Plzeň (German: Pilsen) is the fourth-largest Czech city and the birthplace of the pilsner beer style that accounts for the majority of lager consumed globally. The Pilsner Urquell brewery, founded in 1842, is the single most significant site in the history of Czech beer and one of the most interesting brewery tours available anywhere in the world. Plzeň is also a historically significant Czech city with a well-preserved Gothic and Baroque old town that most visitors undervalue because they come specifically for the brewery.

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Getting There from Prague

By train (recommended): Direct fast trains (IC, RegioJet, ČD) from Praha hlavní nádraží to Plzeň hlavní nádraží. Journey: 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes depending on the service. Trains run frequently (approximately every 30 to 60 minutes during peak hours). Cost: CZK 180 to 260 single. The Plzeň main station is a 10-minute walk from the main square and the brewery.

The Pilsner Urquell Brewery Tour

The Pilsner Urquell Brewery (Plzeňský Prazdroj in Czech) is the most visited attraction in western Bohemia. Founded in 1842 by citizens of Plzeň who were dissatisfied with the quality of their local beer and hired Bavarian brewer Josef Groll to produce a cleaner, lighter alternative, the original brewery produced the first pale golden lager in the world. The style became known as “Pilsner” (after the city’s name in German and Czech) and was subsequently copied globally to the point where it now accounts for the majority of all beer produced worldwide.

Tours available:

The standard tour of the above-ground brewery (approximately 1.5 hours) covers the history, the production process, and the yeast bank. The underground cellar tour (2.5 to 3 hours; the recommended option) adds the original sandstone cellars beneath the brewery where the beer was lagered for weeks before the era of refrigeration, and includes the central highlight: unpasteurised, unfiltered Pilsner Urquell drawn directly from the wooden conditioning barrels in the cellar, at the temperature and in the form that the beer had when this process was standard.

This specific experience, the beer before it is adjusted for transport and mass distribution, is consistently described as the best Czech beer most visitors have encountered. Book this tour in advance at www.prazdrojvisit.cz; particularly important for summer weekends.

The brewery visitor centre at the Pilsner Urquell restaurant near the main gate is open without a tour reservation and serves poured-from-tank Pilsner Urquell at reasonable prices.

The Old Town of Plzeň

Plzeň’s old town is significantly undervisited relative to its architectural quality. The main square, Náměstí Republiky, is one of the largest historic squares in Bohemia: surrounded by Gothic and Baroque buildings with the Gothic Cathedral of St Bartholomew at its centre (the tower, at 102 metres, is the tallest church tower in the Czech Republic; accessible for views).

The Plzeň Underground: A network of medieval cellars, wells, and tunnels beneath the old town, carved into the sandstone bedrock from the 14th to 18th centuries and originally used for the storage of beer and provisions. The underground tour (approximately 50 minutes) provides a specific historical context for understanding the beer storage culture that produced the lagering method used at Pilsner Urquell. Entry approximately CZK 200 at the Gothic Hall on náměstí Republiky.

Great Synagogue: The second-largest synagogue in Europe (after the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest), built in 1892 in a Moorish Revival style. Open to visitors; significant as both an architectural and Jewish heritage site. Entry approximately CZK 100.

Eating in Plzeň

Plzeň’s Old Town has considerably better and cheaper food than the brewery visitor centre, and it is worth the ten-minute walk into náměstí Republiky for lunch rather than eating at the brewery gate. Na Parkánu, the brewery’s own restaurant, serves solid Czech pub food alongside unpasteurised tank beer and is the convenient choice directly after a tour. In the Old Town itself, the restaurants around the main square serve the standard Czech daily menu at CZK 150 to 220, noticeably cheaper than equivalent food in central Prague.