Czechia is country 87 on my quest to see every country in the world. I spent 5 days between Prague and Brno in the fall of 2021. I have rated this country 4/10 mostly because Prague is a super touristy place ( I rate Prague 2/10 and Brno 6/10)

I found Prague overrated and crowded with the worst tourists, mostly stag and hen does from the UK and that made it not the best experience of the city (drunk and loud groups of people mostly everywhere in the centre). On the other hand, Brno was an amazing surprise; I loved the city and managed to sleep in an atomic shelter.

The list below is what I enjoyed the most in Prague and Brno.

PRAGUE

DANCING HOUSE
I decided to walk first thing in the morning to this site, mostly to avoid the flock of tourists and to be able to take decent pictures without 100s of people in front of me. I arrived there around 800 AM and it was a nice walk from the centre. Strongly suggest going early in the morning as when I was walking back, already the first bus was parking nearby.

THE WALK TO THE DANCING HOUSE
My hotel was near the National theatre so not so far from the Dancing House. the walk was very beautiful and full of stunning buildings and architecture.

NATIONAL THEATRE
Incredible architecture and I really loved the contrast between the classic architecture and the more brutalist building next door.

VELVET REVOLUTION MONUMENT

It is a fairly small monument on a wall, Easy to miss if you don't pay attention. It is a bronze monument of 9 hands to mark the student uprising that initiated the collapse of the communist government

FRANZ KAFKA'S HEAD

This moving sculpture is only activated at specific times during the day. There is a timetable near the statue if you want to see it in motion.

MUSEUM OF COMMUNISM

This was the highlight of my stay in Prague. I arrived just after opening hours so I had the whole museum for myself and I spent there around 1.5 hours. The entry fee is 380 CZK (as of November 2021), so around 15 EUROs. It is not the cheapest museum but I think it was worth the money. There are different rooms and it is not all about communist propaganda but there are scenes from life back in the days: home, sports, supermarket, schools.

CRAWLING BABIES

Just outside the Kampa museum, you can find some of these weird and fun statues of crawling babies made by David Cerny. I went to see them on my way to the Lennon Wall. I didn't have time to go inside the Kampa Museum.

LENNON WALL

BROWN NOSERS

This is an installation that is part of a small gallery (Futura Gallery) just outside the centre of Prague, so not touristy and I really enjoyed it. I was the only one in the gallery and I was able to spend time there without being annoyed by the groups of people you will see in the centre of Prague. I walked there. Note that when you get there the outside looks like a normal residential building, ring the buzzer and wait and wait and...eventually someone will come and open the door :) Check their website here for timing. The gallery was free when I went.

CHARLES BRIDGE

BRNO

After 2 days in Prague, I was so happy to leave the city to go to Brno.

Getting to Brno was super easy and I booked my train ticket online here before arriving in Czechia. I took the 08:03 AM Train and got to Brno at 1140AM. The cost of the ticket was 205CZK (November 2021). Brno is fairly small and I walked everywhere

BUNKER 10-Z

The best part of Brno is that I got to spend the night in a communist atomic bunker! I never imagined this could be possible but it is. You can book your accommodation on booking.com. For my room, I paid 35 EURO and you can see the picture below. Of course, don't expect any luxury, it is a nuclear shelter after all. There are shared bathrooms and showers and included breakfast. Also don't expect wifi or mobile network there.

If you have a room in the shelter then you can spend as much time as you like exploring the bunker and for me, this was the most amazing part. I think I spent over 2 hours just going around and taking pictures of literally EVERYTHING. I have been to many Soviet-era bunkers but all the time the visits were rushed and most of the time in large groups so taking pictures was always a problem. This time I had the bunker mostly for myself and I LOVED IT.

ON TOP OF THE BUNKER
On top of the bunker there is also a nice hill where you can see nice views of Brno.

OSSUARY AT THE CHURCH OF ST. JAMES

I also recommend walking around Brno. It is a nice city with beautiful architecture and way fewer tourists than Prague, so, all in all, a more pleasant experience.