The Czech Republic is a small landlocked country in Central Europe, situated south-east of Germany and bordering with Austria to the south, Poland to the north and Slovakia to the south-east. International train service runs from most points in Europe with direct connections from Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Romania.

Many places in the Czech Republic are great for swimming, and there are many designated public swimming areas. However, be aware that in hot weather the quality of the water in some places can fall below EU standard regulations. Although the Czech Republic is a land-locked country, it does have a lot of nudist/naturist beaches near lakes. Full nudity on other beaches is legal, but rare, and usually only happens in non-crowded places.

Czech, a consonant-rich Slavic language, is one of the most difficult European languages to learn. English speakers find some sounds very hard to pronounce. Fortunately in these days of tourism and global commerce, many Czech's speak English, particularly in Prague's city centre. Among the older generation, Russian and German are fairly common.