Czech Republic Guide
East Bohemia
Broumov
BROUMOV (Braunau), a predominantly German-speaking town before the war, 30km due east of Trutnov, is probably the best place to base yourself if you're thinking of exploring the Broumov walls (The Broumov walls). The town is particularly impressive from a distance, with its colossal Baroque Benediktinský klášter, perched on a sandstone pedestal above the River Stěnava. The monastery was used by the Communists to incarcerate much of the country's Benedictine priesthood after 1948, most of whom passed their remaining days here. During the 1960s numerous nuns were also imprisoned here – up to 300 at one point – and forced to labour in local factories and fields, until they too eventually died. This sad recent past seems to echo throughout the monastery, which stands mostly unused and lonely. Hourly guided tours (April– Oct Tues– Sat 9–11am & 1–4pm, Sun 10–11am & 2–4pm; 65Kč) lead through the stunning Baroque chapel, designed by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, Bohemia's foremost ecclesiastical architect, who lived here from 1727 to 1738; it features paintings by his contemporary Vratislav Vavřinec Reiner. Upstairs, the musty library contains what is said to be the only copy of the Shroud of Turin in central Europe.
Before leaving town, take time to look at the Silesian fourteenth-century wooden church (the oldest in the country) on the Křinice road out of the centre. With a car and a passion for Baroque churches, you could also happily spend a morning exploring the local Stěnava valley, with its numerous churches designed in the eighteenth century by Dientzenhofer.
The train and bus stations lie close to each other five- to ten-minutes' walk southeast of the old town. Set in its own grounds to the southwest of the centre off Šalounova and with an excellent restaurant, the Hotel Veba ( 
491 580 211, 
www.hotel.veba.cz ; Price: 1001-1500Kč) is the best place to stay. More central is the Communist-era Hotel Praha ( 491 523 786, www.hotel-praha.cz ; Price: 1001-1500Kč) on the main square. In the radnice, a couple of doors to the left, the tourist office (May & Sept Mon– Fri 8am–4pm, June– Aug Mon– Sat 8am– noon, Oct– April Mon– Thurs 8am–4pm, Fri 8am–3pm; www.broumov.net ) can help with private rooms. Try to sample the local beer, Opat, if the restaurants at Veba and Praha still offer it – the larger national brands are doing a good job of taking over pub menus. If you follow the red-marked trail heading southwest to the chapel of Panna Maria Sněžná (2hr) you'll find a nineteenth-century mountain hut with an atmospheric restaurant (closed Mon & Tues) serving simple, hearty food.