Kuks

Kuks (pronounced roughly "kooks") sits on a slope above the Elbe River in East Bohemia, about two hours east of Prague. In the early 1700s, Count František Antonín Špork commissioned an enormous baroque hospital and church complex here, meant to care for military veterans and to double as a spa for the region's aristocracy. The spa is long gone, but the hospital, its terraces and its pharmacy — one of the oldest in Central Europe — are still standing, and largely open to visitors.

What makes Kuks unlike anywhere else in Czechia is the line of stone figures along the terrace: Matthias Braun's allegorical statues of the Virtues and Vices, carved between 1712 and 1732. Envy, Anger, Pride, Faith, Hope, Charity — each one a full-body baroque drama in sandstone, weathered but still ferocious. Walking the terrace at golden hour, with the Elbe valley behind them, is genuinely unforgettable.

By train: Direct connections from Prague to Kuks take about 2 hours with one change in Hradec Králové or Pardubice. From Kuks station it's a 15-minute walk across the river to the hospital.
By car: Around 1 h 45 min from Prague via the D11. Free parking sits below the complex.

Practical tip: Combine Kuks with the nearby Braun's Bethlehem — a forest a short walk away where more of Braun's statues are carved directly into living sandstone boulders. It's free, easy to miss, and arguably the most magical part of the visit.