Free Walking Tour Liberec: Manholes, Klimt and Giants

The Liberec Walking Tour, Stop by Stop From the Town Hall

1. 1

   Liberec Town Hall

   

   Stand back on the square and take in the whole facade: towers, gables and rich ornament in the neo-Renaissance style, designed by the Viennese architect Franz von Neumann and built between 1890 and 1893 by the firm of Gustav Sachers' Sons. It is the city's landmark and has been a protected monument since 1958. Before you head inside, look down at your feet: dark paving on the square traces the outline of the first town hall, which stood right next to the present one.

   That older building went up from 1599 under Marcus Antonio Spacio, an Italian builder working from Görlitz. It was only the third stone building in town, paid for by taxes and a loan from Katharina von Redern. Its octagonal tower rested on the ground floor vaults without foundations of its own, needed constant repairs and lost its upper part to lightning in 1801. The council met on the first floor, while butchers and bakers sold from the ground floor. In April 1894, once the move next door was done, the old hall closed and was demolished in four weeks. Its bell survived: look for it on the north facade of the new building.

   The new hall began as an act of civic pride: from 1879 the savings bank and the industrialist Franz Liebieg junior put up large sums, and in 1887 a competition was announced for a building in the 'transalpine style'.

   Is it worth going in? The municipal office building is free to enter during office hours, but the halls are best seen on the 50-minute guided tour; if time is short, there is also a 20-minute tour. From here it is 420 m, about 5 minutes, to a passage you would never find by chance.

   Local name

   Liberecká radnice

   Hours

   Municipal offices: Mon & Wed 08:00–17:00, Tue & Thu 08:00–16:00, Fri 08:00–12:00, Sat–Sun closed (guided tours: Jun Sat–Sun 09:00–11:00 hourly; Jul–Aug Mon–Fri 09:00–15:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–11:00; Sep Thu 09:00–15:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–11:00; Oct–May Thu 09:00–15:00)

   Price

   Free entry to municipal office building; guided tours 100 CZK full (50 min tour, circuit I) / 70 CZK reduced / 200 CZK family; short tour (20 min, circuit II) 50 CZK / 100 CZK family

   Website

   liberec.cz ↗

   Location

   Liberec Town Hall on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Kanálová ulička (Manhole Alley)

   

   This nameless passage through the block, linking Široká and Pražská streets, carries its nickname for a simple reason: the ground is set with manhole covers. By March 2024 there were around a hundred of them, and only four actually lead anywhere. Walk slowly and read the pavement like a map, because each cover comes from a different city, with its own crest, lettering and pattern.

   The collection is the work of Tomáš Hasil, whose company is based right here. It started when the water company set a cover bearing the Liberec coat of arms into the alley, and he was taken with it. Travelling around the country, he began to notice how this seemingly dull object shapes the character of a street. In 2002 the idea of a manhole alley was born.

   Out of it grew the project 'Civilizace': first Hasil alone, and from 2006 the association G300, writes to towns in Czechia and abroad asking them to donate a cover. Each one is then paved into the alley, which meant persuading the owners of every patch of pavement to agree. It costs nothing, is open around the clock and takes ten minutes, so it is a natural stop for everyone, and a favourite with children who like hunting for foreign crests.

   Next comes the longest stretch so far: 570 m, about 9 minutes, to the city's theatre.

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Kanálová ulička (Manhole Alley) on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   F. X. Salda Theatre

   

   The theatre looks like a small piece of Vienna, and that is no accident. It was designed by Fellner & Helmer, the Viennese office behind theatres in Vienna, Bratislava, Timișoara and Brno, and built in neo-Renaissance style by the local builder Gustav Sachers. Many statues and ornaments are carved from Pirna sandstone, the work of Viennese sculptors, so take a moment with the figures on the facade.

   It exists because the citizens wanted it: after the old Clothmakers' Theatre burned down in April 1879, a public collection paid for a new house. The foundation stone was laid in 1881, and in September 1883 it opened with Schiller's William Tell. Fire shaped the building too: after the Ringtheater disaster in Vienna in December 1881, the planned capacity was cut from 1,050 to 850, and great care went into the iron safety curtain.

   The real treasure hangs inside: the main curtain is an early work by Gustav Klimt, painted with his schoolmate Franz Matsch and Matsch's brother. Unlike Klimt's curtain in Karlovy Vary, this one is in poor condition, and even the restoration of 1968 and 1969 could not truly save it. Until 1945 the house had only German-language ensembles, and both under the Habsburgs and in interwar Czechoslovakia it launched many singers and actors.

   Outside performances you can only enter on a scheduled guided tour; ask at the box office. For theatre lovers it is worth planning around. The next stop is only 170 m, 3 minutes, away.

   Local name

   Divadlo F. X. Šaldy

   Hours

   Box office (Pokladna): Tue–Fri 12:00–18:00 and 1 hour before performance start, Mon closed; access for general visitors outside performances only via scheduled guided tour (exkurze)

   Price

   50 CZK per person for guided building tour (exkurze); performance ticket prices variable by show/seat

   Website

   saldovo-divadlo.cz ↗

   Location

   F. X. Salda Theatre on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   David Cerny Bus Stop

   

   You might walk past at first, then do a double take: the bus shelter on this busy, gently sloping road is a huge bronze table. David Černý's work stands between the theatre and the regional research library, and since 1 January 2026 the stop officially bears the name Hostina obrů, Feast of the Giants. Look at the tabletop: a still life of objects, as if a family of bronze giants had left their meal in a hurry.

   Černý said the oversized table was meant to slow the junction down and turn it into a place of buried memories. For us, the race of small and hurried people, only the space under the table is left, the space of secret games the grown-ups knew nothing about. He actually disliked the 'feast' label the press gave it at the unveiling, calling it misleading: it is simply a stop, for buses and for time, set with objects he sees as attributes of Liberec. The city later won his consent to the official renaming.

   Until July 2005 this was an ordinary stop with a bench under a grey metal roof by a high granite wall. On 1 July 2005 the sculpture was unveiled. Cast by Otakar Příhoda, it measures 5.85 by 5.15 by 3 metres and weighs three tonnes, yet it still works as a stop: you sit on one of five bronze chairs, with a sculpted bin and a timetable in a bronze frame.

   Take a seat and wait for a bus that isn't yours. Then continue 830 m, about 11 minutes, passing the Technical Museum Liberec on the way to the old city baths.

   Local name

   Hostina obrů

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   David Cerny Bus Stop on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Regional Gallery Liberec (Lázně)

   

   The gallery is currently closed, so this is a stop for the building and its story. Since 2014 the collection has lived in the former municipal baths, once called the Emperor Franz Joseph Baths, and the name Lázně, baths, still says so. Take in the facade and picture a bathhouse turned into a home for art.

   Behind those walls lies the fifth largest gallery in Czechia, caring for more than 21,000 works from Czechia, Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands and beyond, which is why it calls itself a museum of European art. Its roots go back to the art department of the North Bohemian Museum, opened in 1873.

   The collection grew through generous people. In 1904 the industrialist Heinrich von Liebieg left the city his collection of more than two hundred 19th century German, Austrian and French works, one of the finest private collections in Austria-Hungary, plus 600,000 crowns. In 1918 the doctor Anton Randa gave 6,000 prints by old masters, and in 1927 the collection of Prague businessman Ferdinand Bloch was acquired.

   From here it is just 240 m, 3 minutes, to the museum where that story began.

   Status

   Currently closed

   Website

   galali.cz ↗

   Location

   Regional Gallery Liberec (Lázně) on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   North Bohemian Museum

   

   The walk ends at the institution the gallery grew out of, and on an unusually generous footing: admission is voluntary, so you decide what your visit was worth. That makes it easy to drop in for half an hour or stay much longer, a good reason to keep this stop for last.

   The permanent exhibitions were modernised when the museum reopened, so even if you know it from years ago, it is worth a fresh look. Only two things have fixed prices: the tower ascent and the guided tours.

   The tower is the add-on for anyone who wants Liberec from above after seeing it at street level; the guided tour suits you if you want the collections explained rather than browsing on your own. Give honestly for the collections, since the whole arrangement relies on trust.

   It is a fitting finish: you started at a town hall built for the public and end in a museum that trusts its visitors.

   Local name

   Severočeské muzeum

   Hours

   Tue–Sun 10:00–19:00, Mon closed

   Price

   Voluntary admission; tower ascent 100 CZK (children under 18 free); guided tours 100 CZK (children under 18 50 CZK)

   Website

   muzeumlb.cz ↗

   Location

   North Bohemian Museum on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways Through Liberec

You don't have to walk all six. Depending on your time and what draws you, these cuts work well, and you can join the route at any stop.

Quirky Liberec in about an hour

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4

For a short visit or a first look: the square, the manhole collection, the theatre facade and Černý's bronze table. Walking time is 17 min, and nothing costs money unless you book a town hall tour.

The full route with interiors

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For a free half day: all six stops in 31 min of walking, with the 50-minute town hall tour, a theatre tour if one is scheduled and a long visit to the museum on voluntary admission, plus the tower ascent if you want it.

Art and museum finish

Stops: 4, 5, 6

For an afternoon after other plans: start at the bronze bus stop, pass the old baths of the gallery and end in the museum. Walking time is 14 min; only the museum tower and its guided tours have fixed prices.

How Long This Liberec Tour Takes, With and Without Interiors

The pure walking time is 31 min over 2.2 km, so the walk itself never tires you out. What fills the day is the stopping: with outside looks only, plan about 1.5 hours from the square to the museum doors.

With the 50-minute town hall tour, around 15 minutes at the theatre, a pause under Černý's table and an hour and a quarter in the museum, the whole route takes about 3.5 hours. The short version to the bus stop fits into roughly an hour, the art finish into well over an hour, depending on how long the museum holds you.

Before You Start in Liberec

• Start: Recommended at Liberec Town Hall on the main square, but you can join at any stop.
• End: North Bohemian Museum, a relaxed place to finish the walk without rushing.
• Best day: Thursday is the strongest day, especially if you want to join a town hall tour.
• Costs: The walk is free. Optional extras are the town hall tour (also as a short tour), the theatre tour and the museum tower; museum admission is whatever you choose to give.

Common Questions About Walking Liberec