A Day at Kouřim – field trip, fresh air, and living history

Written by Amrita

We met at Masarykovo nádraží early in the morning, still half asleep. After one transfer and a lot of train-window countryside therapy, we arrived in Kouřim. It’s quiet in that “you can actually hear your own footsteps” way. We walked through the town together to the open-air museum which was a little world of old timbered houses grouped side by side like someone collected villages from around Bohemia and arranged them for us to wander through.

The Museum of Folk Architecture in Kouřim is actually the only open-air museum in the Czech Republic that brings together buildings from different ethnographic regions Central, East, and West Bohemia so you can see all the local variations next to each other instead of having to travel across the country. The whole site has around fourteen main buildings, houses, barns, and farm buildings plus smaller structures like wells and fences. Each one represents a specific region and time (mostly 17th to 19th century, with interiors showing daily life up into the early 20th century). One can compare how people built and lived in different parts of Bohemia just by walking a few meters. It’s basically an ethnography shortcut.

The architecture itself is basically a survival manual. Steep roofs to handle snow load. Small windows to keep heat in. Timber joints that move a little with the seasons instead of cracking. Outside, each building still has its own yard or garden space, and stuff they’re actually cared for like flower garden, vegetable beds, tools, laundry setups.

We got to walk right into the houses. That was one of the best parts. We duck through low doorways into these dim, low-ceiling rooms with packed-earth or stone floors, and it suddenly stops feeling like “the past” and starts feeling like “someone’s actual Tuesday.” Most of the buildings are furnished with original items from the 18th to 20th century beds, cradles, stoves, benches, storage chests, tools. Nothing feels staged in a fake way; it feels used.

Local staff (in costume, but also clearly super knowledgeable) explained traditional crafts and everyday work. We watched people show how basic tools were used, how things were built and repaired without modern materials, and could ask questions without feeling dumb.

Then there was the axe. One of the activities was wood chopping, and of course we tried it.  We took turns with the axe, cheered each other on, and it was super fun. It wasn’t just “look at this 200-year-old tool in a display case,” it was “okay, now you use it.” That hands-on bit made it feel less like a school trip and more like time travel with friends.

It ended up being a really good day. We remember way more, because instead of reading it in a slide, we’re walking it in cold air, smelling wood smoke, and passing around chips from someone’s backpack. On the train back, everyone was quietly tired, sharing photos and snacks, and it felt like the kind of day we’ll actually remember.