Anyone been to Brno?
Discussion
I exitedly booked 4 x RyanAir cheap flights to Prague (Brno) last week for us and some friends to go away in April for a few days. I then found out, rather embarrasingly that Brno is in fact a town itself and not the name of Prague Airport 
- in fact, it is a long way from Prague. I know, I wasn't feeling well... OK 
As these tickets are non-refundable, what do we do -
1) Pay a premium to transfer the tickets to a different destination or
2) Go anyway and see what it's like?
Anyone been that can offer advice? Oh, and the last this we want is an ABC Holiday (Another Bloody Church)
- in fact, it is a long way from Prague. I know, I wasn't feeling well... OK As these tickets are non-refundable, what do we do -
1) Pay a premium to transfer the tickets to a different destination or
2) Go anyway and see what it's like?
Anyone been that can offer advice? Oh, and the last this we want is an ABC Holiday (Another Bloody Church)
That is pure Genius. 
I was there for a week workin a few years ago.
Seem to remember it was a resonable place. Sort of like a mini prague. More industrial though. Decent bars and restaurants. But not as cosmopolitan as Prague obviously.
I might have a rosy view of it though as I was just very pleased to see it.
I was met at the airport by a guy with a card with my name on. I went to say hello and he turned it round and it said "I don't speak English".
I got in his car and drove for about an hour in silence.
We the stopped in a layby in the middle of nowhere and he motioned me to get out of the car.
Seconds later a second car pulled up with two guys in it. Neither of which spoke English.
The motioned me into their car and we drove in silence for another hour until we stopped in a layby again.
A third car pulled up and I was just thinking "No-One knows where I am....arrrghh", when the guy I was going to meet stepped out and welcomed me to the Czech Republic....
I could've kissed him
Seem to remember it was a resonable place. Sort of like a mini prague. More industrial though. Decent bars and restaurants. But not as cosmopolitan as Prague obviously.
I might have a rosy view of it though as I was just very pleased to see it.
I was met at the airport by a guy with a card with my name on. I went to say hello and he turned it round and it said "I don't speak English".
I got in his car and drove for about an hour in silence.
We the stopped in a layby in the middle of nowhere and he motioned me to get out of the car.
Seconds later a second car pulled up with two guys in it. Neither of which spoke English.
The motioned me into their car and we drove in silence for another hour until we stopped in a layby again.
A third car pulled up and I was just thinking "No-One knows where I am....arrrghh", when the guy I was going to meet stepped out and welcomed me to the Czech Republic....
I could've kissed him
alfaman said:To be fair, I just clicked on the destination map, saw one destination in the Czech Republic and assumed it was Prague. God I am stupid sometimes!
Thats Ryan Air's infamous service for you - they also fly to Barcelona ( "gerona" - miles away ) ... I wonder if they advertise flights to London "Cardiff" and London"Norwich" airports.
Nothing sounding particularly tempting yet...
viper_larry said:
Thats Ryan Air's infamous service for you - they also fly to Barcelona ( "gerona" - miles away ) ... I wonder if they advertise flights to London "Cardiff" and London"Norwich" airports.
To be fair, I just clicked on the destination map, saw one destination in the Czech Republic and assumed it was Prague. God I am stupid sometimes!
Nothing sounding particularly tempting yet...
No you are not stupid at all ... Ryan Air's marketing can easily mislead regarding the destination if the customer isn't vigilant.
Just type the words Brno and Tourism into Google
Plenty there to give you a flavour for the place
Here's a sample
224km (140 miles) SE of Prague 128km ( 80 miles) N of Vienna
An industrial city with an industrial-strength image as "boring," Brno suffers a fate that many second cities around the world endure -- no respect. Sure, as you approach from the highway, the sight of dozens of concrete apartment buildings may give you second thoughts. But bear with the Communist-inspired urban sprawl -- the bad rap is undeserved. In fact, Brno is a vibrant and interesting city with a panache all its own.
Since Brno came of age in the 19th century on the back of its textile industry, the city's architecture, for the most part, lacks the Renaissance facades and meandering alleys of other towns. Indeed, the main square, námestí Svoboda, bears this out. But spend a day or two here, and the beauty of the old city center will become apparent. Empire and neoclassical buildings abound. Quirky sights like the Brno Dragon and the Wagon Wheel add character. Spilberk Castle and the Gothic cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul give historical perspective. And lush streets and parks make aimless wandering a pleasure.
Plenty there to give you a flavour for the place
Here's a sample
224km (140 miles) SE of Prague 128km ( 80 miles) N of Vienna
An industrial city with an industrial-strength image as "boring," Brno suffers a fate that many second cities around the world endure -- no respect. Sure, as you approach from the highway, the sight of dozens of concrete apartment buildings may give you second thoughts. But bear with the Communist-inspired urban sprawl -- the bad rap is undeserved. In fact, Brno is a vibrant and interesting city with a panache all its own.
Since Brno came of age in the 19th century on the back of its textile industry, the city's architecture, for the most part, lacks the Renaissance facades and meandering alleys of other towns. Indeed, the main square, námestí Svoboda, bears this out. But spend a day or two here, and the beauty of the old city center will become apparent. Empire and neoclassical buildings abound. Quirky sights like the Brno Dragon and the Wagon Wheel add character. Spilberk Castle and the Gothic cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul give historical perspective. And lush streets and parks make aimless wandering a pleasure.
Brno is not exactly down the road from Prague, but one of the marvellous things that the communists left behind was a reliable public transport system (at least, it was a few years ago when I was there ). Brno does indeed have a racetrack where they did a lot of the MotoGP races and they also used to make good shotguns there too!
). Brno does indeed have a racetrack where they did a lot of the MotoGP races and they also used to make good shotguns there too! 
Spent a couple of nights in Brno in Summer 2003, whilst inter-railing around Eastern Europe.
The best way to describe it is 'proper' Eastern Europe. We had spent the previous 4 or so nights in Prague, which in my opinion has been touristed to the a level similar to Venice, Dublin, or say Stratford-upon-avon. You wont get that in Brno.
However.... in all the places we stayed, it is probably one of the nicest. It is an extremely old city, with lots of historic architecture, a large castle, which you are guided around which was used as a prison then a communication bunker by the Nazis (In 2003 this was not a polished museum, you saw it how it was).
The city centre is fairly small, however there are some were some good restaurants (by western standards!) for about £1 for a meal!!
Best of all from my memory was the hotel we stayed in. The Hotel Pegas ( www.hotelsprague.cz/04brno/pegas_e.php ) was one of the highlights of our trip. It brews its own beer in the pub in huge copper kettles. It only serves this beer, which by Czech standards is trully excellent. It is only served by the landlord who treats it more like an art form. The caraway seed flavoured beer is amazing, better than anything found during the entire time in Prague. By staying there, you get a key to the lift, which takes you from the bar directly to your room!! This is more than useful!!
For amusement value you can go to Tesco's, which is the equivalent of John Lewis there, It is actually very interesting to wander round. Thinking about it there was also the ossuary (I think), which was bizarre. It is a crypt for Monks, in which the monks were not buried, but sat in a seated position against the wall, several hundred years ago. Not everybodies cup of tea.
1 day would see Brno, but there is probably lots of things to visit locally, we were train limited.
If you do go to Prague, I can recommend the National Technical Museum, the 1930's silver arrow mercedes grand prix car in completely unrestored form has to be seen to be believed
.
The journey between Prague and Brno is about 3 hours, however you could stop at Kostnice to see the ancient city and the bone church (see the long way round!!)
That's all I can think of!
John
The best way to describe it is 'proper' Eastern Europe. We had spent the previous 4 or so nights in Prague, which in my opinion has been touristed to the a level similar to Venice, Dublin, or say Stratford-upon-avon. You wont get that in Brno.
However.... in all the places we stayed, it is probably one of the nicest. It is an extremely old city, with lots of historic architecture, a large castle, which you are guided around which was used as a prison then a communication bunker by the Nazis (In 2003 this was not a polished museum, you saw it how it was).
The city centre is fairly small, however there are some were some good restaurants (by western standards!) for about £1 for a meal!!
Best of all from my memory was the hotel we stayed in. The Hotel Pegas ( www.hotelsprague.cz/04brno/pegas_e.php ) was one of the highlights of our trip. It brews its own beer in the pub in huge copper kettles. It only serves this beer, which by Czech standards is trully excellent. It is only served by the landlord who treats it more like an art form. The caraway seed flavoured beer is amazing, better than anything found during the entire time in Prague. By staying there, you get a key to the lift, which takes you from the bar directly to your room!! This is more than useful!!
For amusement value you can go to Tesco's, which is the equivalent of John Lewis there, It is actually very interesting to wander round. Thinking about it there was also the ossuary (I think), which was bizarre. It is a crypt for Monks, in which the monks were not buried, but sat in a seated position against the wall, several hundred years ago. Not everybodies cup of tea.
1 day would see Brno, but there is probably lots of things to visit locally, we were train limited.
If you do go to Prague, I can recommend the National Technical Museum, the 1930's silver arrow mercedes grand prix car in completely unrestored form has to be seen to be believed
. The journey between Prague and Brno is about 3 hours, however you could stop at Kostnice to see the ancient city and the bone church (see the long way round!!)
That's all I can think of!
John
Brno is an OK place, its not exactly Prague though 
, top race circuit there & the mountains to the North are rather nice.
IF you get to Prague I'd suggest the technical musuem too fantastic place for PH'ers.
Should you be needing a B&B in Prague my in laws run a B&B in the city centre.
, top race circuit there & the mountains to the North are rather nice. IF you get to Prague I'd suggest the technical musuem too fantastic place for PH'ers.
Should you be needing a B&B in Prague my in laws run a B&B in the city centre.
Classic mistake! Didn't they used to advertise that they flew to Copenhagen in Denmark, except that the airport was actually Malmo in Sweden? SOmething like that. A colleague made that mistake, and missed the return flight because the bridge linking the 2 countries was closed due to fog. Of course, Ryanair wouldn't give a refund!
Doesn't help you much now but BMI Baby is a good bet for Prague Ruzyne airport, and they let you select your seat online so no scrummaging for seats when you get on the plane
Doesn't help you much now but BMI Baby is a good bet for Prague Ruzyne airport, and they let you select your seat online so no scrummaging for seats when you get on the plane
yes, was there last summer. just back from a czech sking holiday at pec pod snezkou. brno is a great little city, forget prague, full of tourists and bloody expensive and fairly western in the entertainment. brno is a real czech city, might appear a bit grubby but i wouldn't let that you put you off. it is like prague in style, less grand, no river but few tourists, a lot cheaper, nightlife not so extensive but if you look around some pretty interesting places. it is also in one of the main wine regions.
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