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Liberec is a charming town located in the Czech Republic. The regional capital, it will give you a glimpse of the urban life in Czechia. This quaint city features a stunning town hall, many historic buildings, a beautiful town square and lots of activities for families. Take a fun bike ride and explore the dam, grab a picnic breakfast from a local coffee shop, check out a fun auto-themed brewery, drink Czech lemonade and experience the other activities the city has to offer.
After our evening visit for dinner at Jested, we had a good night's rest at a local hotel. Worn out from all the hiking we did in the Bohemian Paradise Geopark, we were looking forward to a low key day. Our visit to Liberec turned out to be just what we needed!
This city is one of the larger towns in the Czech Republic, but it gives you a warm sense of a tight-knit community. If Ostrava leaves you with a gritty, industrial, communist feel, and Prague feels historical and monumental but overrun with tourists, then Liberec is for you. It has a University town vibe, an up and coming trendy feel, and all the architecture styles to please your design- loving heart. It was easy to navigate around and gave a great sense of the ambiance of day to day Czech life.
Special thanks to the Liberec Region and Czech Tourism for hosting my visit to the beautiful countryside of the Czech Republic. This post may also contain affiliate links. I only recommend products, experiences, and services I use personally and believe would be a good fit for my readers. This comes at no added cost to you!
Things To Do:
Town Hall:
I was struck by the amount of detail in the construction of the facade of the Town Hall. You can see the gentleman strolling past and get a sense of the scale of the building. It rises in the air over 212 feet! I mean, look at that clock tower! Then our tour guides pointed out that this was the rear of the building. Oops, my bad!
Now here's the front. Several of my friends got an inside tour and said it was just as impressive. I really wanted to hang out on some of those balconies! Although the building appears to be old, it is relatively "new" in European terms, after being built between 1888 and 1893.
Made from copper, the towers have seen enough weather over to have created a gorgeous aqua patina. The look spectacular on a warm sunny day. The arched lamp posts are also worth noting. The graceful curves and ironwork detail seem to echo the surrounding buildings.
Town Square:
Right across from the Town Hall is this water feature - the Fountain of Neptune, a nod to the Roman Sea God. You can see his famous trident clasped between his two hands. The water sprinkles down through a fish's mouth.
Around the square, you'll see Hotel Praha, a few other hotels, shopping, restaurants, and cute cafes. There are modern roads, along with cobblestones.
Bike Rentals:
One of the fun things the city offers are these fun pink bikes that are available for rent through Rekola Bike Sharing. You can pick up at one place and return to another. It uses a simple phone app and is also available in 9 other cities. We picked our bikes up here in the town center and dropped them off at the University.
There is something about seeing a town or countryside by bicycle. You take in more than you can when just driving, and you can cover more area than you can by hoofing it. Our ride wasn't too long, but it gave us a chance to see some areas of Liberec. We typically used bike lanes, paths, sidewalks, and some streets. What I did notice is the town had more hills than I thought!
Harcovská Dam
Who wouldn't want to take this curve in the end when riding a bike? This dam, Harcovská Dam, also called the Liberec Dam, is one of 5 that helps keep the area from flooding. These turrets are adorable, and one is even a WC!
You can see the measurement marker for the water depth, as well as another ironwork lamplight, and of course, the sign at the top denoting it as a WC (water closet, ie, bathroom). The wind vane look at the top of that steeped roof gets me every time!
Families use the lake for recreation. It is a popular area for swimming and fishing, and the forest that surrounds the lake is full of animals of all types- birds, reptiles - even hedgehogs!
Technical University of Liberec
I live in a college town and my husband works at the University. We could often pass hours just walking around campus. The same is true here. We dropped our bikes off on a bike rack here and took in some of the buildings.
The Technical University of Liberec is one of the Czech Republic's top spots for higher education. It has high rankings for many studies, including engineering. It also has studies in emerging sciences like nanomaterials. The University's Textiles and Fashion design degree is the only one offered in Czechia.
Kavárny Bez konceptu
We stopped into the coffee shop, Bez Konceptu before dropping off our bikes at the University. They treated us to some much-needed water after all our cycling, and a latte to which I was MOST appreciative of. I'm a coffee fiend, and theirs was delicious!
While we were there, our tour guides picked up picnic baskets for our brunch. This was such a fun treat on our trip! They included these gorgeous thick picnic blankets, along with everything we'd need for dining Al Fresco. One thing the Czech Republic knocks out of the ballpark is the drinks. They are always full of the freshest fruits and herbs- the cucumber water and fresh- squeezed orange juices are just a few examples.
We kicked back, took off our shoes and dug in! My fellow adventurers had sandwiches, but Bez Konceptu went the step above and prepared a delicious gluten free meal just for me. You can see the fantastic ham and cheese omelet complete with a garnish of fresh chives, along with a side salad of the ripest in-season veggies.
Our dining spot was at a little park on a hill just off the side of the University. After our delightful meal, we laid back on the blankets and looked at the leaves in the trees and the clouds in the sky. We learned a bit more about the city from our tour guides and just enjoyed being in the moment. I've discovered that picnics on trips for me always turn out to be good memories, and I have made a mental note to add more to future itineraries.
The Chamber Escape Room:
This was my first time giving an escape room a whirl and it was so much fun! The Chamber was done mostly in English for us, so even though it added a bit of a challenge, we were able to complete it, just under the time allotted. It was funny to see our little group bond and to also see personality traits come out. You could see who was a natural leader, and those who wanted to step back and be more of a worker bee.
The Chamber had 2 different rooms at the time, and I believe that they change up the games as well. They had real time video going the whole time, so when we were stuck, or if there was an emergency, it would have been easy enough to be let out (I am a bit claustrophobic and knowing this made me feel much better).
Beer Warehouse
We were hungry again after working all those brain cells and had quite a treat in store for us with the Beer Warehouse. How often can you get a pint that flows out of vintage oil cans, or sit next to a vintage motorcycle hung on the wall? The menu was fantastic, with all the expected brewery fare.
One thing we quickly discovered on our tour was Czech Lemonade. I mentioned before that they know how to flavor water and boy do they! We were sweltering because a record heatwave was going on while we were there, my luck of course! Every time we made a stop, we would order multiples of these. The Beer Warehouse had some of our favorites.
You can spy Kiwi up top, lemon, and mixed berry. They were often mixed with herbs like basil, thyme, lavender, and rosemary. Local elderberry syrup is often used as a sweetener. Other favorites are the go to soda drink - Kofola. And of course, the Beer Warehouse had plenty of brews on tap worth tasting!
This was the end of our day in Liberec, and we were sad to leave. We moved on to a small town called Dubice to enjoy the Dubice Water Sport Resort where we tried our hands at paddleboarding, wakeboarding and water skiing. Mainly we just soaked up the sun and enjoyed the cool lake water!
Exploring the town of Liberec was such an enjoyable day. There are still so many sites to see! Here are some that might interest you and your family.
More Things To Do In Liberec:
- iQLANDIA - a science center complete with a planetarium
- Liberec Zoo - one of the few places to see white tigers
- Centrum Babylon - water park and more.
- Botanical Gardens - features 9 pavilions full of different species of plants
Planning a trip to the Czech Republic or just want to make sure you don’t lose this post? I’d love it if you pinned this pin to your favorite travel board on Pinterest!
Getting here:
Liberec is almost 70 miles from Prague. We traveled by rental van, but if you are not wanting to rent a vehicle, there is only one other option to get back and forth. Regiojet is a popular bus line in the Czech Republic. Sadly, I did not find a direct train.
Other Places to Explore in the Czech Republic:
- Experience a Beer Spa!
- Visit Jested Radio Tower for Spectacular Views!
- Six Great Places in the Czech Republic Beyond Prague
- Hike in the Bohemian Paradise Geopark
- Tips and tricks to renting a car in Europe
Have you ever been to Liberec? I'd love to hear what your favorite things to do are! For me, Liberec provided a look into the daily Czech life but without the hustle and bustle and crowds you find in places like Prague. Without all the tourists it gave it a very laid back feel!
Happy Travels My Friends!
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