Top City Breaks
2012 Special Events
Vienna Philharmonic Sea & Music Cruise - July 2012
London Olympics 2012
For ticket information please click here.
Ostrava is the third largest city (320,000 inhabitants) in the Czech Republic and one of the most interesting places to visit. Since 1989 the industrial city's face has changed radically. Ostrava is an important cultural, trade and sporting centre.
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For more information please visit the Ostrava City Break page
The shopping scene in Ostrava often surprises visitors as it is so well developed.
This is particularly the case if you choose to head to the Futurum shopping mall; home to a wealth of stores and located at the very centre of Ostrava. The Futurum contains some 80 different shops, along with a Tesco hypermarket and also a multiplex entertainment centre, complete with cinema screens.
The range of places to eat in Ostrava is wide, since having a good time with friends and enjoying a good meal is a Czech speciality. A visitor may enjoy the friendly atmosphere of numerous taverns, student pubs, wine bars, romantic cafés and patisseries. You may drop in at both fast food and specialised bars offering vegetarian meals. And you mustn't forget all the restaurants with both traditional Czech and international cuisine - Mexican, Italian or Asian. After checking out all of these options, you will surely find eating out a favourite way to relax and socialise with your new Czech friends.
The City of Ostrava provides its citizens with a vibrant cultural scene. The City has five permanent theatres presenting opera, drama, ballet and operetta. Visitors can also enjoy the Puppet Theatre. Every two years Ostrava is enlivened by the Spectaculo Interesse international puppet festival, which gives great pleasure to viewers both big and small. In addition, there is a range of cultural centres for lovers of the performing arts which offer stage dramas and musical events featuring artists from the Czech Republic and abroad. Classical music enthusiasts can visit the traditional annual Leoš Janáček festivals that take place in the City and at the nearby Hukvaldy Castle, and enjoy a range of chamber and symphonic music.
One of the summer highlights and an absolute must for friends of world music is the international Colours of Ostrava Open-Air Festival hosting numbers of the world's best-known music performers, including Asian Dub Foundation or Fun-Da-Mental and offering a unique multicultural atmosphere. Ostrava is home to a nationally acclaimed summer Folklore Without Borders Festival which is a popular celebration of many different ethnic cultures featuring national dance performances in multicoloured folk costumes.