Next stop was Cesky Krumlov, a jaw-dropping, perfectly-preserved medieval town, first mentioned by name in 1253. It's a UNESCO site, and there's a wealth of information about it on the web, including a blow-by-blow description of all the buildings. It's almost too picturesque, and just about all of the buildings in the central district are given over to restaurants, shops, and hotels. But it's hard to fault the locals for capitalizing on what they've got, and there's really very little that's tacky-touristy. I think there's a "Torture Museum," but that seems to be a given in any Czech town with more than a couple of pre-18th century buildings.
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This picture looks across the old town to the castle, which is completely painted in tromp l'oeil stonework and figures. There's a tour of the castle available, but I'm not sure it was really worth it- mostly just portraits of the Schwartzenbergs and gaudy furnishings, including a gilt carriage used at some point for a procession into Rome to see the Pope (no word on what the Pope thought of someone visiting in such a lavish carriage, or what he thought when they took it back). The most impressive thing to me was that the carriage is now inside a room barely bigger than it is. Guess if you go to the trouble of making a gilt carriage, you take extra care to make sure you can take it apart & bring it inside. Doing things over again, I'd rather see the Rococo theatre than the castle interior.
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But the grounds and gardens of the castle are free, open 'round-the-clock, and well worth the time spent wandering around. There are some pictures of the castle by day and by night in the main gallery.