I was just having a look at the website of the Tugendhat Villa and noticed they had a great section on the restoration of the house.

There is a monthly update on what is going on, and I found it pretty interesting to see the amount of work that goes into preserving a World Heritage Site.

I must admit the villa was a little scruffy when I visited 6 or so years ago, so hopefully this will make the place look like it did after being first built. Perhaps may even warrant a return visit, and another chance to sample the tasty 'Chinese' cuisine in Brno ;)

http://www.tugendhat.eu/study-and-documentation-centre/the-course-of-monument-renewal .html?lang=en

Just been having a quick read through this.

It seems the project is nearing completion and should re-open in March 2012!

The website of Villa Tugendhat announce that the Villa will open on March 3rd.

http://www.tugendhat.eu/new-information/the-tugendhat-house-will-be-open-to-the-publi c-in-march-2012-129.html

A booking system for visitors should be launched in January 2012, but it is not yet available.
However, March 2012 was already announced one year ago. I hope they can meet the schedule, because Tugendhat is on my plan for this year.

And of course I'm looking forward to enjoy the 'Chinese cuisine' in Brno ;)

There's a pretty good McDonalds also, next to the station.

Maybe it is quite a nice town, but the main area in the city center near the train station I found very trashy. It's not the only city in the world with this problem

I did have a chuckle the other day when I read your review of Brno, and the retaliation. Though obviously a little harsh it isn't too far off my experiences of the city. I visited it a few times and can't say I was particularly taken with it.

The view from the Cathedral is nice, and it is worth having a look around the Mendel Museum, if you have an interest in science. There is also a the odd spectacle of the 'Brno Dragon' in the lobby of the town hall. Aside from that there is not much else to see (Excluding the Tugendhat Villa which is rather wonderful)

Trams do seem to have taken over the city centre, and the station area is a little grim, but the transport connections are better than anywhere else in Moravia.

Still I would recommend staying in one of the other Moravian WHS instead of Brno. Olomouc being the best bet, but Telc is also lovely and you can actually stay in a wing of the palace in Valtice.

I must say I actually enjoyed Brno. It has a nice market place, some nice restaurants, the Cathedral hill, Spilberk castle and the Moravian National Gallery with a lot of Cubistic paintings. I've never been to Olomouc though so maybe it's even nicer, but unlike the rest of you I don't think Brno is that bad at all.

Meltwaterfalls, thanks for the recommendations for Brno. Like you, I was amused by the review of Els and the angry response. But without joking: I've visited Brno several years ago and also think that it is not that bad. Unfortunately, the Tugendhat Villa was closed on that day.
If Tugendhat really opens in March, I plan a trip of 3 or 4 days. I would like to visit Lednice/Valtice and then go on to Olomouc.

I must admit I didn't ever visit the Gallery in Brno. I really enjoyed hunting out cubist art in Prague when I visited recently, so perhaps that will give me more of a reason to go back.
I have been to many worse places than Brno, just that it has always left me a little underwhelmed.

I will admit to having a big bias for Olomouc as I studied there, but I always find it a great place to visit. Hubert if you do go and want some recommendations let me know as I could probably write a novel about the place.

Thanks, meltwaterfalls, I will certainly ask for recommendations, as soon as my travel plans are fixed. So let us hope that Tugendhat will soon be open. It's a missing piece in my collection of visits of modern architecture.