Baker Mark - Lonely Planet Prague & the Czech Republic

The best beer in the world just got better. Since the invention of Pilsner Urquell in 1842, the Czechs have been famous for producing some of the world's finest brews. But the internationally famous brand names Urquell, Staropramen and Budvar have been equalled, and even surpassed, by a bunch of regional Czech beers and microbreweries that are catering to a renewed interest in traditional brewing. Never before have Czech pubs offered such a wide range of ales names you'll now have to get your head around include Kout na umav, Svijansk Ryt and Velkopopovick Kozel.

By Neil Wilson, Writer

Well, there's the beer. Not only did the Czechs invent the best beer in the world, they've been reinventing it over the last decade with a wave of innovative new microbreweries. And the history. If you want to learn about European history, you'll find it all here compressed into an easily digested package from Good King Wenceslas and the Defenestration of Prague to the Habsburg empire, two world wars, the Cold War and the Velvet Revolution. Then there's cubist architecture, weird art and the Czechs' deliciously dark sense of humour. And did I mention the beer?

Whether you visit alone in the early morning mist or shoulder your way through the afternoon crowds, crossing is the quintessential Prague experience. Built in 1357, its 16 elegant arches withstood wheeled traffic for 500-odd years thanks, legend claims, to eggs mixed into the mortar until it was made pedestrian-only after WWII. By day, the famous baroque statues stare down with stony indifference on a fascinating parade of buskers, jazz bands and postcard sellers; at dawn, they regain something of the mystery and magic their creators sought to capture.

A thousand years of history is cradled within the walls of Prague's hilltop , a complex of churches, towers, halls and palaces that is almost a village in its own right. This is the cultural and historical heart of the Czech Republic, comprising not only collections of physical treasures such as the golden reliquaries of St Vitus Treasury and the Bohemian crown jewels, but also the sites of great historic events such as the murder of St Wenceslas and the Second Defenestration of Prague.