Over New Year, my wife and I were lucky enough to visit Prague. To be honest, I’d never had it high on my list but she had always wanted to go. Having been, I definitely want to go back. There’s centuries of history, the architecture is stunning and so much of interest to see, and it’s also a very walkable city. We did 8 to 10 miles a day. If your feet get tired, there’s an excellent tram system, and also a Metro.
You’ll probably want to stay in the centre to be near everything. That is likely to mean choosing to stay in either Stare Mesto, the Old Town, or on the other side of the Charles Bridge in Mala Strana, the Lesser Town ( which is apparently the older of the two). The Old Town is livelier and more touristy. We chose Mala Strana which is much quieter and felt more authentic to me.
HOW TO AVOID THE CROWDS
The main sights such as the Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, and Prague Castle can get overcrowded, but if you visit those places before 9am there’ll be few other people. Turning up at the castle ( which isn’t really a castle in the traditional sense, more a collection of grand palaces and St Vitius Cathedral ) at 9, we walked straight in. When we came out at 10.30, the line to enter was already long.
Also, try diverting down back streets if you come across tourist hordes. Karlov street, which winds its way from Charles Bridge to the Old Town, gets extremely busy and is lined with tacky souvenir shops and unappealing places to eat. Walk it once to see it but then use parallel streets after that.
Mala Strana, across the Vltava river, is quiet apart from the route from Charles Bridge up to the castle. There’s plenty of streets with magnificent buildings to lose yourself amongst, and Kampa island next to this area is a tranquil haven.
If you want to avoid the crowds on Charles Bridge, take Manusev Bridge to the north of it, which also has the advantage that you’ll have a nice view of Charles Bridge.
WHAT TO SEE
Prague is a city of spires and domes, cobblestones and orange tiled roofs, a fairytale come to life. It is said that Tyn Church in the Old Town Square was Walt Disney’s inspiration for the castle in Sleeping Beauty. The Old Town Square also contains the Astronomical Clock and Old Town Hall as well as many beautifully painted buildings. The masses gather in a crush of people to see the short display of the twelve apostles when the Clock strikes the hour. Cafe Mozart is apparently a more pleasant spot to watch it from.
Nearby is the large Klementinum complex. In a fifty-minute tour, you will get to see its famous old library and climb the Astronomical Tower for a breathtaking view of Prague. Be warned, however, the stairs are steep and there’s about 200 of them. For an alternative viewing point, the Old Town Hall apparently has an elevator.
There are numerous cafes in the square where you’ll pay handsomely for the privilege. I loved Cafe Milani in Kaprova Street, just a two minute walk away. It attracts Czechs as well as tourists. Their homemade fruit juices were excellent.
The Jewish quarter, Josehov, is a must-see and extremely sobering. In Pinkas Synagogue, the walls are covered with the names, dates of birth, and death of the 78,000 Jews sent from Prague to be murdered by the Nazis in concentration camps. On the first floor is a display of paintings by the children sent to the camps. It’s a heartbreaking place to visit but so important to remind ourselves of what tyranny can do if we ever allow dictators to take power again.
Prague was a centre for Art Nouveau and Cubsim. There’s the Mucha Museum for the Czech Art Nouveau artist of that name, and a museum of cubsim.
If you like Art Nouveau, you’ll love Obecni Dum, the Municipal House, both inside and out. The cafe there is a good venue to people watch, especially if you sit on the upper level looking down on the tables below. The food is international rather than Czech but the price and quality are fine. In Smetana Hall in the same building, we went to a New Year’s Eve concert by the Czech Philharmonic. Prague is a city of music. ‘Amadeus’, as you may already know, was filmed here, and Mozart lived in the city for a while. It was also the home of Dvorak and Smetana, the nation’s two most famous composers. There are several concert halls and many of the churches have music concerts too.
Near Obecni Dum is the Museum of Communism, which is well worth a visit if you have any interest in the period from 1948 to 1989 when the country was a Communist dictatorship. In the 100 years since its creation, the period since 1989 has been the Czechs’ longest period of freedom. The country was established in 1918 after WW1 on the dismemberment of the Hapsburg Empire, but within twenty years what was then Czechoslovakia had been invaded by the Nazis before being ‘liberated’ by the Russians at the end of WW2. The guide we had on the foodie tour we took ( see below ) told us that there is a lot of antipathy towards Russian visitors, particularly amongst the older generation who remember what life was like under Soviet domination.
Wencelas Square ( more a wide street than a square) is quite ugly save for its namesake’s statue and the National Museum. It is, however, an important place in Czech history, being where the people have gathered in their hundreds of thousands at momentous times such as the Velvet Revolution that peacefully brought the end of Communism.
Kafka, the country’s most famous author, is celebrated with his own museum in Mala Strana and by statues across the city. The most impressive is the massive head in a small square surrounded by office buildings not far from Wencelas Square. It has 42 layers which move independently to create and uncreate his head, said to reflect his novel ‘Metamorphisis’.
Over in Mala Strana, you can imagine yourself in the times of Mozart. Many grand buildings are now embassies. Nerudrova Street takes you up the hill to the castle complex. Alternatively, for a quieter route, you can take one street north and ascend some two hundred steps. There are many magnificent buildings in the squares beyond the castle, and tucked away in nearby Novy Svet, or new world, old houses from centuries ago. We had Novy Svet to ourselves when we visited.
Going back up the hill from there, you can make your way to the Strahov Monastery. The Monastery also contains two wonderful libraries. From the terrace in front are amazing views across the city. There is also a great view over the city to be enjoyed from the cafe terrace at the Lobkowicz Palace in the grounds of Prague Castle.
Down near the river in Mala Strana, you’ll find the John Lennon wall started as a form of protest when the communists were in power. Nearby is the modern art museum, and not far away the Czech music museum.
EATING AND DRINKING
Czechs are the world’s biggest beer drinkers and there’s plenty of local brands to try. Czech white wine we also found to be good.
Czech cuisine tends to be hearty and meat based. We took a foodie tour and my wife’s options, being a pescatarian, were limited. In Kavarna Malostanska in Malostanska square I got to try the Czech classic of duck which was tasty. On the other side of the river, at Kantyna in Politickych veznu, there was a lot more meat and a delightful apple sauce with vinegar and horse radish.
Cake shops abound, however our guide told us that these were a symptom of tourism, and part of Viennese culture not Czech. He took us to Cukrar skala in V Celnici, close to the Museum of Communism, where we got to try traditional Czech cakes, Makovy kolacek or kolach, a rim of brioche like dough filled with jam, and also their version of Strudl. He explained that the Trdelniks which are sold all over the city had likewise been brought in for the tourists and are in fact a Hungarian food. For traditional Czech food reasonably priced, he recommended Lokal, which has branches all over town.
At night, we ate mainly in Mala Strana. We dined at the Mailroom Bistro ( Czech food and locally brewed beer), Piknik Park on Kampa island ( an Italian), and Lukalu ( food from Croatia and Bosnia). All were good. There are now a number of vegetarian restaurants. We went to Maitrea near the Old Town Square which we enjoyed. On our last day, we ate at the Coda restaurant in our hotel, the Aria. It is fine dining and quite formal but the food was top notch. I had goulash with dumplings ( yum ). Dinner and the tasting menus at the Coda can be pricey. On New Year’s Eve, they wanted over $350 (£275) per person plus wine.
GETTING ABOUT
Do try out the trams, especially if you want to get to some of the more distant sights or just want to give your feet a rest. You’ll be rubbing shoulders with the locals, and the stops are well displayed so you needn’t worry about getting lost. An all day ticket is only $5 ( less than £4). You can get ones that last for just 30 or 90 minutes for a lesser price. In all cases, you must validate your ticket by putting it in the machine when you get on. If not, you can be fined.
LANGUAGE
Czech doesn’t look to be an easy language and how to pronounce some words is baffling. In the centre, English is widely spoken. However, you will generally get more smiles if you can at least say a couple of words such as ‘thank you’ ( dekuji pronounced ‘dekwi’ ) and hello ‘good day’ ( dobry den ).