Plzen or Pilsen is the home to one of Czech’s most popular and best beers- Pilsner and the rest of its brands like Kozel.
There is a saying in the Czech Republic that beer (pivo) is cheaper than water (voda). It isn’t just a phrase, but reality. A beer is about 30 Kc in the non-touristy areas, which translates to over 1 euro or close to 2 dollars. Versus water will be about 50-60 Kc.
A Czech friend of mine once told me that the government is trying to pass a law saying that water has to be the cheapest thing on the menu, but it isn’t going through. I’m not 100% sure on this, but that’s what I heard.
Anyways, Plzen is a pretty town as well. Though the biggest tourist attraction is the brewery, there is a pleasant main square and park. It also holds Europe’s second largest synagogue in Europe.
We took the train at 12:10 and got in around 13:40ish. We wanted to take the tour at 14:45, but it was full. We managed to get the tour at 16- something, I can’t remember anymore.
We took the 19:06 train back home. This gave us plenty of time to see the town as well as take the 100 minute brewery tour.
Included in the brewery tour is one unfiltered beer that is only made in small batches for the brewery guests (so not sold anywhere else). It was a good tour. They do a lot of things from the founds in the 1800’s, like make the beer barrel by hand.
The part of the brewery where they fill and clean the bottles was pretty cool and a bit mesmerizing.
If you have the time in Czechia, be sure to CZECH out Plzen.
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