Beroun

A royal town at the meeting of the Berounka and the Litavka, between Český kras and Křivoklátsko — two gothic town gates, a walkable old core, and the Berounský medvěd brewery.

Beroun grew as a royal town on the Prague–Pilsen road, and its two surviving gothic gates — the Prague Gate and the Pilsen Gate — still bracket the square. For hikers the town is the natural hinge between two protected landscapes: the limestone Český kras ends at its southern edge and the Křivoklátsko woods begin across the river. The Berounský medvěd microbrewery by the station pours the local reward, and the town’s bears — live ones, kept in the enclosure on the town hill and famous from children’s television — are the other local institution.