Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is one of my favorite cities to visit in Europe! With delicious food, more museums than I could count, bar crawls, unique tours, an interesting history, and beautiful views- what’s not to like? Prague is often compared to Disney World for adults, and it isn’t hard to see why! I have visited both in the spring and winter, and while I got lucky with the weather in winter, both times were great for visiting the capital city of Czech Republic. The locals we met have told us that it gets packed in the summer, so if possible, try to avoid those months.

The currency used in Prague is the Czech Koruna. From our experience, it is best to pull money from the ATM if possible. If you decide to change money at a currency exchange, a lot of them still collect a percentage, which is not advertised- so ask before hand over your cash! Most of the restaurants and tourist attractions accepted credit cards, we just used the cash for eating at the food stalls and tipping, so you shouldn’t need to take out much.

How to get there/around there

I have arrived in Prague both by train and by plane, and both were fairly easy. It just depends where you are coming from. When arriving by plane, it is about a 30 minute drive to the city center. We booked a shuttle to the hotel online before we arrived, which I would recommend. However, there were also stands for taxis and shuttle services at the airport if you didn’t arrange anything before arrival. You can purchase tickets for the shuttle from either the bus driver directly or at Prague Public Transportation Information Center at the airport. Uber also works in Prague. When arriving by train, you are just 15 minute walk from old town square and should be able to walk to most hotels. One of the best things about Prague is that you don’t need to hire a car, almost everything is walking distance!

Where to stay

Prague is separated into districts, with most of the tourist attractions being located in Prague 1. The farther out from the city center you get, the higher the number assigned to the neighborhoods are. We have always stayed in Prague 1 out of convenience, but with such a good metro system, I would think staying farther away would be fairly easy also. The west side of the river, the area known as Malá Strana is pricey and becomes pretty quiet after dark, so if you want to be closer to the action, stay on the east side in Old Town or New Town Prague areas.

Things to do

While it is possible to see the main tourist attractions in just a few days, the more time you have to spend in Prague the better! No matter what interests you- I guarantee Prague has something to offer! Here’s a list of just a few things to do during your visit.

Old Town Square

We found this to be the most happening area of Prague. Besides very early in the morning, the square was always packed full of people. There are tons of restaurants to choose from, food stalls, street performers, and some pretty cool old buildings and churches lining the square. In the winter, there are also Christmas markets set up around here also. We mostly bought beer, hot wine, and food from the stalls and walked around taking everything in. It is allowed to drink in public around here, so we didn’t want to waste time stopping in one of the restaurants. The most famous building in the square is Old Town Hall. For a small fee, you can get a ticket to Old Town Hall which allows you to go to the top of the tower. Once at the top, you will have a great view of Old Town Square. You can also see up close the 12 apostle statues that put on a show at the astronomical clock every hour. From the square it is about a 10 minute walk to Charles Bridge.

Old Town Square

Astronomical Clock

One of the main attractions of Old Town Square is the astronomical clock. It is actually the oldest working astronomical clock in the world. Every hour on the hour from 9am until 11pm, the clock puts on a short performance with music and chimes. There are statues of twelve apostles that come out and parade around the top of the clock. Don’t expect a super impressive show, but it’s worth seeing since you will probably be in old town square at least once while it is happening. There are several restaurants with a great view if you don’t want to stand in the large crowd of people to watch it. We went at 9am and there were only a few other people around, so like most attractions, its best to go early.

Walk across the Charles Bridge

Definitely the most beautiful bridge I have ever seen, the Charles Bridge is the oldest bridge in Prague, and walking across it is a must! The bridge is lined with statues of many famous Saints, and it has a tower on either side of it. For a small fee, you can climb to the top of the towers and get an amazing view of the city and especially the Prague Castle. We found the bridge most enjoyable in the morning before the crowds hit and we could stroll along without constantly bumping in to people. During the day, the bridge is full of artists and musicians offers plenty of entertainment. Any time of day, there are wonderful views from either side of the bridge. At night, it is magical to see everything lit up.

Visit Prague Castle and see St Vitus Cathedral

Prague Castle, or Pražský hrad, is one of the main highlights to see in Prague. Dating back to the 9th century, it is said that it is the largest ancient castle in the world and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unlike the other castles I have been to, Prague Castle is a huge complex of different buildings. You could spend hours walking around the grounds. Perhaps the most impressive building of them all is the St Vitus Cathedral. The largest and most important temple in Prague, this is the building that dominates the skyline and one of the first that you will notice when looking up at the castle from below. In the past, religious services, coronations for the king and queen, and burials for saints all took place here.

St Vitus Cathedral

St Vitus Cathedral

Changing of the guards

Depending how much you want to see, there are different tickets available for you to purchase. If you are interested in taking photos inside any of the buildings, you have to purchase a photography license for a small fee also. Another thing to note is that St Vitus Cathedral is often closed or has limited hours on Sundays for liturgical reasons. All tickets purchased are valid for 2 days, so you could always come back the next day! If you can, try to time your visit with the changing of the guards which occurs at 1200 in the courtyard. If this doesn’t work with your schedule, there is also a changing of the guards by the castle gates hourly.

Guards outside Buda Castle

Petřín Hill

Petřín Hill is the perfect place to escape the craziness of the city and get some fresh air, and it is so close you can walk! There are many paths you can take with places of interest along the way. Our favorite was the Strahov Monestary, which has a wonderful view of Prague and also a brewery. Petřín Tower, which looks like a smaller version of the Eiffel tower, is the highest point of the hill. If you are feeling up to it, you can pay to climb the 299 stairs to the top of the tower. There is also a funicular (basically a cable car on a track) you can take if you like.

View from Petřín Hill

Us riding Segways

We chose to do a Segway tour which took us to a few other monestaries and sites in the area surrounding Petřín Hill. Once you get used to being on the Segway, it was a really fun way to see the outskirts of the city and places we wouldn’t normally go. This was our first time trying out Segways, so we were pretty happy we were away from all the big crowds. I would have ran into everyone! If you are interested, the office is just over Charles bridge to the right where there is a large sign that says “tourist information”. Otherwise, our hotel was able to set it up for us!

John Lennon Wall

Just over the Charles bridge or on your way back down from Prague castle or Petrin Hill, you can visit the Lennon Wall. It is basically just a large wall full of graffiti that is dedicated to John Lennon. I thought this was strange, seeing as how he is not from Prague and from what I know, had never even visited. Apparently, the wall was originally a place where people wrote protests, but when John Lennon died, many people showed their grief by writing on the wall- and never stopped. I didn’t find it particularly exciting, but since you basically walk right past it, I think it is worth a stop.

John Lennon Wall

Take a tour

I’m usually not very into taking tours, but Prague is the exception. There is a tour to peak anyone’s interest! Most recently, we took the Segway tour that brought us to see different monasteries in the suburbs just outside of Prague. However, there are tours for haunted Prague, underground and dungeons, beer and Czech tapas, unlimited beer drinking tours, pubcrawls, absinthe tours, vegan/vegetarian tours, and of course the typical walking/bike tours to see the sights of Prague.

Museums

There are so many museums in Prague- but not the type that pop into your mind when you think of a typical museum. We saw a KGB museum, wax museum, museum of communism, apple museum, lego museum, torture museum, and even a sex machines museum! Most of them are quite small and almost look like shops from the outside. They are priced reasonably, so its definitely worth it to stop in and check a few out!

River Cruises

Especially in the warmer months, nothing compares to being on the water. The cruises on the Vltava River in Prague are no exception. You can sit on the deck, soak up some sunshine, and have a drink while you take in the sites of Prague. There are options for family friendly, dinner, private, and other tours available also. We have always seen representatives from the companies standing near the Charles Bridge, but the hotels all know which river cruises might suit you best. 

What to Eat

Pork Knuckle

Pork knuckle is the food that comes to my mind when thinking about food in Prague. Also called Koleno, it is the knee joint of the pig and has a large portion of meat, although some places will serve the ankle. The meat is tender and fatty and falls off the bone. It usually comes with mustard and cabbage and should definitely be at the top of your list for things to try!

Beer

I was surprised to find that Czech Republic drinks the most beer per capita than any other place in the world! We tried many small brewery restaurants and had several different kinds of beer or “Pivo” as it is called in Czech. As I mentioned earlier, you can buy draft beers on the streets to go and drink them while you explore the city!

Pickled Cheese

What goes better with beer than snacks?! While it may not sound like the tastiest thing in the world, we decided to try the pickled cheese and were more than pleased with our selection. It was soft, served in a kind of oil with different spices, and was great with the Czech bread.

Sausages

So many sausages! Maybe it was the time of year, but we saw stands selling sausages everywhere, and took full advantage since they were all delicious. Usually served with mustard and a side of bread, they were a perfect snack and went well with our beers in the chilly weather.

Pork with dumplings and sauerkraut

We got this at one of the food stalls in Old Town Square, and it was so good. This isn’t the type of dumpling that you get with traditional Czech meals, but we still loved it. The guy cut the pork right off the grill and mixed it in. It went well with our hot wine and beer!

Cooking the pork

Trdelnik

Also called chimney cakes, trdelnik is a perfect dessert to warm you up. You can find places selling the delicious treats all over it seems. It is basically a hot dough that is covered in sugar, wrapped around a metal pole and cooked over hot coals. You can choose if you want it filled with chocolate, caramel ice, cream, etc. With the amount of shops we saw making these, we assumed they were a Czech food. However, our Segway guide told us, they just recently came to Prague in the past few years. Either way- they were delicious and worth a try if you have a sweet tooth like me!

Itinerary

Since we were just visiting for a weekend this time and were mostly concerned with eating all the delicious food, we stayed in the city of Prague the whole time. If we had more time, I think a day trip outside of Prague to see Karlstejn Castle or other castles would be a great way to spend an extra day. Also, the free pub crawls look like a lot of fun and a good way to find the fun places to drink. We were feeling a little lazy and later wished we had joined one to see what it was like. If we had a few more days, we probably would have checked out a few of the museums as well.

Day 1- After arriving at our hotel, we found an area near our hotel that had several stalls with food options. We tried a few sausages, dumplings, and many beers and then walked around the city. We went to Charles Bridge for the sunset. After happy hour at our hotel, we went for dinner and called it a night.

Day 2- In the morning, we went back to Old Town Square to see the astronomical clock at 9am. From there, we walked across the Charles Bridge and up to Prague Castle. We came back down near the bridge for lunch and then met up for our segway tour. After the tour, we went to a few bars, did a little shopping, and ate all the food.

Day 3- After breakfast, we did some more shopping and walked to check out new town square. We grabbed our last meal before leaving for the flight.