Brno & South Moravia
Czech Republic
The Czech second city, functionalist and unbothered, with the country’s wine country on its doorstep
Photo by Leonhard Niederwimmer on Unsplash
Photos by Leonhard Niederwimmer, Gabriel Mihalcea, Jakub Sobotka and Jakub Sobotka on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Czech Republic
May to June, and September for the harvest — the winter is grey and the city is a student town that empties in summer
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 85mm in Jul
Where it is
49.20°N, 16.61°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Book Villa Tugendhat before you book the flights
- Go down into the ossuary under St James
- Take the train south and taste in a cellar at Valtice
- Walk up Špilberk for the view over the roofs
- Eat in the centre, where a proper dinner costs half what Prague charges
Brno & South Moravia travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Czech Republic
ExpensiveNever change money in the street or in a shop marked 0% commission — the rate is the swindle. Cards are taken everywhere and are the safe answer.
ATMs & cards
Use ČSOB, Komerční banka or Česká spořitelna. Euronet is heavy in the tourist towns and always offers to convert; always refuse.
Avoid these
- Euronet
Use these instead
- ČSOB
- Komerční banka
- Česká spořitelna
A card city, and cheaper than Prague at everything. Always take the koruna price when a terminal offers to convert.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Czech Republic
SafeVery safe. The main station area is scruffy at night in the ordinary way; nothing else here wants attention.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the main station area at night — scruffy in the ordinary way
- the tram tracks on a bicycle — they are the right width to catch a wheel
Very safe and much cheaper than Prague. A student city with the country’s wine country on its doorstep..
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Czech Republic visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Czech Republic
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis if you plan to walk in forests between spring and autumn
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodMoravian wine rather than beer, which is heresy in Czechia and true here. The city eats well and cheaply, and the cellars in the south serve their own bottles with bread and cold cuts.
Nightlife
A student city with the cheapest good beer in Czechia and a wine country in the same breath, which is heresy and true.
- Zelný trh and the streets off it — the bars everybody starts at
- Veveří — student prices and student hours
- the wine bars — Moravian bottles, which is what Brno drinks rather than beer
- Bar, který neexistuje — a cocktail bar with a reputation beyond the city
Closing: Bars to 02:00 or later; the clubs until morning at weekends.
A beer in a bar: 40–60 Kč
Order Moravian wine here and beer in Prague; both cities will tell you so.
Getting around
Easy- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- LiftagoWorks here
Liftago the local one, and drivers prefer it
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Prague — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Czech Republic
Why these are Czech Republic's numbers and not Brno & South Moravia's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 71% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 85% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Brno & South Moravia, so these are medians for all of Czech Republic. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Czech Republic, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Czech
- HelloDobrý denDOH-bree den
- PleaseProsímPRO-seem
- Thank youDěkujiDYEH-koo-yi
- Yes / NoAno / NeAH-no / neh
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePromiňtePRO-min-teh
- How much is it?Kolik to stojí?KO-lik to STO-yee
- The bill, pleaseÚčet, prosímOO-chet
- Cheers!Na zdraví!na ZDRA-vee
Religion
No majority faith
Among the least religious countries in Europe. Churches are visited as architecture, and nobody will assume otherwise.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Say dobrý den on entering a shop and na shledanou on leaving
- Let the beer settle — a proper Czech pour has a thick head and is not short measure
- Wait to be seated, and expect to share a table when it is busy
- Carry small notes; some pubs still dislike large ones
Don't
- Do not clink glasses across other people’s arms, and make eye contact when you toast
- Do not start drinking before everyone has toasted
- Do not be loud on public transport; the register is quiet
- Do not confuse Czech with Russian, or bring up the Soviet period casually
Where to stay in Brno & South Moravia
No Holistay rentals in Brno & South Moravia yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Brno & South Moravia on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Vienna VIE
1h 30mfrom the airport· 121 km as the crow flies
1h30 by direct coach.
Also worth pricing: Prague PRG — 2h30 by train.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
