Brno - a real Czech city (Brno)

Member Name: athena2

Product:	Brno
Date:	05/04/01 (259 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Less tourists = less pricey than Prague

Disadvantages: Speaking Czech or German is an advantage

Prague has become the fashionable city break in Europe but many people have overlooked Brno, the capital of the Czech province of Moravia, an area with a fascinating history.
Brno Lake was a popular tourist area during Communist times and has managed to attract many western tourists over the last decade or so. The lake itself is set in woodland with hotels scattered liberally around. It's almost impossible to believe that there's a major industrial city jsut down the road.
Thanks to the communist legacy, Brno is regularly served by trams which take about 20 minutes to travel from the lake into the city centre.
One of the 'must-see' places in Brno is the Kapuchin Monastery where monks were accidentally mummified (after death of course). This led to the order using mummification to preserve its deceased members and they are still on show there today!
Brno has all the bars and clubs one would expect of a major city - it's nearly 10 years since I first visited Brno and, at the time, it was described as the 'Manchester of Moravia' - while retaining a dignity and friendliness which many other cities have lost I found it far more beautiful than Manchester (sorry Mancunians!)and the Moravians are some of the friendliest people I have ever met
I would wholejeartedly recommend it as an alternative to Prague.

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