Jindřichův Hradec

Jindřichův Hradec is a historic town in South Bohemia region. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. It is known for its big castle (one of the biggest in Czechia), old town center, large mechanical nativity scene and as a gateway to scenic Česká Kanada micro-region.

Understand
There has been a settlement on the place of today's Jindřichův Hradec since 9th century, with first castle being build in 11th century. As with many towns and cities in Czechia, its current visage has been shaped for hundreds of years by numerous noble houses and monk orders tossing the town between each other and bringing new architecture styles to it. One of the main features of the town is pond named Vajgar, which constitutes on fourth of the town in size.

Today, Jindřichův Hradec is a rather quiet, but beautiful city. It is popular among tourists, especially local ones and ones from nearby Austria. In addition to Jindřichův Hradec town itself, the surrounding region is popular as well, because of the slightly wavy terrain of surrounding terrain, numerous ponds and deep forests representing an ideal place to bike or hike.

To not be scared of the weird looking name, it might be hard to pronounce, but it just means "Henry's Castle".



Get in
Use IDOS to find a timetable from anywhere in Czechia.

By train
There are three railways going through or to here. First one is a mainline between České Budějovice and Jihlava. You can use it to get here from these cities, as well as from Prague (with change in Veselí nad Lužnicí). There is a fast train going every two hours in each direction on this railway, as well as some regional trains. By train, it is 2½ hours from Prague, and one hour from both České Budějovice and Jihlava. Prices are ever changing, use Czech Railways company website to find them. You can also use this website to buy tickets. Otherwise buy them at any railway station.

There are also two regional narrow gauge railways going from Obrataň and Nová Bystřice. These are a tourist attractions by itself, but they also provide connection to towns Kamenice nad Lipou and Nová Bystřice. Trains on narrow gauge railway are rather slow, but the rides are scenic. Buy tickets from the conductor on the train.

By bus
There are a few direct buses everyday except Saturday from Prague (bus station Florenc in the center of the city) to Jindřichův Hradec. These are operated by numerous companies, but you can find the link to buy the ticket at IDOS. The ride to Jindřichův Hradec take about 2½, similar to train. Prices vary with the bus operator, with the most common operator ČSAD Jindřichův Hradec, it is 138 Kč. The main town's bus station is located in front of the train station.

By bicycle
If you are biking in different town of South Bohemia region, you can take the bike on train, but you can also just bike here. Designated bike paths are omnipresent and roads do not usually have too much traffic. Use OsmAnd or Mapy.cz in outdoor mode to find a route.

By car
You can get here from Prague by car pretty quick (136 km), as the road is mostly highway and high quality, newly build two lanes road. Just beware that animals tend to be suicidal at night and might collide with you car—there are fences against animals only on highways. Parking in the city center is not very easy, you will probably have to pay for parking or stay a bit further from the center. Hotels usually provide private parking space.

Get around
All the interesting sights in Jindřichův Hradec are in the center, and the center is easily walkable. Only the railway station is a bit further (1,300 m to the main square), but it is still easy to walk. If you staying further away or just don't want to walk, you can use public buses—with their timetable on IDOS and OsmAnd or Mapy.cz to find nearest bus stop.

You can also use a bike to get around the city. Bikes can be rented at the railway station and in most hotels and guesthouses.

See






Do




Buy
The traditional product from Jindřichův Hradec is "Tuzámák", Czech domestic rum.



Connect
Every accommodation and most restaurants usually provide free WiFi, you just need to ask for the password. Whole area is cover by good mobile signal.

Go next

 * Nová Bystřice – A small town in middle on Česká Kanada region popular for biking and relaxing near a pond. Reachable by bike or narrow gauge railway. 18 km.
 * Třeboň – A fishing town in middle of a flat region filled with huge ponds. Reachable by bike, bus or train. 29 km.
 * Kamenice nad Lipou – A quiet, but nice town with. Reachable by bike or narrow gauge railway. 20 km
 * Červená Lhota – A beautiful red chateau in middle of a pond. Reachable by bike. 20 km