Unless you are a local, you've probably never heard of this city. Liberec is the regional capital of the Liberec county, and at the same time 5th largest city of Czechia. To begin with, Liberec is one my favorite cities at all. It doesn’t feel very big, but it has lots to offer, and thanks to the fact that the city is surrounded by mountains - the Jizera and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge - it’s very nice and quiet. Liberec is mainly famous for its mountain with a broadcast tower - Ještěd - by locals called UFO. The city is also very well located as it is very easily reachable from Prague whereas it takes only around one hour to get there (whether by car or bus), and you can also get very fast to both Poland and Germany.

If you want to see more of the Czech cities than just Prague, put Liberec on your list, visit the city and go on a hike to Ještěd or the the Jizera Mountains.  

Jirka's TOP 5 See&Do in Liberec

Good to know before you travel to Liberec

1. You can reach the famous UFO by public transport

Ještěd Mountain is a famous landmark not only of the city of Liberec, but the Czech Republic as such. It's easily recognizable thanks to its shape that pretty much resembles an alien flying saucer (especially at night). The good thing to know when you plan to visit it is that from the city you can reach it by a tram. It's tram number 3 that passes by the train station and that connects the city center with Horní Hanychov - the terminus. The whole ride takes around 15-20 minutes. 

Perhaps I shouldn't share this as I want everyone to stay a traveler and hike up the mountain on their own, but if you for some reason can't walk up there, or you just don't feel like it, note that there is cable car that can bring you all the way up to the TV tower. There are a few hiking trails going to mount Ještěd, the most frequent ones are around 4 km long. Once you are there, don´t want to take the cable car down, but for some reason don't feel like walking, there is one more option - you can rent a scooter!

2. Liberec is very conveniently located

Yes, and it's not just because of the surrounding mountains, but also because it is well connected with many other popular destinations. From Prague you can reach Liberec in one hour, both by car and even by bus, as they are both connected by a highway. Within one hour you can also get to Dresden in Germany, and to reach Wroclaw in Poland it takes around 2.5 hours. Except for the Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, there is mountains everywhere, basically. You can be in the Krkonoše mountains in a couple of tens of minutes, and all the other wonderful natural places of Czechia, such as Bohemian Switzerland, Bohemian Paradise and Kokořínsko are very close, too.
I'm telling you, Liberec is a pretty cool city. If I got tired of a busy life in cities like Prague, this is where would most likely like to move 😉