Road trip to Křivoklát Castle

In 2022 Czechia was stormed by the release of a Netflix movie about the historical events and figures from Czech history called simply Medieval. Since watching the movie with Ben Foster and Michael Caine, my desire to visit the mysterious Křivoklát Castle, perched atop a hill and featured in a few scenes, has been constant. Much to my surprise, Křivoklát Castle is less than an hour’s drive from Prague.

Road to Křivoklát Castle

Even by our standards, we started our journey exceptionally late. We left the house after 2:00 PM. While we wanted to go earlier, there was all the time something we needed to finish.

That day was a Sunday. Just a day before, we visited terrific the Air show at Čáslav air base and the mesmerizing Chateau Třebešice. So I have to admit, we were not really in a hurry today.

The journey to Křivoklát Castle was not long. But it took us through Central Bohemian Region’s narrowest and most remote roads.

We drove through Kladno city centre where some cyclist festival was happening. And since then, we counted 17 cyclists on the way to the Křivoklát. I am not against cyclists, as I bike myself a lot. But I am against stupid people who risk their lives. Often slow-moving cyclists considered the narrow roads theirs, and I needed to pass in the opposite direction to bypass them safely. That hover pushed me to the risk as roads were very narrow and super curvy.

https://goo.gl/maps/Gs2iFBTmeY7AE82q8

Parking and access to Křivoklát Castle

When we came to Křivoklát, I only knew that there should be a parking place. As I drove towards it, I observed that it required payment. I did not intend to pay anybody anything for parking in this waste and open village where free parking space was abundant. Therefore, I only drove one street above the paid parking and parked in an empty waste space in front of a housing block.

We took everything valuable from the car and got on the pedestrian road towards the Křivoklát Castle. It was already after 4:00 PM when we left the car, and I knew it would not be enough time to do anything meaningful at the castle.

We quickly walked the path and got in front of Křivoklát Castle. I noticed a petrol pump and read the information for tourists. Curiously, one can discover beneath the Křivoklát Castle one of Czechia’s oldest manual petrol pumps, which remained in use until the late 70s of the 20th century.

Further along, the way to Křivoklát Castle is also a village brewery. However, no pub is present.

We took pictures of the front of the Křivoklát Castle and the castle’s gate and walked into the inner courtyard. Here, we saw the visitor entry and decided to visit the ticket office and ask if there was any chance to visit the castle interior.

Unfortunately, we came very late. It was around 4:20 PM when we saw that the castle was open until 5:00 PM. It was late May Sunday, and there was plenty of sunlight ahead. However, there was no exception, and we were sure working castle staff would like to leave home as early as

Little bit of Křivoklát Castle history

Křivoklát Castle was established in 1109 and is one of the country’s oldest and most important castles. Originally built during the reign of Přemysl Otakar II, the castle underwent many changes during different royal owners being at one time a royal residence or a hunting place for the Czech monarchy and royalty. Eventually, the castle ended up as a prison. Křivoklát Castle contains elements of early and late Gothics. The castle was reconstructed and saved in the 19th century under the rule of the Furstenberg family, who owned the castle until 1929.

Visiting Křivoklát Castle

There are several tourist information tables on the castle premise. However, they either have old or misleading information, as most refer to invalid web addresses. I would recommend checking official web of Křivoklát Castle if you want to find more information.

Křivoklát Castle tours

There are four tourist tours around the castle.

• Gothic Palace – long (basic tour) – 80 minutes
• Gothic Palace – short tour – 60 minutes
• Castle grand tour – 100 minutes
• On the ramparts and tower – 20 minutes

Long Gothic Palace tour will guide you through the Second Castle courtyard, silver smithery, August’s prison, prison, dungeon, chapel, small Knight’s Hall, Large Knight’s Hall, library, picture gallery, Fürstenberg Museum and lapidarium.

Short Gothic Palace tour will guide you through the Second castle courtyard, silver smithery, August’s prison, prison, dungeon, chapel, small Knight’s Hall, Large Knight’s Hall and lapidarium.

Castle grand tour will guide you through the Second castle courtyard, silver smithery, August’s prison, prison, dungeon, chapel, small Knight’s Hall, royal room, library, picture gallery, Fürstenberg Museum, ramparts and Large Round Tower.

is without a guide, and the tour will guide you through the castle’s defensive system and illustrative hunting exhibition in the Large Round Tower. The Large Round Tower also offers a 360-degree view of the surrounding area of the castle.

You must keep your dog on a leash in the castle area. However, if you can carry your pet in a pet bag or backpack, you can take it to visit the castle interiors.

At Křivoklát Castle is also the possibility of accommodation for up to 8 people in rooms previously used as a police station.

Prices

For entry tickets, paying with cash and credit cards is possible.

For group visits, reservation is needed.

Opening hours

Křivoklát Castle courtyard

As you can see from the table, any attempt to participate in the tourist excursion around the castle would fail as the Křivoklát Castle was closing in half an hour (5:00 PM) during our visit.

Still, we wanted to use the time and explore what was possible. We walked through the castle courtyard and then up to the castle walls on the West side.

We avoided tourist traps in the form of local stands full of useless items.

We noticed it was possible to walk further, and as proper tourists, we walked into the castle roof. Eventually, we got to the top of West tower, where we enjoyed beautiful views of the whole castle and valley. Svetlana wanted some selfies, and I, as a proper Instagram boyfriend, helped her.

There was not much else to see. But as it was such a hot day, we returned to the castle courtyard and on the way out, we stopped in the castle cafeteria. First, we ordered lemonade in a plastic sack, and then, when we liked it, we ordered two cups of ice cream each. I privatized the beer paper cup from a local brewery to my collection.

It was 5 minutes before 5:00 PM, and we stood up in front of the Křivoklát Castle gate and took the last pictures of the Křivoklát Castle. Immediately after we left the castle gate, the lady from the tourist office locked the ticket office and started to close the castle gate.

Unfortunately, we did not see much from the castle’s interior. But it was our fault as we came so late and postponed the leave from the house for so long.

Monument of Carlus Egon de Furstenberg

blue – road to Křivoklát Castle, green – walking around Křivoklát Castle courtyard, yellow – getting to Carlus Egon de Furstenberg monument, grey – return path back to car

https://goo.gl/maps/GHwnjBAsAs4MaPuH7

Today’s trip was still ongoing. We returned to the paid parking lot and continued walking by the yellow tourist mark. We wanted to find a viewpoint from which there is a magnificent view of the whole valley and a beautiful castle silhouette.

While we found an excellent viewpoint within 20 minutes, there was a better one. It took us another 10 minutes of walking through the lush forest to find the right spot from which the Medieval movie filmmakers made a castle shot.

It was 5:31 when we reached the monument of Carlus Egon de Furstenberg.

The view was beautiful.

Getting back to Prague

It was the end of our journey. There was nothing else to explore, so we returned to the car. We walked on the side of the road as there was no pavement for pedestrians. We found a car, opened the door to let the heat out and prepared to leave the village. But before we left, I hit a few small streets to check out what the life and houses in the Křivoklát village looked like. It was a lovely experience to see some nice Czech village houses.

After that, I ran down the hill and left the village. We went to Prague in the circle through Beroun.

Road trip evaluation

Overall, the short road trip was enjoyable as we had to explore this part of Czechia more. We have seen more exciting stuff along the road, such as local houses or three-wheelers. However, it was evident very early that we had departed for the road trip quite late and arrived at the castle just before its closure.

Exchange rates for Sunday 2023 05 21: 1 EUR = 23,764 CZK; 1 USD = 21.979 CZK.