Charles IV Entered the Chapel Barefoot, and Rückl Has Blown Glass for 300 Years

A private day from Prague pairing Karlštejn with a working glassworks, and a Bohemian lunch in between.

Czechia has more than a thousand castles and châteaux. Karlštejn is the one with the singular job: built in the 14th century by Charles IV, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, to hold the crown jewels, the royal treasure and the relic collections. The detail that says most about him is that the highest and most sacred room, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, with its 129 paintings, was entered barefoot, by the emperor included.

The drive out takes 45 minutes, then about 20 on foot up to the castle; a horse cab can be taken instead for an extra charge. The guided tour of the Imperial Palace joins a scheduled group, with admission paid separately; the longer exclusive tour, which reaches the chapel, has to be reserved in advance.

The glassworks is 30 minutes on. Rückl, at Nižbor, has had the craft handed down in one family for three hundred years, and was named Producer of the Year at the Czech Grand Design awards in 2018. The tour runs 45 minutes, in English or German, in a scheduled group, and you watch the glass blowers work. On Saturdays it runs only in summer.

Lunch is traditional Czech cooking, taken away from the tourist restaurants.