March 2017
How to get from Prague?
From Prague most convenient by bus. Goes from metro "Ládví". On weekends only 369 ran.
Ticket costs 32 crowns. By the way, if you live in Prague, don't make one stupid mistake. When entering first tap opencard or litacka (metro card), and only then pay for the ride. Otherwise the ticket can cost more.
The ride is a bit less than an hour, about 10-15 minutes through Prague.
In Melnik there are several stops, which one's better to get off - no idea. People got off in the center, we rode a bit further, right to the station, almost nobody got off with us.
Attention!
On the way back you shouldn't get on in the center, better come exactly to the terminal, to the bus station. Also worth coming in advance and standing in line.
Otherwise what happened to us awaits you - riding standing on a full stomach in a full bus, about an hour. Don't do like we did :(
Station is standard, nothing special, views not great. Attention to the roof :)
In about 5 minutes some civilization begins.
Around it's quiet, typical Czech town near Prague.
I'd never been to Melnik before, people come here:
a) locals, to see how 2 rivers (Elbe and Vltava) merge
b) tourists, for wine.
Wine didn't particularly interest me, nor did the rivers, so I just looked at the town :)
Center is standard.
Reminds of towns in south Czechia, like Telc or Ceske Budejovice.
Attention to the red arrow - tourist routes pass here (though they pass everywhere, it seems).
Main square is spacious, not filled with cars, thank God, like in Budejovice.
By tradition - what's here.
We went towards the castle, just to look.
In Melnik everything is about wine, as you can see. Castle, in appearance, is ordinary.
Can take photos, will do.
Went into a souvenir shop. There's mainly wine :)
The guy at the register took our chosen bottle of wine, said we wouldn't like it and gave another one :)
In my opinion, Melnik's main beauty is in the terrain, but can't say it's used most effectively.
Tourist routes, if anyone's interested.
Around the castle it's quite beautiful
And we're returning to the square meanwhile, already want to eat.
From reviews I chose the pub "Mute Bear". Into Russian language came the trendy word "craft" beer, in Czechia everything's simpler - minibrewery.
They only sell beer and burgers. We got beer each (beer is ok).
And a burger each (fatty fat, but if you walk a lot - ok).
If you're in Melnik - you can drop by, there it's not bad.
And also a cool feature of Melnik is its "kulturni centrum". In every town there's a place you can contact for information, never saw anyone use this, but whatever. In Melnik there's advertising for this center everywhere, so the word "Mekuc" hangs everywhere.
But there's still nobody there.
I'll tell why people even go to Melnik.
The main local landmark is connected with the town's geography. Exactly at this spot Vltava merges with Elbe, and exactly this fact is played up in every way.
In reality, in town there's, apparently, only one decent place from where this confluence is visible.
It would seem there's nothing more to look at, however Melnik is interesting exactly in details :)
For example, good sidewalks. Walking was pleasant.
Manholes underfoot.
Houses look different, but similar to all the rest of Bohemia.
In places decorations appear.
Mind explosion.
Center is shitty in places.
Melnik signs have one feature - often they're in shitty condition.
Though there are also ones like this, where everything's simple and clear - beer and garden.
Dumpster is utilitarian.
Hydrant is in the center of the town center.
Local art. Nothing else.
In general - town like a town, doesn't stand out for beauty or ugliness. Can't say it left any impressions at all.
Here, except maybe found a beautiful door.
But Melnik's main feature is terrain and views opening up once every half hour :)
February 2022
In 10 years in Czechia the only thing that changed is I became a bit less politically correct about towns.
Despite the fact that Melnik is only an hour's ride from Prague, there's lots of good wine here and generally 2 rivers meet
Gotta admit: Melnik is the asshole of the world
The center still stands and is still cute, but you won't be able to live in the center.
Love such signs - pedestrian zone ends, further you're on your own
Not much more to say about Melnik really
You can come here exactly once a year for that same wine or for nature
No point waiting for anything more, Melnik doesn't change and won't change
Unless, of course, a third river somehow crawls to merge
