Olomouc: A perfect alternative to Prague

Day-trippers, cruise ships, home-sharing, cheap airlines: They all contribute to tourism saturation in European hot spots. But there are quieter options, if you know where to look.al

Here is another place that offers shelter from the crowds.

Instead of Prague: Olomouc

Few capitals in Central and Eastern Europe offer anything like Prague’s combination of picture-perfect architecture and vibrant nightlife.

Throughout Old Town, many bars stay open until either very late or very early, depending on your point of view, with decadent subterranean clubs like Le Valmont keeping the party going until sunrise.

Such attractions have brought more tourists to the city every year, hitting 7.9 million visitors in 2018 (many of them from elsewhere in the Czech Republic), up 3.2% from the year before, according to the Czech stats office.

Olomouc, Czech Republic. Picture: Andreas Meichsner / The New York Times

Although such growth is sustainable, earning a rank of fifth most-popular destination in Europe comes with a price: the Czech capital is packed with tourists.

The City of a Hundred Spires is certainly still worth a visit – just prepare yourself for the possibility of shoulder-to-shoulder crowds on the busiest days at sites like St Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge.

But if you feel overwhelmed, consider Olomouc, about two hours away in the eastern region of Moravia.

Like Prague, Olomouc has a spot on the Unesco World Heritage list, breathtaking Gothic and Baroque buildings and a famous astronomical clock.

The Olomouc Astronomical Clock. Picture: iStock

Unlike Prague, it has relatively few tourists. Home to 100,000 permanent residents and 21,000 university students, Olomouc offers a small-scale taste of Prague’s history and architecture, as well as plenty of college-town fun and great places to eat and drink.

Chief among them is the three-year-old restaurant Entrée, with multicourse tasting menus that start with five courses and an amuse-bouche for the equivalent of about $50 (R750), not including drinks.

Under chef Premek Forejt, Entrée slams New Nordic straight into Old Moravian, sending out updated flavours like pumpkin soup with shiso and coriander, a savoury potato “strudel” alongside pan-seared sturgeon and roast lamb with cauliflower “couscous”.

Every university town also needs its budget meals. Among several good Vietnamese restaurants, a trend in the Czech lands, Codo offers an airy, uncrowded atmosphere and good pho soup, fresh spring rolls and tangy bun cha noodle bowls.

Prague, Czech Republic. Picture: Getty Images

To fuel up in the morning, pick up a flat white from Kikafe and buy a fresh buchta bun, filled with quark (a low-fat curd cheese), or poppy seeds, or a delicious strawberry kolac tart at the nearby Dalaman bakery, then head to the city’s huge “minor” basilica on Svaty Kopecek, a large hill just outside of town.

Although the basilica is undergoing renovation, its collection of paintings and sculptures from renowned Baroque artists is open to the public, and the panoramic views are truly spectacular.

When you’re back, take some snaps of the Holy Trinity Column, a Baroque-era construction celebrating the end of a plague outbreak on the main square, Horni Namesti. Nearby is the astronomical clock, originally completed before 1422 but starkly refinished in the socialist realist style in 1955.

The best plan is to wander Olomouc’s walkable neighbourhoods, taking in sites as you find them.

The Holy Trinity Column. Picture: iStock

The Olomouc Archdiocesan Museum has won awards for its sleek, modern design, and its small collection of religious art includes several weird reliquaries and ornate monstrances, as well as the gilded, 17th-century coach of Bishop von Troyerstein.

Come evening, you’ll find plenty of busy bars downtown. Even lodgings in Olomouc rival those of the capital.

It might not exactly be a Moravian version of Athens, Georgia, although it’s worth noting that Athens-founded REM does refer to Olomouc in its song Disappear.

If the crowds in Prague get to be too much, you could do worse than to disappear here.

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