Get to know the history of this fascinating region in the Czech Republic, where World War II ended after the liberation by the US Army. We will go through various locations where history took place, and visit memorable places related with these events. The program begins in Pilsen – the only large city in the modern-day Czechoslovakia that was liberated by the US Army.
In the course of the first two days you will take a tour of the essential places in Pilsen and its surroundings connected to the liberation and the end of the war. You will visit all the significant locations including the Patton Memorial Pilsen, the city centre, where you will visit the town hall and the cathedral spire, monuments and memorials dedicated to the US Army, the great synagogue and the Museum on the Demarcation Line in Rokycany – with an experienced guide by your side all day long.
The program also includes accommodation in a 4-star hotel in the centre of Pilsen (in double rooms), transport around Pilsen and its surroundings and all meals. Then you will go together with your guide to Domažlice – the centre of the Chodsko Region. From there you will have military vehicles at your disposal. You will visit monuments and memorial plaques in Újezd, Díly and nearby the Výhledy villages. In the evening a screening of historical photographs is prepared and you can enjoy music of a traditional bagpipe player. The next day you will spend in Domažlice, with a sightseeing tour and a possibility to visit other memorial places, connected with the liberation by the US Army. At the end of the program you will return to Pilsen.
Welcome to the Czech Republic and Pilsen – Time depends on the arrival of the guests
Accommodation in a 4-star hotel in the centre of Pilsen, where the veterans of the World War II are accommodated as well.
In the afternoon: tour of the legendary Pilsner Urquell brewery and dinner at the restaurant Na Spilce (perhaps free time after arrival).
Day 2
Pilsen – Liberation and the US Army – Start at 9:30 at the reception of the hotel
The tour “Liberation by the US Army” will take you across the historical center to the museum of General Patton – Patton Memorial Pilsen, which is the only museum in the Czech Republic dedicated solely to the US Army. The fundamental part of the museum consists of more than 1000 exhibits from collections of private collectors. The Patton Memorial Pilsen exposition is devoted to the liberation of Southwest Bohemia by the US Army in 1945 and the residence of American soldiers in Pilsen and other cities in the region. Beside weapons and military equipment, we can see original exhibits and objects that reflect the everyday life of soldiers.
The tour continues with the visit of various monuments, such as the General Patton Memorial, the ”Thank you America” monument, the Great Synagogue, the Cathedral church tower, the Town Hall, and ends with a three-course lunch at a renowned restaurant in the city center.
Afterwards, you will go by bus to the Museum on the Demarcation Line in Rokycany (20 minute ride). This museum is the largest non-state military museum in the Czech Republic. The exhibition is focused on vehicles and heavy fighting technology (the outside exhibition counts 190 vehicles), weaponry and equipment of the Czechoslovak Army until 1938, anti-Hitler coalitions and German armed forces in the last days of World War II on the demarcation line. You will then go by bus from Rokycany back to your hotel – after dinner you can enjoy free time in the evening.
Day 3
Domažlice
After breakfast at the hotel, you will depart to the town of Domažlice for a two-day program. You will be accommodated at the Hotel Zlatá včela, directly on the square. From this point on military transportation – Jeep and Dodge – is available. You will depart to the monument in the nearby town of Újezd – the last U.S. pilot to die in Europe during WW II crashed here.
The next stop is at the restaurant Chodská chalupa – Hrádek. There you will enjoy a fabulous lunch and taste local specialties. Afterwards you will go via Postřekov to Díly to the monument honoring 6 soldiers who died at the end of the war in the nearby forest and to the memorial stone at the exact place where the tragedy happened.
Next you will transfer to the place called Výhledy, with its J.Š. Baar monument (a Czech priest and writer) and a view over the whole Chodsko region. You will visit a U.S. Army monument dedicated to the fighting in the nearby woods. In Klenčí pod Čerchovem you will have the possibility to visit the J.Š. Baar Museum, which is located in the house where the 2nd Infantry Headquarters under the command of General Walter M. Robertson was situated.
Then you will go through Trhanov, with its castle of the local magnate Wolf Maximilian Laminger von Albenreuth, also known as “Lomikar”, to Domažlice. Water, coffee, beer or tea is available and free during the whole day. In the evening you are invited to the lounge of the restaurant Dubina. A screening of historical photographs from 1945 will take place during the dinner there, with a bagpiper playing in the typical local costume.
Day 4
On the second day in Domažlice, after breakfast at the Hotel Zlatá včela, you will enjoy to a sightseeing tour in Domažlice and to its castle “Chodský hrad“, to the museum of the Špillar brothers (Czech painters) and to the brewer’s house with exhibits from World War II.
You will see the memorial plaque of M. Konop and the memorial plaque of the town hall as well, and you will have the possibility to visit the church or the town hall in Domažlice. In the end you will have a late lunch in the restaurant Dubina before departing for Pilsen.
