Plzeň (Pilsen) is western Bohemia’s beer capital, a city of about 188,000 people founded in 1295 by King Wenceslaus II and famed as the birthplace of the pale lager that took its name—Pilsner—at today’s Pilsner Urquell brewery, whose tours run through brewhouses and historic lager cellars. Highlights in the compact centre include Gothic St Bartholomew’s Cathedral, whose tower is the tallest in the Czech Republic, the vast Great Synagogue (one of Europe’s largest), and a labyrinth of medieval-to-early-modern tunnels beneath the old town. Industry shaped the modern city through the Škoda Works, with local museums covering its story. Plzeň sits on main rail and road routes west of Prague, making it an easy day trip or a relaxed base for brewery visits and riverside wandering.

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