Sitting in the centre of Europe, with Germany to the west, Poland to the north, Slovakia to the east and Austria in the south, the Czech Republic has one foot in Western Europe, and one in the Slavic East.

“Prague never lets you go”, said Franz Kafka, “this dear little mother has claws”. Prague gets her golden claws into tourists too, and few ever make it outside the capital. But those who tear themselves away won’t be sorry; the honey-coloured spa towns in the Sudeten Mountains, Bohemia’s Renaissance breweries and hilltop ruins, and the tumbling vineyards and underground bars of Moravia are well worth exploring.