Czechia's most instagrammable bridges

The Charles Bridge in Prague is without any doubt Czechia’s most famous bridge. Named after Emperor Charles IV, it is indeed an amazing piece of architecture spanning 518 meters over the Vltava (Moldau) river, but it is quite hard to avoid the huge crowds on the bridge. Tip: go very early (just before sunrise for example) and you will find much less people present.

But are there any other interesting bridges in Czechia? Yes, there certainly are. The following bridges are definitely worth a visit.

The bridge that resembles the Charles Bridge the most is the early Gothic stone bridge in Písek. This 111 meters long bridge over the Otava river is the oldest in the country. It was founded in the second half of the 13th century. Just like its larger brother in Prague, the Písek bridge is adorned with several Baroque statues and also for pedestrians only.

The stone Renaissance bridge in Stříbro has a similar tower as the ones on the Charles Bridge in Prague, but here the tower is placed in the middle of the bridge, thus dividing it into two parts of different lengths. The total length of the sandstone block bridge dating from 1555 is 60 meters.

The small romantic bridge in Bělá nad Radbuzou is situated close to the German border in the west of Czechia. Built in 1723 it is, just like the Charles Bridge in Prague, decorated with several Baroque statues of saints. Maybe these saints saved the bridge when the retreating Germans wanted to blow it up in May 1945?

The title of the most fairytale-like bridge definitely goes to the castle garden bridge in Nové Město nad Metují. Dating back to 1911, it was a design by famous Czech architect Dušan Jurkovič. Other Wallachian folk style Jurkovič buildings in Czechia include Pustevny, the spa buildings in Luhačovice and the lookout tower in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm.

The last preserved chain bridge in Czechia is the 157 meters long Stádlecký bridge which connects the banks of the Lužnice river near the village of Stádlec in South Bohemia. This bridge used to be located next to the modern Podolsk bridge over the Moldau river, but was moved. The 510 meters Podolsk Bridge dates from 1930 and was at that time one of the largest in Europe thanks to its 150-meter-long arch. Around that time the Podolsk bridge won several architecture awards.