From Wikitravel

Brno is a major city of the Moravia region in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in South Moravia, the second largest city in the Czech Republic by population and the third largest city by area. The city celebrated 750 years of "city status". It was founded around year 1000. Brno is the cultural and administrative center of South Moravia. The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic is situated here as well as many other important authorities. Its population is around 380 000 people.

Contents 1 Get in 1.1 By train 1.2 By car 1.3 By coach 1.4 By air 1.5 By boat 2 Get around 3 See 4 Do 5 Buy 6 Eat 7 Drink 8 Sleep

Get in

By train

From Vienna (Austria - 156 km), Prague (Praha - 255 km), Ostrava (172 km), Bratislava (Slovakia - 140 km) and also from number of smaller local towns as Česká Třebová and Jihlava. The Brno Central Station is located close to (10min walk) the center of town, with Náměstí svobody (Square of Freedom), Petrov (old town with cathedral), Vaňkovka (large shopping center) and other attractions just within a few minutes walk. Brno is an important stop on the Prague to Vienna / Bratislava railway line; all Eurocity and Intercity expresses stop here.

By car

Using highways - Ostrava, Bratislava, D1 higway from Prague or using any of a national roads.

By coach

Student Agency offer very affordable luxury coach services from various European destinations including Prague.

By air

There's an international airport at Brno-Tuřany [1] with services to London (Stansted), Munich and Prague. There is a cheap bus service connecting the airport with the city.

By boat

A unconventional, but beautiful way how to get to Brno (from it's periphery) is to take a cruiser at Veverská Bitýška village, which would take you (in summer season only) on a trip across Brněnská přehrada (Brno dam lake) to Brno-Bystrc.

Get around

On all over the city and some surrounding villages, the Integrated Transport System (IDS) is in operation; it includes trains, trams, busses and trolley-busses. You can travel around the city using a single ticket, the price differing depending on the number of zones you cross and time of expiration (10, 40, 90 minutes tickets are most common, starting at circa €0,30). In most places you could get a transportation within 15 minutes (daytime). A number of taxi companies are operating in Brno city too.

There are yellow ticket vending machines at the larger bus and tram stations. You can buy short-term tickets, but also 1 and 3 day passes. The price for a 3 day pass in July 2006 is CZK 100 (approx. EUR 3.30). The machines only takes coins, but beware: CZK 50 coins are not accepted, but they will appear in the dispenser of the machine.

If you experience any difficulties, visit one of the Tourist Information Centres located in city center, i.e. at Radnická street or Nádražní street.

See

• The City center is full of historical buildings, old churches, theaters, fountains, sculptures, clubs, restaurants, etc. It is very compact, so one could just walk around most of the places of interest.

• Špilberk Castle, the famous fortress used as prison. Many people have been tortured here from all around Europe, mostly during Austro-Hungarian Empire times. Currently, it's museum with restaurant and nice park around, free for walks and beautiful sightseeings.

• Petrov Cathedral, 10 minutes walk from city center. It is forming a typical Brno silhouette.

• Freedom Square forms the heart of the city. It's shaped into big reversed "A". Many of cultural events take place here and there are always a lot of people here. This place is closed for cars and public transport, which is within 5 minutes walk any direction. Also most of the interesting places at city center are within 10 minutes walk from Freedom Square.

• The Tugendhat Villa (Černopolní 45, 613 00 Brno, +420 545 212 118) [2], 20min walk from the town center, is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is seen to be a classic example of Bauhaus architecture, and was also the location of the meeting which decided upon the Velvet Divorce that separated the Czech and Slovak republics in 1992. It is possible to visit the Villa by guided tour; tours are led hourly and can be booked by arriving at the gate.

• Vaňkovka Gallery, a really large shopping centre established at buildings, that used to form an old industrial center dated back to the beginning of 19th century. Many of the historical industrial buildings were saved and implemented into the new shopping center.

• Capuchin Church is a monastery from 17th Century right in the city center. Tourists love to visit the church, because of it's Baroque statues and an exposition of mummified monks.

• Baroque Parnas fountain from 16th century, located at "Zelný trh" a square with fruit and vegetable market above Masaryk street (central street leading into Freedom Square).

• At the top of the square you can find The Moravian Museum [3] - second largest and oldest museum in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1817 by Emperor Francis I and, today, has collections with millions of objects from different fields of human history.

There are many other places of interest, some of which can be found at the official Brno website or you could visit one of the Tourist Information Centres located in the city center, i.e. at Radnická street or Nádražní street.

Do

Visit city celebration held annually, includes many of activities, including known as "Brno, the city in the center of Europe" (http://www.bmue.cz/english/index.html) family of activities.

• Visit Ignis Brunensis, fireworks competition.
• Visit Grand Prix Brno, the Moto GP event.
• http://www.automotodrombrno.cz (Brno Racing Circuit - Masaryk Curcuit)
• Visit an exhibition by your choice at BVV (Brno Trade and Fair Centre), the largest trade center in Central European region with many important fairs. The largest are Autosalon, MSV (International Engineering Fair), Invex (International Fair of Information and Communication Technologies), IDET (International Exhibition of Defence and Security Technologies and Special Information Systems) and of course a Vinex (International Wine Fair) and Pivex (International Beer Fair).
• Visit one of many theaters in the city. They are well known even by many tourists, who comes even just to visit them.

Buy

Try city center or Vaňkovka Gallery for pleasure and common shopping. If you want to do a big shopping, you might wish to visit one of many hyper-sized shopping centers usually located at city periphery.

Eat

You can get food in many fast-foods around the city, which usually offer a pizza, sausage in a roll, cheese & French fries, etc. A better option is to visit one of many pubs or restaurants, that offer usually very good traditional Czech food all the day long. You could easily find a restaurant where you get a meal and a drink for around €3, even in the city center.

Drink

Traditional Brno's beer is Starobrno, traditional non-alcoholic drink is kofola (a very different but captivating kind of coke). Both must be tasted in draught form! There is also a small private brewery named Pegas. The pub is equipped with modern brewing technologies, beer is made right in front of the guests eyes.

Sleep

There are many hotels all around Brno city.

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