Before leaving the visitor centre, our friendly English-speaking guide gave an introductory talk in a room with a classic motor brewer's dray loaded with wooden beer barrels.
Outside we passed large water tanks that store the brewery's water pumped up from artesian wells 300 metres below ground and stacks of pallets with cartons of bottled beer waiting for collection.
Further along the large brewery site, we entered the building housing the brewery and climbed many stairs to reach a viewing balcony that overlooks the magnificent copper coated vessels.
Back at ground level, we entered an older building with flagstone flooring which is kept cold (2° C) all year round for the beer to ferment and mature in an array of horizontal lagering tanks. A tray of glasses was filled direct from a tank so that we could enjoy the taste of fresh unfiltered Budweiser Budvar Original. The bar counter had bottles filled with malted barley and hops that were passed around the group.
Originally, wooden tanks were used for maturation like one on display which we passed before crossing a bridge over the brewery's railway siding to reach the bottling plant which includes a section for tunnel pasteurisation. None of the three bottling lines was working on a Sunday.
For a more comprehensive description of the brewery tour, Ed Wray's 2023 post for Ed's Beer Site blog is recommended.
The recently renovated station (above) is over 1 km from the city centre. In 2025 we were unable to find details of bus stops or timings within the city using our usual smartphone App but an independently sourced trolley bus map posted by Transit Diagrams on Reddit and the local transport website - DPMCB - proved useful for getting from the station to our accommodation etc.. 
Free bus transport is provided for people aged 70+ with a national identity document.
During our short stay we entered six bars / restaurants and enjoyed beers in five of them. A brief mention of each is given below in order of distance from the Samson fountain - closest first.
On the east side of Přemysl Otakar II. Square, near Palác Včela, Pivnice Zvon is part of Grand Hotel Zvon.
At 9pm on Monday night, Pivnice Zvon was very busy but we managed to find a table for two near the bar. Copper tanks of Pilsner Urquell beer were nearby.
A 47cl glass of tank beer with the standard Hladinka pour (standard three fingers of foam) cost 76 Kč.
Tim's treat for our last evening meal in Czechia was rib eye steak with green pepper sauce, roast potatoes and fried onions (428 Kč).
The Singer Pub at Česká 55 opens at 5pm daily and is popular with young people. 
The long room with a vaulted ceiling is dimly lit by several scary light fittings and there is a games room at the back.
Some tables are old fashioned Singer treadle sewing machine stands.
There is a tall list of drinks above the left side of the long bar opposite the courtyard entrance to the Singer pub. 
This was a good opportunity to drink Budweiser Budvar Original brewed 2km away! A 50cl measure cost 64 Kč (approx £2.35).
A visit to the České Budějovice branch of the Prague-based Potrefená husa chain provided us with a meal quite late on Sunday evening with friendly service.
From the limited beer menu we enjoyed Staropramen Unfiltered brewed with 'wheat malt and finest hops that meet a touch of coriander'. The 0.38cl glass cost 64 Kč (approx £2.35). Tim chose a dish from the 'Traditional meals' section of the menu - Beef with cranberries, cream sauce and bread dumplings. Music playing here included Todd Rundgren and Fleetwood Mac.
We stayed in an apartment at Residence U Černé věže, U Černé věže 17 and Restaurace Naše Farma, is accessed from Pasáž U Věže, a gated pedestrian side passage for this building. We paid a brief visit to the restaurant for a lunch of soup, bread and beer two days after our arrival, before heading to the station for the train to Prague. 
The beer mats show BISON Hluboká u Borovan. There is a Safari resort at Hluboká u Borovan, 20 km away, with animals including bisons and a Bistro Naše Farma under the same ownership. The Untappd App features a Bison micro brewery with beers served here: Bison Světlý (Pilsner) and Polotmavý (Amber / red lager 5.3% ABV) but no address is given. There is a page on the Safari resort website with the heading Pivo BISON polotmavý speciál with a photo showing three 0.5 litre bottles of this beer with the bison image from the beermat on a brown label and the question 'Have you tried our pasteurized semi-dark special Bison?' but it is not clear whether it is brewed there or under contract.
We passed Cafe Široko at Široká 19 at 12.30pm returning from a visit to the South Bohemian musuem. 
Hostinec U Černého koníčka (The Black Horse) at 15 Žižkova třída, a residential street on the trolley bus route between the station and the city, was quiet on the Sunday evening of our arrival. 
Arriving at 6.15pm, we chose the table with the beer tap although it is not connected (earlier photo). This gave a view of the bar and the entrance area designed to avoid heat escaping through an open front door. Ice hockey without sound was on the corner TV. The white walled room was quite brightly lit with simple wooden furniture.
The first Pivo Platan beer enjoyed here was Jedenáctka (4.6% ABV, 0.5l 60Kč) served from the tank and later unfiltered Kvasnicový (4.5% ABV, 0.5l 60Kč) 'a living lager containing brewer’s yeast' served in a straight glass. The daily printed menu sheet was on the table but unfortunately meals were no longer available. It was nice to be able to order and collect beers from the bar and no problem to meet the requirement to pay with cash. 
Several framed old postcards, historic printed matter, a railway carriage destination board and a clock were displayed on the walls mostly relating to the location of Pivo Platan in nearby Protivín.
Furthest from the city and beyond the Pivovar Samson brewery, Hostinec Na Spojce was our favourite bar of this trip. We reached it by trolley bus arriving at 7pm on the Monday evening.
Only a couple of tables were occupied and we chose a table in the far corner of the well lit room with a blazing log burner to provide heating. 
A range of beers from Pivovar Samson is available on draught. From left to right in the bar image above the beers are Samson 10° (green label), Samson 11° (red), Samson 12° (gold), Pito non-alcoholic (blue), unknown? and Samson 11° Dark (brown).
The beers above are Samson 11° and Samson 12°. Unfortunately no meals were available this evening so we returned to the city by trolley bus and found food at Pivnice Zvon. The white ceramic saucers with a ridged top surface were an interesting feature. 
After enquiring about buying one to take home as a souvenir, our kind hostess disappeared and returned with one wrapped in tissue paper, and it now sees regular service in our household.
České Budějovice has a compact city centre and did not appear to have many tourists. By visiting different establishments it's possible to try beers from several small local breweries in addition to local Budweiser Budvar and beers with national distribution like Pilsner Urquell, Kozel and Staropramen. 
A visit to the South Bohemian Museum in the city is recommended. The museum shop has guides in Czech, German and English versions including a Beer and Breweries guide (may not be latest edition).
Thanks to Jack Anderton of The European Bar Guide who has extensively researched bars throughout Czechia including České Budějovice.
České Budějovice
Přemysl Otakar II. Square (Czech: Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II.), at the heart of the city, is the second largest square-shaped plaza in the Czechia. The historic Samson fountain in the centre of the square is partly obscured by the temporary Christmas market structures in the photo above taken on the Sunday we arrived.
Establishments serving beer in České Budějovice
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| Tim at Hostinec U Černého koníčka |
Pivnice Zvon
The smaller measure of 27cl (63 Kč) is offered in two additional pouring styles - Šnyt (two parts beer, three parts foam and one part empty glass) and Mlíko (a glass full of wet foam with a bit of beer at the bottom). Kozel Černý is the dark lager that is also available here.
Singer Pub
Restaurace Potrefená husa
Restaurace Naše Farma
Cafe Široko
The emphasis is on coffee here and beer is also served. We didn't stay for a beer after understanding that a lunchtime meal was not available.
There was time for a quick photo of the bar area inside and subsequent research reveals that beers served here are from Pivovar Hulvát and Pivovar Kamenice.
Hostinec U Černého koníčka
Hostinec Na Spojce
Footnotes
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| Four sides of the square with Samson fountain - display at South Bohemian Museum |
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| Departures and arrivals screens at České Budějovice station |
České Budějovice is easy to reach by train from Prague and is a good base for a visit to the attractive medieval city of Český Krumlov by train. A separate post on this blog features Český Krumlov.
