Often unfairly written off in the Czech Republic as the dirty city of the country, Ostrava is a great place to chill, party, travel and get to know the country well away from the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle.

It is the third largest city in the country, in a coal mining area, but the mines are nearly all closed or closing down. Heavy industrial areas, including Vitkovice steelworks, dominate large areas of the city. The area is now converting to lighter industry and service industries. There are excellent theatres, pubs, restaurants, bars, some good galleries.

There are good sports facilities: football, ice hockey, volleyball, squash, tennis, handball, etc. Banik Ostrava and FC Vitkovice are the top football teams, and ice hockey is massively popular - well worth going to a game or two.

It's also a good base for hiking/cycling/skiing in the Beskydy and Jeseniky mountains, and good base for further travel to Poland and Slovakia. Olomouc is very close and Brno only a few hours' away.

Getting there: Two major railway stations, coach station, and an airport (45 mins from Ostrava), motorway link from Prague under construction.