České Budějovice - Old Town and Brewery

Our tour of Budweis started at Premysl-Ottokar-II Square, which has an almost square layout.

Among the 48 historic houses, the representative appearance of the town hall stands out.

Not far from the square, we came to the Black Tower, where the city guard used to keep watch for dangers such as fires.

We climbed the 225 steps for a beautiful view.

Afterwards, we walked a bit further through the Old Town before taking a coffee break at the Grand Hotel Zvon on Premysl-Ottokar-II Square.

We then went past Piarist Square and headed north.

In the Old Town, we walked through small alleys, and as we left, the streets became bigger - and the houses uglier: Instead of ornate houses, we encountered streets with a more socialist charm.

Our destination was the Budweiser Brewery, located just outside the Old Town, which has its headquarters and a visitor center.

There are also guided tours available in German, for which we purchased tickets before going to the nearby Budvarka pub to grab something to eat.

The tour was fully booked - some visitors didn't get a spot. We were glad that we arrived a bit earlier and managed to get tickets.

The guide explained the production process to us and took us through the facility.

A particularly impressive part was the tour of the brewery's bottling plant.

The bottles are cleaned, filled, labeled, sealed, and packed into crates, all fully automated.

Of course, we also had a taste of the beer.

We then took the bus back to the parking area (as the 0.0 percent alcohol limit applies in the Czech Republic).