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Artists from the Czech Republic, Iceland and Norway have got together in the industrial landscape in North Bohemia for a project called Frontiers of Solitude, examining the transformations of landscape, the relationship of people and nature and the loss of historical continuity.

A group of adventure lovers from the Czech Republic has launched a project to boost tourism in a remote village in northern Albania. Around one hundred volunteers travelled to Curraj Eperm in the Albanian mountains over the summer to build a bridge, reconstruct a local church and mark more than ninety kilometres of tourist trails. All of that out of sheer enthusiasm and for free.

Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma opened the eighth annual Dvořák Prague international music festival at Prague’s Rudolfinum on Monday night. The world renowned musician, accompanied by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with Jiří Bělohlávek at the helm, received a standing ovation for his performance of Dvořák’s famous B minor cello concerto. We spoke to the head of artistic planning for the festival, Guy Borg, about this year’s event.

Prague is no doubt one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but how exactly will the city develop in the future? Should the new buildings respect the historical skyline? How many cars should be allowed to park in the city centre? And should Prague be allowed to sprawl outwards or make better use of the space in the centre? These are just some of the issues addressed by the new building regulations plan, which has recently became the subject of a political battle at Prague City Hall. In fact, the plan put together by a team of experts around former

This year, it is 150 years since the first steamboats started to cruise the waters of the Vltava River in Prague. While back then, steamers were used mainly as a means of transport, nowadays they belong among the city’s most popular tourist attractions. I met with the head of the Prague Steamboat Company, Štěpán Rusňák, to talk about the company’s history and its present-day activities, but I first asked him how they endured the recent drought:

Drivers on Czech roads may soon come across a new, perhaps somewhat surprising, traffic sign: a moose crossing. The non-profit organisation Česká Krajina or Czech Landscape has proposed that the road management authorities place the traffic signs in regions where an encounter with these rare animals is most likely to happen. I spoke to Miloslav Jirků of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who is one of the people behind the initiative:

If you don't like organised trips abroad but you are not quite sure how to arrange a journey on your own, a new Czech travel agency called Travelove might be just the thing for you. From lunching with a local in Paris, taking a ride with the huskies in the Arctic Circle or meeting with an Irish musician in Cork, you can choose basically any experience you want and get it within a vacation tailor-made to your needs. Launched at the end of last year, Travelove has already opened an office in London and has been gradually expanding all over the

While most people regard decrepit buildings as something ugly, there are some who actually find them fascinating. One of the people enchanted by these modern-day ruins is Czech student Katka Havlíková. For several years now, she has been exploring vacant buildings across the Czech Republic as well as beyond the country's borders. She has even published a book on urban exploration and another one is to be released later this year. I met with Katka Havlíková to find out more about the phenomenon and her own fascination by vacant buildings:

Guidebooks are fairly common fare in Prague during the height of the tourism season. But one with a difference which has come out and takes the visitor and local both near the tourist hotspots and off the beaten path. It is in fact a guide to the sites used by the Communist-era secret police in the capital. The author is Prokop Tomek, an historian at the Prague’s Military History Institute and an expert on many aspects of the workings of the former secret police and intelligence service. I asked him first of all where the inspiration for the book

A new Czech documentary called Amerika, which has recently premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Festival, explores the unique Czech pastime known as tramping, inspired in part by the vision of the American Wild West. But instead of providing a detailed description of the movement, the film takes its viewers on a journey through the Czech countryside, giving them an opportunity to experience the emotions one feels when wandering through the landscape. We have more in this week’s edition of In Focus.