Day trips to Czech Republic by car

I fancy a drive into CZ. Any places worth a visit?

I reccommend Cesky Krumlov. Very pretty (and touristy) town not too far from the border. I think it would take about 3 hours to drive there.

check you car insurance, if you have a BMW or Merc chances are you are excluded from going there and being insured

I agree with Cheszy Krumlow. I was there 10/15 years ago and it was beautiful.

is it recommended to take one's own car to CZ? we've two trips planned there this year, one with an elderly relative who's not fond to take the train.
a friend had his brand new (German registered) car pinched in Prague from outside his hotel.
I know there's a lot of jokes about it but is it actually true?

Have been there a couple times myself. I lived in Prague for over 2 years and visited many many small cites around Bohemia (never made it to Moravia) and Cesky Krumlov is definitely the place I would pick if I had to pick just 1 to visit.

Most of the major car hire companies don't let you take their cars into CZ (or anywhere east of Germany/Austria) if you rent them in Germany.

Prague is not CZ just as London is not GB (or Manchester for that matter, where my car has been broken into twice).
I was (for instance) in Cesky Krumlov last month and half the cars there were German or Austrian registered (including ours) and we experienced, saw, and heard of no trouble at all.

very true, and I think we have a clause in our insurance that we would not be insured if we went to CZ, they dont make any differential between going to Prague or going to some sleepy safe village. the insurance companies just assume that your car will get nicked or broken into

elderly relative (85) wants to visit somewhere out in the sticks in CZ so maybe we'll train it to Prague and hire a CZ motor there in the train station somewhere.
me & Mr.Moonboot each have a (new) DE motor but neither of us is too fond to drive there tbh.

But you're still allowed to drive to Liverpool.

Day trip wise from Germany: Bohemian Forest, Lake Lipno. Karlovy Vary, Klatovy.
Despite the bad repuation it's tring to shake off, Cheb is worth a look.

Avoid the markets.

Cars do get nicked, but it seems to be less of a problem these days.
I'd bring a wheel lock though.

The car does give you more flexibility but the train is cheap and not that bad. And you can drink beer.

See also this related thread on where not to go!

I'm not sureif there is a brewery tour but if there is, head for Chodova Plana near Marienanske Lazne as they make some of the bestest beers ever!

For those of you in Saxony, bit harder to choose as the Industrialised North Bohemoa is more known for chemical works and open cast mining...

day trips to CZ; may I offer a humble apology, having posted this thread, a very annoying person dragged me away from home and I missed the responses; how ever , thanks to every one there are some great ideas.

I did in fact go just over the border and I mean just where there is cheap petrol station and loads of shops selling snide Raybans and designer type products. Whilst I was there a police car turned up in the car park and starting clamping cars, the guy next to me was actually getting a ticket for his vehicle and noticed that the fuzz were about to clamp him, he rushed over and stopped them clamping the van but they insisted on being paid the release fee, the police got really up tight as the rest of the male passengers returned to the van (5) and remonstrated, a gun was drawn and papers demanded.

In short another driver told me that this had happen before and I was left with a rather uncomfortable feeling about CZ. How ever having spoken to two CZ friends of friends I am convinced that this was not typical hence the determination to visit. The car threat is a concern but I would not leave my car in quite few cities across Europe and the states come to that. I will check the insuranc though.

We did a road trip through the Czech republic this year, and never felt that our car (or ourselves) were somehow threatened. The car is a BMW. We didn't go to Prague, though. As for the towns recommendations, Plzen doesn't have much to offer as a city (the old town is quite small), but the brewery tour and museum were both very impressive. Definitely worth a day trip, and even staying overnight, if you go by car and still want to try some beer. Tabor is very pretty, as is Telc, but Telc is a bit small. I heard that Olomouc is nice, but it's probably too far from the border for a day trip. Hluboka nad Vltavou castle is quite interesting, and you can probably combine it with some pretty town for a full day trip. Cesky Krumlov has already been recommended.

Plzen is the fourth largest city in the Czech Rep and there is stuff to see, but obviously everything gets compared to Prague.
It's a bit like the rest of the UK and London really.

Olomouc was the first town I ever visited in the then Czechoslovakia and it is well worth seeing, but it is way too far for a day trip.

thanks for the tips,