Tábor, Czech Republic + Add a trip

Automobiles

The drive from the capital takes up to one and a half hours, depending on traffic, via the E55 motorway.

Planes

Prague airport, some 80km from Tábor, is the international hub.

Trains

The train from Prague takes about an hour and a half, and costs around CZK 70. Tábor train station is a 15-minute walk from the Old Town square. It's also feasible to travel by rail from Linz or Vienna in Austria, or from Berlin or Cologne in Germany.

Dialing

Country code for Czech Republic: 420. No city code.

Reads

A Desert in Bohemia by Jill Paton Walsh. The Coasts of Bohemia: a Czech History by Derek Sayer. The Hussite Wars 1419-36 by Stephen Turnbull.

Do go / Don't Go

If you want to make the most of the countryside, visit in spring, summer or early autumn. Winter temperatures can be jolly cold, but you'll experience crowd-free Central Europe, and winter-wonderlandscapes.

Cuisine

The cornerstones of traditional Czech food are pork, cabbage, potatoes, dumplings - and beer. The food you'll eat in Tábor restaurants will tend towards this peasant heritage, with goose and duck dishes, sweet-toothed cakes and pastries, and good Moravian wines. Look out for bramborak, a potato pancake sometimes layered with pork.

Taxis

You can walk everywhere in Tábor, but if you want a car to/from the station, for a day trip or to take you back to Prague, ask your hotel to book you one. There are a handful of local firms: try Taxi KoláR (+420 381 252 068).

Tipping

Substantial tips aren't expected outside Prague, but adding up to ten per cent or at least rounding up the bill is always appreciated.

Currency

Czech koruna. CZK 40 = about £1.

Packing

Suitable footwear for cobbled streets and hillside walks.

Arts

The Hussite Museum is also on the old town's main square, housed in the impressive late-Gothic town hall, with a permanent exhibition about the followers of reformer Jan Hus. It also gives access to Tábor's extraordinary network of underground tunnels (www.husmuseum.cz). New art is shown at the Water Tower Gallery, ZiZková Street. The Sechtl and Vosecek Museum of Photography on Filipovská showcases a unique archive of social-documentary photography, and has an excellent website (http://sechtl-vosecek.ucw.cz).

And...

Shopping

There's a quality gift shop just off Žižka Square called Kràmecek u podloubi, at 156 Pražkà. You can buy paintings, graphic art, glass and ceramics at the 140 Gallery, 140 Koželužká.

Viewpoint

The bell tower of the Deanery Church on Žižka Square gives unrivalled views over the countryside around Tábor. The worn old steps up to the top are hard work but worth it.

Something

In midsummer, cool down in the town centre with a swim in Lake Jordan, the oldest manmade lake in Europe.

August Love Planet, an open-air music festival over two days, with international performers, theatre and film (www.loveplanet.cz). Mid-September Tábor Meetings, aka Táborská Setkání, a three-day mediaeval festival with a torchlit parade, a race through town, jousting and street theatre.