Telč

Telč is a charming, rather quiet town. It is certainly worth a stop if you are passing nearby, but there is not enough there to warrant more than a short stay unless you are particularly interested in history or architecture – it is the best preserved of all the Bohemian and Moravian Renaissance towns and the historical heart of the town was registered in 1992 on the UNESCO's List of World Cultural Heritage sites. It is astonishingly beautiful thanks to the surrounding fish-ponds that prevented the town spreading, thus preserving the perfect town square, built in the sixteenth century. There is also an interesting chateau from the same period.

Railway connection from Kostelec u Jihlavy (Wolframs) near Jihlava (Iglau). Not far from Ceske Budejovice (Budweis), Cesky Krumlov (Krumau), Brno (Bruenn) and Linz. Trains are quite slow on this relation. The fastest variant is a combination of train and bus, see the online timetable.
From Prague, there is at least one direct bus a day. All other options (especially) by train imply several transfers. A rather cheap option is to go from Prague to Jihlava (150Kč using the Student Agency buses, that provide free electric power, free tea and free Wi-Fi on-board), then from Jihlava to Telč (42Kč, very frequent local buses).
There is a relatively large within about a five minute walk away from the city center to leave a car; tour buses also seem to stop here. The parking lot utilizes a typical automated system found elsewhere in Europe that accepts coins and issues a voucher slip that one leaves on the dash of their vehicle. Signs on the roads leading to Telc direct travelers to the lot.

Telč is small. You can manage it all by foot. Most of the interesting parts of Telč are on the irregularly shaped square in the center of town. There are some scenic views on the old moat outside the center.

Historic Center

Beautiful coloured Renaissance houses, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site

• Telč Chateau14th century originally Gothic castle was rebuilt into a Renaissance Chateau by a nobleman Zachariáš of Hradec. Several guided tours and a galery with exhibitions.

• Municipal Gallery "Firemen's House"

  phone: +420 567 112 410
  address: Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce 122

• The Tower of the Holy SpiritIconic for Telč panorama, the Romanesque tower of the Holy Spirit is the oldest architecture in Telc. Open in summer months, view of the town.

• The Tower of Holy JacobOpen in summer months, view of the town.

• Look-out tower OsledniceA 34 m high steel structure on a hill at the edge of Telč. Apart from carying antennae, it also hosts a view platform.

• Steam mill

Boats can be hired to row on the moats surrounding the Town Centre.
There is a Tourist Information Office on the main square (Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce 10
588 56 Telč, Phone: (+420) 567 112 407, 567 112 408)

The ground floor of many of the Renaissance houses contain a variety of shops, art galleries, and tourist traps.
Be aware that the two rather small grocery stores close at 5.30pm latest. After that, only a very small and rather expensive Vietnamese-held shop right outside the old town remains open (until 9pm).
Tesco supermarket at the edge of town, but still in a walking distance from the town center (Myslibořská 299), is open daily 7am-21pm.

Restaurants

• U Zachariáše

  phone: +420 567 243 672
  address: nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 33
  Summer garden at the main square. Ice cream.

• U Marušky

  phone: +420 602 771 031
  address: Palackého 28
  Just a great pub with good food.

• Šenk pod Věží

  phone: +420 567 243 889
  address: Palackého 116

• Švejk na Zámecké

  phone: +420 567 213 151
  address: nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 1

• Hotel Černý Orel

  phone: +420 567 243 222
  address: nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 7

• Restaurant Lihovar

  phone: +420 567 243 862
  address: Slavatovská 92

• Restaurace na Kopečku

  phone: +420 608 756 56
  address: Jihlavská 4

Cafes

• Cafe Baltazar

  phone: +420 773 064 820
  address: nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 57

• Filmová kavárna

  phone: +420 774 892 263
  address: Na Můstku 37

• Kavárna Univerzitní Centrum

  phone: +420 603 519 903
  address: nám. Zachariáše z Hradce 2
  part of University

• Čajovna Scivias

  phone: +420 602 733 485
  address: nám. zachariáše z Hradce 39
  A tea-room.

Many of the private houses on the Square hire rooms out at rates favourably comparable with a standard hotel.

• Trebic
• Zdar nad Sazavou
• Ceske Budejovice
• Cesky Krumlov
• Brno
• For short trips outside Telč, if you don't want to cycle nor walk, you can call the only taxi in town: +420 602 517 775. Standard fare: 25Kč/km. Note that the driver speaks very limited English, so it's advised to ask someone (e.g., the tourist information center) to call for you if you can't speak Czech.