06 Sep 2021
Me and my daughter had this great private tour with Michal. Michal was in touch with me after the booking and even though the tour included only the basic tour of the castle he was willing to change it for the (basic + chapel tour) if we paid the difference in cost. I decided to pay that difference of 600 korunas and Michal was happy to purchase the ticket which included the chapel (it turned out later that we did not receive the basic tour at all). We were picked up from our hotel on time. The drive up to the castle is very nice (perhaps 45 minutes or so). There is a 20-minute walk up to the castle from the parking lot through a road that can be a bit steep at times.
Karlstjen castle is located in Cesky Kras national forest. Emperor Karl IV, the Bohemian King and the Holy Roman Emperor built the castle in 14th century to store the jewels of the Holy Roman Emperor. The jewels were stored in the Holy Rood Chapel of the castle. Michal bought the tour ticket in English language. So, we were handed over to the castle guide who guided us inside the castle (there are some steep steps to climb if you have knee issues). The guide was very good. For some strange reason and I am not sure why and I am a bit sad about that, we did not get the tour of the imperial living quarter of Karl IV (which is included in the basic tour and should have been included in our more expensive and all-inclusive tour). Upon reading later I realized that we never got to see a big chunk of sites - Imperial Palace, Hall of Knights, Chapel of St. Nicholas, Royal Bedroom, and Audience Hall. However, the parts we saw are beautiful. Some of the 13th century wall paintings are precious items to see in this castle. The Holy rood chapel has wall studded with precious or semi-precious stones and has many paintings of important officials of that time. The view of the top of the castle is also spectacular!
After the tour of the castle, Michal took us to a nice restaurant in the area for a nice lunch. For my drink, I had Kofola (which is Czech coke) for the first time and it was very nice! We talked a lot with Michal about Czech history and religion. I found Michal nice, knowledgeable, and very fluent in English. It was a very nice day in Czech Republic! If I come to Czech Republic again and take a private tour, I will surely contact Michal.