk around most of the places of interest.

Do



 * ExploreBrno — easy walking, treasure hunt game in the city centre. Min. 2–3 hours
 * Wine-Tours.cz — South Moravia Highlights by minibus (Mikulov, Lednice, Valtice, and big degustation in Wine Center of Czech Republic) or halfday trip to Moravian Karst (boat trip in punkva caves)
 * Wine-Tours.cz — South Moravia Highlights by minibus (Mikulov, Lednice, Valtice, and big degustation in Wine Center of Czech Republic) or halfday trip to Moravian Karst (boat trip in punkva caves)

Buy
The ATMs of these banks in the city centre do not charge a fee for withdrawing money:
 * fio banka
 * KB (Komerční banka)
 * Raiffeisenbank



Eat
Czech food is mostly based on pork, dumplings and potatoes. Another Czech favorite is smažený sýr, fried cheese, which is available at many restaurants and fast food stands. Soups plays an important part in Czech cuisine as it is almost always part of lunch (chicken, beef or vegetable broth, garlic soup, cabbage soup, goulash soup, vegetable soup or mushroom soup).

A good option is to visit one of the many pubs or restaurants that usually offer traditional Czech food all day long. You could easily find a restaurant where you get a meal and a drink for around €5, even in the city center. Many of these places also offer cheaper special (limited, pre-prepared) menus at mid-day. Cafés offer a nice selection of rolls and pastries if you're looking for breakfast food. Visit the cukrárna near the House of the Four Idiots on nam. Svobody and try a rakvička ("little coffin", small pastry covered with cream). This is the only place in the Czech Republic to find the chocolate ones.

Mid-range
There are plenty of restaurants in the city centre, where you can have a decent dinner. Both Czech and international cuisine can be found. A very incomplete list of the good restaurants may include:



Drink
The traditional Brno beer is Starobrno, and a traditional non-alcoholic soft drink is kofola (a very different but captivating kind of cola). Both must be tasted in draught form! Although Czechs are famous for their love of beer that love is mostly focused on pale beer, dark beer (černé pivo) is sweet and not very often drunk here. There's quite a few small breweries in the city, among them a small private brewery named Pegas, a block west from the steeple of St James Church (sv. Jakub). The pub is equipped with modern brewing technology, beer is made right in front of the guests' eyes. For a list of other breweries look at this list.

The go-to bar is the cramped and smoky Charlie's Hat (known to most locals simply as Charlie's), east on Koblizna street from the north end of Freedom Square (50 Kč entry, includes drink voucher). A cluster of more down-tempo bars frequented by students can be found along Dominikánská (Kavárna Trojka - students caffee and bar) and Starobrněnská just west of the Zelný trh (cabbage market square). Around the main square, you can find a lot of clubs, pubs, restaurants, coffee houses and lounge bars.

Bars in and around Dvořákova street in the city centre include:



Sleep
There are many hotels all around Brno city. You can compare and choose hotels on Brno Hotels Directory.

Stay safe
Avoid the main train station after dark as it attracts a number of unsavory characters, the usual caution applies. Also keep a keen eye out when using Automated Teller Machines in the immediate area for similar reasons. The area is also known be actively visited by pick-pockets. Also avoid the Cejl street during dark hours for the same reasons. Take the tram or a bus between the stops Malinovského náměstí and Tkalcovská.

Connect
Brno has 4G from all Czech carriers. As of Sept 2021, you might even get 5G but coverage is patchy.

Go next
Moravia has a dense cluster of nearby sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
 * Olomouc: a fine historic university town, with an impressive Plague Column (1½ hour trip)
 * Telč is one of the prettiest towns in the Czech Republic (2 hours trip)
 * Lednice-Valtice is one of the largest artificial landscapes in Europe dotted with palaces and follies (1 hour trip)
 * Třebíč has one of Europe's best preserved Jewish areas (1½ hour trip)
 * Žďár nad Sázavou contains a fine pilgrimage church (1½ hour trip)
 * Kroměříž: an impressive baroque chateau and formal flower gardens (2 hours trip)
 * Beautiful caves of Moravian Karst, with a boat trip inside the cave (45 minute trip)

Places near Brno - trips less than one hour
 * Battlefield Austerlitz (City Slavkov u Brna)
 * Castles: Pernstejn, Bucovice, Slavkov u Brna

Hostels are available in these towns that can be easily reached by bus/train from Brno:
 * Olomouc (80 km)
 * Kroměříž (70 km)
 * Humpolec (100 km) on the way to Prague
 * Tábor (170 km)
 * Prague (210 km)

Other places
 * Vienna is easily accessible as a day trip by train or bus (return ticket by train €33, by bus €14)
 * Bratislava is less than an hour away