On our recent Eurotrip we visited Brno, a city located in the south-estern part of Czech Republic. To be honest it was an accident. We planned a trip to Budapest and Vienna, but since we were going by car (check out our practical guide to driving around Europe), and Maria was the only driver, we needed a spot to spend the night on our way there. It was definitely lucky accident, as Brno is now one of our favourite cities ever.
Brno is a student city, meaning there’s lot of cool restaurants, bars and spots where you can chill out, party and simply have a nice time. And what’s most important – most of them are realatively cheap so that students can afford it. It’s a perfect city for a weekend visit planned mostly around eating. And that’s exactly what we did. We had two days in Brno, in total. We arrived there late in the evening, on our way to Budapest, then we only had time for a late craft beer. But we did spend majority of the next day walking around and checking out all the food spots I found on Instagram. Same as with Budapest, we also had a list of coffee spots that Łukasz, a barista from Cophi, and occasional writer for European Coffee Trip, prepared for us. We stopped in Brno again on our way back to Warsaw. We had an evening of drinking and than an entire day the next day. The only thing was that we had to leave an hour before sunset. We wanted to take some drone shots of a windmill located around 60 km outside of the city in a little town called Jalubi. It’s a cool spot so check it out if you’re traveling by car and have some extra time to spend.
In this blog post we will share some ideas on what to do in Brno when you have almost two full days. But first, you need to sleep somewhere, don’t you?
Accommodation
It was just the two of us travelling – me and Maria – so the best, cheapest solution for us was to book a hostel. We did it totally last minute, so there was not much choice (Brno is quite popular on the weekends) but we made a right choice anyway. We booked two nights in Hostel Mitte located in the very center of the city (in the Old Town). Location was perfect, staff very nice and helpful, rooms were clean, there’s even breakfast included in the price (which we didn’t really use, since the whole point of visiting Brno was to check out the restaurants and cafes). What more can you want? We paid 15 euro per night for a 6 person dorm with a bathroom and said breakfast.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is the lack of car park (see HERE for our parking recommendations in Brno) and the fact that reception closes at 10 o’clock in the evening. It took us 6 hours to get from Warsaw to Brno by car. We didn’t make it in time. Fortunately lovely Clara at the reception desk waited for us and let us in 20 minutes after closing. Thanks again for that!
Getting around the city
Brno is a relatively small city, meaning all the ‘tourist attractions’ are located in the central part. Therefore you don’t really need to worry about getting around the city. You can walk everywhere. This way you’ll get a chance to stumble upon some cool restaurant that you didn’t know about. Another way of moving around the city is renting a bike. Just keep in mind that some of the monuments and places worth visiting (such as the castle and the planetarium) are located on a hill 🙂 There are several different rental spots and sharing companies in Brno.
What to do
The main attraction in itself is walking around the lovely Old Town. There are little art galleries, art instalations and meeting spots hidden in the backyards of tenement houses. They’re quiet during the day but wake up to life at night, when locals and tourists sit around with a beer in hand. You can also walk up a hill to the castle to check out the view of city’s panorama. We didn’t go inside the castle but there are some walking tours organized if you’re interested. The castle is in a nice, shaded green park, where you can chill out on a hot day.
We visited the Planetarium as well. It’s located on another hill. We found a “shortcut” via the allotment gardens where the locals grow fruits and vegetables. It reminded us of places where we used to spend summer holidays during childhood so we instantly felt the spirit of summer 🙂 The Planetarium is a pretty cool place as well. You can check the timetable of performances online. But there’s also an exhibit open all day (free of charge) and some stuff to do outside of the building. The building is pretty cool as well. And you can just enjoy the sun on one of the sunbeds in front of it.
On our way to the Planetarium we visited the Botanical Garden as well, cause it’s one of our favourite things to photograph when we visit a city (you can check some of them in our ‘cityscape’ photography portfolio). This time the green house was closed but we enjoyed our visit anyway.
Where foodies feel at home
Brno turned out to be an amazing place when it comes to gastronomy. There are great restaurants, bars and tons of cafes. We visited quite a few so here are our recommendations. One thing we didn’t manage to try, and we really wanted to, was coffe served in icecream cone served by Krupkafe food truck. It turned out they were out of time during our visit. If you visit Brno be sure to check this experiment out and let us know what you think 🙂
Breakfast spots
Podnik cafe bar – It was one of our favourite breakfast spots during the whole Eurotrip. The place is elegant and industrial. The staff is lovely. There’s a cool outside sitting area and a lot of space inside. The food is amazing as well. We tried their version of an english breakfast as well as an avocado and egg on a toast. Both were great. They also have a great cascara on offer, so be sure to order that (if you like the taste). There’s quite a selection of cakes as well. We went for a lemon tart with italian merengue. We were hungry, ok? 😉 I highly recommend this place!
Marinada Store – Another cool breakfast spot is a mixture of a bistro and a shop with organic food. You can eat good sandwiches on delicious bread, try some artisan honey or a tarte with fresh vegetables. But you can also buy local cheese, sausage or organic products and take home with you. There’s some handicraft as well such as blankets. The interior is dark but very cosy, there’s also an outside sitting area on the sunny days. The best thing about Marinada is definitely lovely staff. Can you tell by now that people in Brno are really cool? 🙂
Coffee and sweets
Cafe Mitte – The first place we hit for some caffeine boost was right outside our hostel. Actually it’s not even outside, it’s just a part of it. Cafe Mitte is tiny but it serves really good coffee (as it later turned out they get at least some of it from Rebel Bean, where we were sent to buy some coffee beans). Just be aware that you can’t pay by card if you spend less than a hundred Czech Korunas.
Kafe Friedrich – I think this one is quite new (I found it, as most of the foodie inspiration, via Brno Life Instagram profile where they’re recommending best and new spots in Brno, be sure to check it out for all the newly opened places). This cafe is tiny but cute. With really high ceiling, minimalistic interior design and really nice staff. Coffee is from Rebel Bean as well 😉
Rebel Bean – Ok, so it’s time to mention them. This is one of the spots where Łukasz sent us. We had a mission to buy a pack of coffee beans for Cophi cafe, so that they can sell it. We couldn’t stop ourselves and bought one for us as well. Now we can enjoy a piece of Brno at home. We went to their spot of Smetanova street where you can find a barber shop and a tattoo studio as well. If you’re feeling inspired 🙂 Maria even tried to get a tattoo as a souvenir from the trip, but they were all booked up. Well, we’ll just have to come back!
Cukrarna Tutti Frutti – After all the coffee we needed something sweet. Fortunatelly right next to the main square where the fruit and veg market is happening there was parked a little pink food truck selling vegan icecream. As far as I can tel they have a few of those food truck in different pastel colours so just be on a lookout. They have some interesting flavours. We tried blueberry with lavender, rasperry with cardamom, strawberry with fresh basil and one that tasted just like apple pie. The last one was definitely our favourite.
Kafec – Yet another spot reccommended by Łukasz. We only went there for a second as we were in a hurry to get to the windmill in time for the sunset. Plus we wanted to get some sweet donuts from Kobliha on the way. Turned out they were all sold out. Well, unlucky for us, but I guess it means they’re delicious. At Kafec we got an ice coffee to go and it was exactly as it should be.
Lunch/dinner
SKØG – We went there twice. First at night for a drink, then we came back during the day to try their vegetarian cuisine and take photos of an amazing industrial design in daylight. Definitely try their lemonades. They have quite a few of them and all have some interesting ingredients. As far as the food goes, we went for a vegan burger. Which was really delicious, quite big and… pink! It was served in a pink bun, probably coloured by a beetroot. Cool idea! The other thing we tried was a salad based on groats. It was delicious as well and very filling.
Fabrik Food Factory – To continue our good run with burgers in Brno we went to a cute little retaurant called Fabrik. There’s just a few seats there, but in the warm months they open up the glass door and create sitting space outside as well. The burger was amazing! And we were impressed with the stamped logo on top of the bun 😉 We tried their vegan curry with rice as well. We loved the combination of spices. I highly recommend this place for a quick delicious meal. And for dessert… get tonic espresso 🙂
Nightlife
We didn’t really give Brno a chance to show itself when it comes to nightlife. Everytime we arrived to the city we were pretty tired and all we could think about was going to bed. We did try some drinks at SKØG, which I mentioned above in the lunch section. I can definitely recommend the ones with gin, which is my favourite alcohol. There’s some classics with a twist. And they’re relatively cheap, comparing to polish prices. Maria went for beer which was cheaper than I remember paying for 8 years ago when I was a student. If I went to Brno on Erasmus I’d seriosuly die due to alcohol consumption. Another place we tried was Pub U Dvou přátel – a craft bar located right next to our hostel. There you’ll find a choice of several craft beers on tap in good prices.
If you’re thiNking of taking a short vacation and don’t know where to go, why not check out Brno? We really enjoyed the city, the people and the food and wouldn’t mind coming back for more. Before we left for our holidays, Mięta was trying to discourage us, claiming there’s nothing to do in Brno. To be honest, I think we enjoyed it even more than Vienna. It’s definitely way more friendly and approachable. And less threatening to the wallet.
For more photos from Brno check out our ‘cityscape’ photography portfolio HERE.
