Relaxation over a beer and beer spa in the Chodová Planá brewery

You could count about fifty smaller breweries in the Czech Republic. The Chodovar family brewery in Chodová Planá is one of them.

When the original building was destroyed by fire in 1861, the owner of the manor, Count Bercher, had a new brewery built over the original rock cellars, the appearance of which has been preserved to this very day.
Apart from the period restaurant with the no less traditional sounding name “Ve Skále”, situated in part of the rock maze of the brewery cellars, the Chodovar brewery in Chodová Planá is also home to a small brewery museum, the “U Sládka” wellness hotel and restaurant and “beerarium” in the historical building of the malting house. You can taste natural yeast beer here and for those who don’t drink beer, there is the Il Sano mineral water, which is bottled in the nearby Dolní Kramolín. This mineral water, together with dark bath beer and dried herbs, is used to prepare baths in the beer spa here.

By bike or on foot you can spend whole days wandering along the winding forest trails into a land where, lost in the darkness of the forest undergrowth, lie the remains of once thriving villages, rural churches and cemeteries, silent reminders of a once populated area where time has stood still. Some villages have disappeared never to return; others are being slowly brought back to life – but just seeking them out is well worth the effort. If you long for more exciting experiences, head for the Chodsko area, a place of fairy tales and the Dog’s Heads. Although from the outside it differs little from other areas, a strong vein of folk tradition is evident at every turn. There are numerous museums and famous Chod fairs and celebrations to visit, and typical local handicrafts, such as pottery and lace, make great souvenirs. History buffs should also visit all 11 original Chod villages, the inhabitants of which once kept watch over the borders of the Bohemian kingdom.

What you have to see …
Horšovský Týn Castle and Chateau – a Renaissance residence surrounded by an extensive park with several follies. The Gothic castle chapel is dominant among the architectural monuments, only two of these having been preserved in Bohemia; the other can be found in Křivoklát Castle.

Museum of the Chodsko Area and Chodsko Castle in Domažlice – two cylindrical towers are characteristic of the silhouette of Domažlice. The leaning lookout tower stands on the square by the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the other one belongs to Chodsko Castle. The extensive ethnographic collections in the museum provide information on the history of the Chodsko area and the lookout tower and lapidarium are also open to the public.

Technical and Crafts Museum in Koloveč – individual exhibitions represent the workshops of a butcher, baker, confectioner, tailor, weaver, joiner, wheelwright and other craftsmen. There is a barber’s and hairdresser’s here, an inn and a fire station. A rarity here is the mill for milling old crones into young girls, and you can end your tour in the family pottery workshop.

Český les – this protected area encompasses the most valuable area of the mountainous borderland strip of Bohemian Forest from Broumov in the Tachov region to the Domažlice Pass. The area boasts original beech forests and peat bogs, meadows and pastures abounding with flowers, the magical mystery of the defunct borderland villages, several tourist trails and cycle paths and superb conditions for cross-country skiing in winter.

Did you know that…
The Windischgrätz Riding Hall in Světce near Tachov, a building in neo-Romanesque style, construction of which was commenced in 1858 by Alfred Windischgrätz, is the second largest riding hall in Europe after the riding hall in Vienna.