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Prague, the Golden City, appears a magical fairytale of a place, with ancient buildings and cobbled streets. It’s romantic, centrally located and a pedestrian-friendly city to visit, making it a perfect place to visit. In this free Prague travel guide, we talk about our experience of Prague, Czech Republic and how you can enjoy it too.
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In practice, Prague is quite easy to negotiate and if you enjoy walking a city, it’s one of the best. On paper, however, things get confusing as there are several different systems in place to describe how things are laid out — and two of them involve numbering the districts! We’ll be talking mainly about the city centre, which has most of the attractions, so we’ll break things up using the more descriptive names of:
Prague is a bit of a backpacker haven, thanks to the cheap places to eat, play and to stay. The two big names that we hear again and again are Sir Toby’s and Miss Sophies — these hostels are pretty much Europe-renowned for their fun atmosphere and the great people that they attract.
Hostels seem to be spread right throughout all the main central areas and, to be honest, most things are an easy walk. We stayed in a rather soulless apartment block/hostel which was only a 15-minute walk from Stare Mesto – the old town.
Name: Prague, but locally Praha
Place: To the north-west of the centre of the Czech Republic. Prague is the capital.
Population: 1.25 million
Language: Czech
Known for: Cheap beer, Christmas markets, a beautiful old town and Good King Wenceslas.
Temperatures: Around 0 in winter and early 20′s during summer. Although summer is warm, it can be wet — take a rain jacket.
Airport: Ruzyni International Airport — served by budget and legacy airlines. Takes about half an hour to get into the centre of town by public transport.
Price of a pint: €1.50
Price of a dorm bed: From €5, but expect to pay around €10.
Price of a public transport ticket: 18 or 26kr
Camping is also a popular summer option. There are campsites along the Vltava river, close to the zoo. These tend to be small and crowded during the high season, so book ahead or have a backup plan!
Lunch is the big meal in Prague, with red meat and potatoes being a main feature of a serious sit-down meal. We found that magical cover charges appeared on our restaurant bill that weren’t on the menu and we had difficulty getting them removed sometimes. If in doubt, ask before you order. The same goes for sides like bread that come to your table unasked for. If you don’t touch it, you shouldn’t pay for it. Prices for that kind of thing should be very, very small though.
Street vendors were everywhere, which kept Linda happy. During winter there’s lots of mulled wine for sale and hot dogs to be eaten. The hot dogs were a little on the tasteless side, so take the mustard even if you’re not a great fan! Another favourite was a sweet bread product. The dough was cooked on a circular steel tube then rolled in sugar and cinnamon.
The Czech Republic is serious Pilsner country, with the famous brand Pilsner Urquell being the foremost. There’s also the real budweisers — you know, the beer from Budwies or Budejovice. The local Prague beer though, is Staropramen, which is an excellent lager and dirt cheap in most bars throughout Prague.
There’s an integrated system with the bus, tram and subway (called metro). You can get cheaper “non-transfer” tickets which allow one journey, or a transfer ticket which allows you to hop on and hop off in a 75-minute period. Non-transfer tickets are not valid on night trams and buses or for the Petrin Funicular; luggage costs extra, so buy a separate ticket for large bags.
Validate your ticket before entering the metro and as soon as you enter a bus or tram for the first time. Keep your ticket on you until it expires. Ticket inspectors will issue on-the-spot fines for invalid tickets or not having tickets for big bags. They have red-and-yellow ID cards and should give you an official receipt; be aware of false inspectors.
It could be said that the whole city is a free attraction; it was mainly undamaged throughout world war two so, unlike much of Europe, the beautiful medieval buildings remain to be photographed. It gives the whole thing a fairy-tale feeling which has made it such an attractive place to visit.
Some of the highlights are:
The “Old town”, especially the central square with the astronomical clock and the gothic buildings, particularly the Tyn church. Next to the “Old Town” is the “New Town” which was built in the 14th century. Walking through these two large squares and the roads between them is certainly enough to keep one entranced for a day or so if you stop in at some of the little restaurants, bars and shops. This is also where you’re find the Dancing House, by Frank Gehry.
There are dozens of bridges across the Vltava River and several in Prague, but one in particular stands out: the Charles Bridge. It’s wide and beautiful with statues all along it. In fact, it’s so wide that a bustling mini-market of souvenir-sellers, buskers, painters and craftspeople line both sides of it!
You’ll pass through the “lesser town”, Mala Strana, on your way up to the castle. There are great views from here and some excellent places to relax and look over Prague.
Access to the castle complex is free, you need to pay for access to some areas. The easiest way to do this is to buy a castle pass and an audio guide — the audio guide will also let you skip the queues into Vitus Cathedral on a busy day. If you are likely to get castled out, wander around for free and only pay for entrance if something looks great. Things tend to happen on the hour: watch the changing of the guard ceremony and listen to the bells toll.
The National Museum’s main building is at the top of Wenceslas Square, but other galleries and buildings are spread throughout the city. If you’re interested, buy a combined pass which is valid for all of them for three days, rather than just paying the basic entrance price. There are extra charges for filming/photographing. Museum entrance is free on the first Monday of each month.
Prague was home to some excellent artists and two that are both contemporary and accessible: the Mucha museum houses works of Alphonse Mucha, a predominant figure in Art Nouveau. Franz Kafka was also a Prague resident and has a museum in the lesser town.
Another important museum is the communist museum which shows many of the ways Prague and what was then Czechoslovakia changed under the regime.
In the Jewish quarter you’ll find some spectacular sites, including the Old New Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, and the cemetery. The Nazis intended for the area to be a museum of the extinct Jewish race; nowadays it’s an inhabited area full of museums of European Jewish life past and present. The museums have paid entry, but if you’re going into more than a couple, a combined ticket will give you access at a greatly reduced price. Speaking to other travellers about Prague on Twitter, the Jewish cemetery came up again and again as the most memorable thing about their visit.
May is the month of the renowned Prague Spring Classical Music Festival, drawing stars and fans of serious music from around the world. Not really my kind of thing, but it gives a focal point to the season.
Christmas markets are Prague’s most famous event, with visitors coming from around Europe on short breaks to visit and shop. The markets are spread throughout the city and are easy to find … and enjoy.
All your favourite guidebook publishers have good guides to Prague. The Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring has enough information on the city to make the most of a short trip, though I found it really lacked the historical background that makes Prague such a fascinating place. Reading around, the Rough Guide worked well for that. Since Prague is such a visually rich city, Eyewitness’s visual slant is perfect. They’re light on the practical information side though.
We flew out of Prague, but judging by journeys in other parts of the country, I’d probably recommend a coach over the train unless you’re making a reasonably short journey, like out to Kutna Hora or one of the nearby towns (and there are some beautiful places nearby).
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Written by: Craig and Linda
Posted on: Friday, November 27th, 2009
Posted in: On Location, Podcasts
Responses: 6 so far
YEAH,I think Christmas markets are Prague’s most famous event, with visitors coming from around Europe on short breaks to visit and shop.
December 7th, 2009 at 6:51 amI have to mention, I was just in Praha in late October, there are free tours that leave from the Astronomical clock every morning @ 10:30. I stayed at Ms. Sophies my first time around 4 years ago, and it’s stunning and affordable – and my old roommate and hr boyfriend and said it was like staying in a nice hotel and great for couples. This time around, I stayed with friends. Another great attraction is a jazz boat, that has a different type of jazz band every night and goes down the river, with drink included and you can eat dinner there, too.
January 13th, 2010 at 7:58 pmReally good, in depth article from Craig and Linda which I am sure will be a great help to anyone visiting Prague. I have not had the chance to go yet but it is definitely on my list. I have a few friends who have visited for various reasons and they commented that there really is something for everyone.
With so many museums, great restaurants, cheap beer and easy transportation it is one of the best places in Europe to discover. I really need to get there as soon as possible.
March 5th, 2010 at 8:08 pmA little piece of advice from Prague-lover;) If you’re in Prague in the summer, you’re hungry and don’t want to waste your time on eating, order breaded pork chop in a roll, served with fried onions and mayo. They are served in little, red “Coca-Cola” kiosks, which are scattered all over the city centre. Huge, cheap and very, very tasty
Thank you for great article.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:30 pmPrague in Europe was one of our best destinations on our Travel tour through Spain, Germany, France and Czech Republic
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:00 am