3 Best Sights in Day Trips from Prague, Czech Republic

Under the Nazis, this unassuming building was primarily used for administration offices, but today it is a fascinating and important education facility. There's an excellent re-creation of how a former dormitory would have looked, plus exhibits detailing the arts in Terezín. Inspiring displays show how people in the ghetto continued to hold literary, musical, theatrical, and artistic happenings.

Told in words and pictures, the town's horrific story is depicted at the Museum of the Terezín Ghetto, just off the central park in town. A short documentary is also shown in many languages. Tell the staff that you speak English; they'll let you roam the building and flag you down when the next English-language video is being shown.

Coins were first minted here in 1300, made by Italian artisans brought in from Florence—hence the mint's odd name. The Italian Court was where the Pražský groš (Prague groschen), one of the most widely circulated coins of the Middle Ages, was minted until 1726. The regular, self-guided tour (120 Kč) takes you through the Royal Mint museum, where you can see the development of the groschen and other Bohemian coins throughout the centuries, from the tiny haléř of the mid-1400s to the giant, pocket-filling Tolar of 1630. A more extensive tour (300 Kč) includes a visit to the cellar and the Royal Palace.