Lots of school trips head towards Brno. But when you study or work here, it just becomes an ordinary town and all the renowned architecture and other interesting places lose their special touch because we pass them every day.
After a couple of weeks somewhere like the Church of St. James and other church buildings or the Avion hotel just become yet another of the anonymous grey buildings in the centre of the town. Most students put their efforts into getting oriented with the clubs and pubs with the best prices. Does that mean that when you find yourself in Brno for the weekend, you will have to entertain yourself with your textbooks because there’s nothing else new to see? No way!
Špilberk castle knows how to surprise!
It might sound like a cliché, but have you actually been to Špilberk castle? Probably to the park, but you would be surprised how many people don’t manage to see the inside of it by the time they graduate. And yet its historical casemates from the time when it was a prison are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Brno. Also, as long as you don’t visit Špilberk every other day, you will even be surprised, as promised earlier, as the museum regularly changes its exhibition with different themes. Just now you can visit the Kuky se vrací ... on Špilberk exhibition, which shows you some puppets from the film Kuky se vrací and from the Samorost game from the Amanita design studio.
If you prefer modern architecture or you like visiting UNESCO sites, you will enjoy visiting the newly opened Villa Tugendhat, which should be open from spring. Until then, there’s not much point in visiting it, unless you like looking at scaffolding from the third century!
If you like the idea of time-travel, you should go to see the Anthropos pavilion. Next stop – prehistoric times. You will find out something about the Stone Age, about prehistoric art and if a museum attendant doesn’t see you, you can even stroke a mammoth (if you’re not so lucky, at least you will see one). Anthropos is just a bit behind the exhibition centre, so if you live at the Vinařská halls, you will be able to walk there.
Close to the countryside
Have you had enough of the town and you want to get out into the countryside? You don’t need to go far beyond zone 101 on public transport, and I don’t mean just Lužánky park. You could go and have a look at what the reservoir looks like in the daylight without fireworks. Almost everyone goes to see the firework show called Ignis Brunensis at the beginning of June, but on an autumn afternoon instead of bangs you will experience some unexpected peace and the falling of leaves.
At the reservoir, there is a cycle path which leads along the Svratka river, and there are many more of these paths in and around Brno. For example, the Brněnské kolečko path is about 80km long and will take you around the whole of the Moravian metropolis. If you have a bike in Brno, have a look at some other ideas or go to the tourist centre for a cycle map, which will definitely come in handy when you are out cycling. As long as it doesn’t snow first! Then you will need some tips on where to go sledging.
Even walkers have something to do. The fact that the number 10 tram to Stránská skála is normally empty doesn’t mean that there is nothing to see there. Quite the opposite! It means that the impression you get from the quarry cliffs won’t be spoilt by crowds of tourists. Stránská skála is famous from an historical perspective too – it was there that the first use of fire by middle European humans was discovered and a lot of fossils were discovered from the Quaternary period. However, you will find them now in the Anthropos museum mentioned earlier.
Get to know Brno and try Kafélanka
The list of interesting places doesn’t stop here with these tips. They are just a bit of motivation for those who have written Brno off as a place which is easy to get to know and actually just quite an ordinary place to survive in. It’s only boring for those people who close their eyes to it.
And for those who have learned nothing new from these tips because they already explored Brno in detail a long time ago, there is a challenge to discover the Brno which isn’t normally discovered by the masses: the historical underground, technical sights or the so-called quiet places – be inspired by the Kafélanka website.