Liberec is a small town in the north-east of the Czech Republic. It can be a pleasant stop on your itinerary on your way to Germany, or on a circular route through the Czech Republic. Of course, there are mostly local attractions (except 2-3x), but Liberec deserves a stop for a couple of days..
I spent 4 days in it, managed to walk around the city and visit a dozen sights, which I will tell you about in this post, a certain TOP. And there you yourself will choose what to see.
The content of the article
What to see in Liberec
About their impressions of Liberec, I already wrote, I will not repeat myself.
Mount Ještěd, TV tower and hotel
This is probably the very first place worth visiting. Especially if you love mountains, aerial views and trekking. All this is here. Up the mountain you will take a funicular, which can be regarded as a separate entertainment (though it only takes 5 minutes to go), and there you can already walk in the mountains for as long as you want.
I highly recommend staying at the hotel in the TV tower, if you are traveling with a soul mate, romance is guaranteed. The hotel is average in quality, but the view from the window is amazing and the interior is not quite ordinary, it reminded me of a spaceship from outside the windows. But the main thing is to be lucky with the weather, because if there are low clouds, you will see only «nothing» and all the romance is gone. There is also a restaurant in the TV tower, but frankly, not really. However, a cup of coffee can be taken safely to warm up in winter. There is no more infrastructure there. More about the tower and the hotel.
TV Tower Ještěd in Liberec
Hotel in the TV tower Jested
Central square and town hall
A typical sight for any city, and you will find yourself on it anyway, but you still need to mention it. So, the area is the same as everywhere else: cobbled, surrounded by old buildings. On Christmas Eve, a market is located there, and at least some movement appears, you can eat sausages, drink coffee or mulled wine, listen to the performances of local bands on the stage. But what is definitely worth trying to do is go up to the observation deck of the town hall, from where you will see a view not only of the square below, but of the whole city. Also, in good weather, you can see Mount Ještěd and the tower.
On the side in the basement of the town hall (if you stand facing it, then on the right), there will be an entrance to nice restaurant Radnicni sklipek with an authentic atmosphere. I was there, I recommend it. The food is average but the beer selection is good and the atmosphere is nice, Czech. More about the town hall.
Town square, view from the town hall
Liberec town hall
IQ Landia
Awesome thing for kids. If you have been to the Moscow Experimentarium or to various science-interactive Science Museums abroad, then this is plus or minus the same thing. Several floors with various things that you can touch, twist, twirl, comprehending physical processes. To be honest, I was there without a child, but I fell out of reality for an hour, really interesting. There is also a planetarium, but you can do without it, nothing special. In addition, everyone talks in English, and without knowing the language, there is nothing to do at all, and it costs separate money. More information about IQ Landia.
IQ Landia - Science and Entertainment Center
Entertainment center Babilon
The largest entertainment center in the Czech Republic. Located directly opposite IQ Landia and has a decent size. Probably the most interesting thing here is the large water park. In addition to water activities, there is an amusement park, an autodrome, climbing walls, a mirror labyrinth, a sauna, a laser tag, etc. The building used to be a textile factory, so the interior is not quite typical for such establishments, usually built more recently from glass and concrete. There is a hotel in Babylon, if a friend would like to stay there.
Botanical Garden
Whenever possible, I try to visit the botanical gardens. No, I am not an amateur gardener, but for some reason it is very interesting to look at the outlandish plants, at the organization of the garden space, and to be in a man-made, but still corner of nature.
The botanical garden in Liberec is just perfect! It is small and is a covered two-storey pavilion. Inside there is a whole collection of everything and everything: plants of different climatic zones, a small aquarium, a rainforest zone, ponds, decorations. I will not list the names of the plants, I don’t understand anything about it. I very much remember the hall with the tropics, it is stuffy, hot and humid, I immediately remembered my beloved Thailand. As if visited. I visited the botanical garden in winter and it was open to the public, if anything. In summer, there will also be something to see on the street, all sorts of flowers, and a refined area in front of the entrance to the pavilion (ponds with stones and trees in a circle). More about the botanical garden.
One of the tropical rooms in the Liberec Botanical Garden
Liberec Zoo
A good zoo, smaller than in Prague, but the oldest in the Czech Republic. Most of the area is covered with forest, conditions are created for animals close to natural due to the landscape, instead of cages, many animals have pens instead of cages. This zoo is the only place in central Europe where you can see white tigers from Bengal. Of course, you should not expect the scale of a large city attraction from the zoo, but you will spend 2-3 hours in a cozy and pleasant atmosphere..
Museums
In my opinion, this is not Liberec's forte. They just do not need to visit. I only entered Technological Museum, it is not far from the central square. The museum is quite small, but, as knowledgeable people say, there is a very good collection of old motorcycles. Apparently you need to understand something about this, otherwise it's boring. I only remember 2 luxurious old American cars - Dodge Chalenger and Edsel Ford, both late 50s. I would not refuse to ride such.
Also in Liberec there is also the North Bohemian Museum and the Museum of Automobiles, respectively, the first is historical, the second is similar to the technological and also small-town.
Technology Museum and American Cars
Friedstein Castle
If you love ruins, this is the place for you. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this is a tourist attraction and it will not work to be here alone, climbing the stones. On the other hand, stone stones could survive to this day at least in such a state than if they were left to fend for themselves. The place is picturesque and beautiful. It's a good idea to come here on the road from Prague to Liberec, it will be just along the way, that is, this castle is not located in Liberec itself, but before entering it.
By the way, Liberec has its own castle - Liberec, but it is so-so, even outwardly, you don't immediately realize that this is a castle. It seems to me not worth wasting time on him.
Friedland Castle
This castle has been preserved in the form it was in ancient times, and it now houses a functioning museum dedicated to the commander Albrecht von Wallenstein and the 30-year war in which he participated. To be honest, I'm not sure that it is worth going here on purpose, only if you are passing somewhere else. Just in case - the castle is not in Liberec itself, and 20 kilometers north of the city.
Attractions Map
Placed all the points on the map so that it is more convenient for you to understand where and what, and how far from the center.
Attractions Liberec
Attractions of Liberec:
