Plzeňský kraj, Czech Republic — Towns & Travel Guide

What is Plzeňský kraj known for?

The Plzeň Region is known as the administrative unit that covers the western part of the historical land of Bohemia, taking its name from its capital, Plzeň. It is a large region by area. Measured by land, it ranks as the third-largest region in the Czech Republic, and its ground divides into two clear halves.

The north-eastern part around Plzeň is industrial, with a strong engineering tradition, while the south-western part is hillier and more rural, working the natural resources of the uplands. This split between engineering town and rural hills is the region's signature.

Where is Plzeňský kraj?

The Plzeň Region occupies the western part of the historical land of Bohemia, in the west of the Czech Republic. By area it is among the country's largest. It ranks as the third-largest region in the Czech Republic, and its land falls into two distinct halves that give the region its shape.

The north-eastern part around Plzeň is a highly industrialised country with a strong engineering tradition, while the south-western part is hillier and more rural, its smaller works processing the natural resources of the uplands. Plzeň stands in that industrial north-east as the regional capital and hub. The contrast between the two halves is the defining fact.

This is a region where a dense engineering basin gives way to open rural hill country as the land climbs toward the south-west, and that gradient from works to uplands shapes everything about it. Two characters share one region. The Plzeň Region is, in effect, the western threshold of Bohemia within the Czech Republic, pairing an engineering town with a hilly rural hinterland.

What is Plzeňský kraj like?

The Plzeň Region carries a working, western-Bohemian identity, split between an engineering town and a rural upland. Plzeň gives the region its heart. As the regional capital, it gathers the industry and everyday life of western Bohemia into one place, and its long engineering tradition sets the tone of the north-eastern half, while the Czech language carries the region's daily affairs.

The hills tell a quieter story. The south-western part keeps a rural temper, its smaller works tied to the natural resources of the uplands rather than to any single great industry. That division runs through the region's character.

The busy engineering country around Plzeň and the hilly rural south-west read almost as two regions under one name, held together as the western edge of Bohemia. Its identity is that of a paired land. The Plzeň Region belongs to western Bohemia, balances works against hills, and answers to Plzeň.

What is the history of Plzeňský kraj?

The Plzeň Region took its present administrative form in 2000, when the Czech Republic drew its current regions, but the land it covers is the old western part of Bohemia. Its past is a story of industry and hills. Plzeň grew into an engineering city at the heart of this western corner, while the hillier south-west kept to the older rural work of the uplands.

That pairing of works and countryside still marks the region.

What is the climate of Plzeňský kraj?

The Plzeň Region has a moderate inland climate, cooler and wetter over the hills of its south-western part. Winters run cold across the west. The higher rural ground holds snow longer than the lower country around Plzeň, while summers stay mild and green through the engineering north-east.

Rain follows the uplands. This split between lowland town and cooler hills carries into the weather as it does into the land.

How do you get to Plzeňský kraj?

The Plzeň Region is reached mainly through Plzeň, the hub of this western part of Bohemia. Road and rail converge on the city. Main lines run west across the Czech Republic toward Plzeň, which sits on the route out of the interior toward the western edge of Bohemia, so the region is easy to reach from the heart of the country.

Buses serve the rural hills. From Plzeň the engineering north-east and the upland south-west are both a short run out.