Strakonice

Strakonice has three unlikely industries in its history. From 1812 the Furth and later Zenker works made fezzes here and exported them across the Ottoman world, at one point supplying a large share of the total market from a small Bohemian town. From 1899 the Ceska zbrojovka works made bicycles, then motorcycles under the CZ name that were sold worldwide and dominated motocross in the 1960s. And the region is the home of the Czech bagpipe, the dudy - a bellows-blown pipe with a goat-head chanter - which is still played here and which the town celebrates with an international bagpipe festival every two years, one of the larger such gatherings in Europe. The castle by the Otava is a large complex with a Romanesque chapter house, a keep, and the museum holding the fez, motorcycle and bagpipe collections.

What you actually see

• Fezzes for the Ottoman world - made here from 1812 and exported widely.
• CZ motorcycles - the works that dominated motocross in the 1960s.
• Czech bagpipes - the dudy, with a festival every two years.
• A castle by the river - Romanesque chapter house, keep and the town museum.

When to go

May to September; the bagpipe festival in odd-numbered Augusts. A day.

Honest expectations

The festival runs every second year - check the date. The museum sections keep varying hours and close on Mondays. The town is otherwise an ordinary industrial centre.

Nearby

Blatna water castle is north; the Sumava foothills rise west.