On my second visit to Prague last week, I chatted to a local young lady who has lived in Prague all her life and asked her what her top five recommendations would be if she only had a couple of days to spend in the city. Here is what she advises:
- Take a walk from the Old Town Square to Prague Castle. Along the way join the crowd at the Astronomical Clock to watch the procession of the Twelve Apostles – on the hour, every hour, a small trap door opens in the clock and Christ emerges followed by his disciples. The first base of the clock was installed in 1410 alongside the Old Town Hall Tower which was built in 1338 – I am constantly amazed at what people invented and built 8 centuries ago!!From here, proceed to the Charles Bridge, (built between 1357 – 1402), one of the city’s finest attractions. The bridge is the main pedestrian connection between the Old Town and Prague Castle giving visitors magnificent fairytale views of the Prague skyline.
From the bridge you can already see Prague Castle, the largest medieval castle complex in Europe. Here you will find the Saint Vitus Cathedral, the most recognisable landmark in the city. Having being commissioned by Charles IV, work began in 1344 and took nearly six centuries to complete – almost too hard to comprehend….. today, the castle is the seat of the President of the Republic. Watch out for the changing of the guard at the front gates every hour and at noon, the ceremony includes a fanfare, great fun!
- Prague Castle with the St Vitus Cathedral
- The City is steeped in rich musical heritage (the young lady I chatted to is a concert pianist and dancer) with many theatres and musical halls to choose from. The National Theatre is one of the most important cultural institutions in Prague, a neo-renaissance building built between 1868 – 81. Crossing the Vltava River, you cannot miss its gleaming gold roof.I experienced a wonderful evening here last week watching the National Theatre Ballet perform The Nutcracker – A Christmas Carol. Definitely something everyone should have on their bucket list. The magnificence of the stage, the graceful beauty of the dancers, the live orchestra…combine this with the opulence of the theatre, a mesmerising night!
- The Prague National Theatre
- Something not to miss either is a walk up to the Petrin Observation Tower. Although the tower is only 60m tall, it has added height by being on top of Petrin Hill with the best views of Prague and the surrounds; on a clear day one can see Czech’s highest peak, Snezka, situated 150 km away. You do though have to climb 299 steps to reach the viewing deck….I did this in summer…..and it is well worth it!
- View from Petrin Observation Tower
- You must take the opportunity to taste the world famous Czech beer. The Czech Republic is the No. 1 beer drinking nation on the planet. Believe it or not but I understand that they have an annual per capita consumption of some 156 litres. Now, that is a lot of beer. Every pub offers 2 or 3 different types of Czech beer. If you would like a bigger choice, a good suggestion by my young friend was to visit the Pivovarsky Club located in Prague 3. Here they have 240 types of beer in bottles and 6 types of beer on tap…. taste away…..
- Drinking the local Czech beer in summer
- Last, but not least, try not to miss the Cafe Louvre in the Prague centre, a Parisian style cafe dating back to 1902 where Kafka and Einstein apparently used to frequent – good enough for me then! The cafe is always busy with locals and tourists alike and being recommended by a local is a good sign for sure. I did not get a chance to visit this time…. but I am told that their hot chocolate is amazing so will definitely make time for this in the future.Have you visited Prague and, if so, do you have any recommendations – I would love to hear them!
Excellent blog Cynthia. Prague is on my list for the summer. I would be interested to hear how you found the city in the winter.
Hi Carol – thanks for your comments, my son lives in Prague so luckily I get first hand knowledge from him and his girlfriend. It is definitely much easier to enjoy all the outdoor activities in the summer, just the walk from the Old City over Charles Bridge to the castle and going up the Observation Tower etc is of course much better to do in the summer, the gardens are also beautiful, its only gets dark at about 9pm, all of these factors add to the enjoyment. It can though get very hot and humid with flash rain showers. Luckily for me this time round in the winter, they were having a rather mild November, usually it would already be snowing then and -15 to -20 degrees but the days were mild, about 6 degrees and only down to about -4 after the sun went down and no snow. As you come from a climate with extreme winters better to come in summer but if you are used to the cold, should not be a problem – the Christmas markets were fantastic!
HI Cynthia
it sounds absolutely magical and I am sure the summer is just as good a time to visit but I am a romantic and the winter xmas magic with xmas markets and fairy lights sounds absolutely awesome.
Always the best tour guides ~ asking a local.
Enjoyed the read. Thank you Cynthia!
Will definitely have to add Prague to our travel itinerary.
Thanks Emme! you must visit Prague, it simply has to be on everyone’s bucket list.
Having been there I would endorse all of the above options. We also took a bus tour into the country to visit a glass factory where we bought some spectacular wine glasses. A walk through the Jewish ghetto is a sobering must and one should definitely see the ghetto cemetery and the Museum. I would love to go back at Christmas time but not sure about facing the cold weather!