Cesky Sternberk Castle is one of the oldest stone castles in Czechia. Its history begins from 1241. It is a unique place, due to several reasons, but the most essential one is that the castle almost for 8 centuries belongs to one family — Sternbergs. They are one of the oldest noble families in the country. There were two gaps, when the castle was under different people. The last were the communists from 1946 till 1989.
- Today Zdenel Sternberk the owner of Cesky Sternberk Castle lives there.
History
The history of the castle is quite long and has a lot of interesting moments. Most of the stories you will learn from a guided tour to the rooms of Sternberk with a local guide. I would mention only the most inspiring facts, which will help you to plan a tour from Prague to Sternebrk castle, because it is very interesting and exciting to see one of the oldest stone castles in the Czech Republic. That was the first fact by the way.
Sternberk Castle has gothic construction with baroque interiors. Inside of the rooms visitors can see how Sternberg family used to live. The rooms reflect the changes of times, people and fashion. For me the most exciting room in the whole castle was library. There are so many old books!
During the Hussite wars Sternberg family was fighting against the king. After one of the attacks the walls of the castles were ruined by the artillery. Therefore in the XVI century they had to reconstruct the castle. That was the time were the south bastion appeared (you can see it in the picture above). It was the protection of the main building from artillery attacks. Today this construction looks the same with an open view at the top, where one can get for 10 CZK.
Inside Cesky Sternberk Castle
The owners of the Sternberk Castle occupy the ground floor. Therefore only the second is open for groups of tourists with 15 rooms to see and to listen about the things used to happened there. The floor, the walls, the ceilings and interiors bring us back in time for centuries. And if you listen to the guide carefully, you be able to plunge into that real castle atmosphere.
The list of rooms to visit in the castle
After a visit to the castle I compiled the list of the rooms, which are open for visitors. Some of the rooms are quite big, the others like the Oriental cabinet are tiny. But all of the rooms in the castle of Sternberk are super interesting, because they are full of furniture, details and decor.
- The Knights’ hall;
- St. Sebastian Chapel;
- The Yellow Lounge;
- The Ladies Lounge;
- Library;
- Dining room;
- Oriental cabinet;
- Breakfast lounge;
- Study;
- Antechamber;
- The smoking lounge;
- Kaspar Sternberg’s room;
- Antechamber;
- Bedroom;
- Hunting lounge.
Hotels and restaurants
There are several good hotels near Sternberk Castle with good facilities for tourists. Among them you can find the following:
What concerns restaurant in Cesky Sternberk, they are quite easy and offer traditional Czech food, local beer and reasonable price. But you should not expect special service. So best places to eat close Sternberk castle are:
- Pivovar Kacov – V Podskali 6, Kacov;
- Pivovarska Hospoda Salanda – Kacov 6, Kacov;
- Na Marjance – K Marjance 191, Stribrna Skalice.
The restaurants located right at the castle are of absolutely terrible service and quality of food. I would not recommend them to anyone. Therefore the 3 variants above are a bit in a distance of the castle, but you are sure to enjoy the food, beer and prices.
How to get to the castle
Cesky Sternberk castle is located quite close to Prague. It is only 60 kilometers from the city centre of the Czech capital. Therefore one can travel there by different means of transport: by car, with a guided tour, by bus or by train. I will give you the information about each possible way of getting to the castle, so that you could compare and pick up the most comfortable way of traveling from Prague to Cesky Sternberk.
By Bus
Let’s start with the less comfortable, but cheapest way of traveling from Prague to the direction of the castle. There are two buses going at 11:20 and 5 p.m. You need to find bus stop Roztyly which is at the red line metro station. The ticket for the bus is 72 CZK and the road takes about 2 hours.
By Train
Trains from Prague to Cesky Sternberk go every hour from the main railway station. The trip takes about 2 hours with 1 change in Cernany. One adult ticket costs 109 CZK one way. Return ticket, or if you travel in a group will be a bit cheaper. You can check it in the ticket office of the central train station in Prague or online cd.cz
By car
The easiest and fastest way for a day trip from Prague to one of the oldest gothic castles in Czechia will take you about 40 minutes. Follow the road D1 and take right turn 41 to Cesky Sternberk. There is parking near the castle. Learn, how to rent a car in Prague.
Private tour
There are several options of private day tours from Prague to Cesky Sternberk with a local guid. Most of them combine 2 castles, for example Sternberk + Konopiste. In case you have a full day open for traveling, we can combine even more places and make the tour even more interesting.
Admission fees and opening hours
As almost all Czech Castles, Sternberk is open for visits from April till October. In this two months visitors are welcome from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. In May and September the schedule is from a.m. till 5 p.m. And in 3 summer months: June, July and August the doors of the Sternberk castle are open from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m.
Fees:
- 195 CZK per person;
- 135 CZK for kids and students
- 300 CZK night tour (only for group of 10 people and with advanced reservation).
Remember, that MONDAY is a dead day in any of the castles in the Czech Republic.
I sincerely hope, that when you come to visit Czechia you will find time for trips from Prague and that Cesky Sternberk castle will be among them. Book a private tour to the castle with a local guide. If you have already been to the castle, leave your recommendations and reviews in the comments below.
