CITY GUIDE | SPENDING 3 DAYS IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC.

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Hello! I am back. My short break on here was because I have just got back from jumping around Europe the last 10 days. Most European cities you only need 3 days tops to see the best of them, and to save on flight prices we went on a trip from Prague to Krakow to the very random Oslo. We spent 3 days in Prague and to be honest, 2 was plenty to see everything so we just spent the third day eating and walking around, a lot. If you're planning a trip to the Czech capital, here are my recommendations on where to stay, things to do and my top tips!

prague 1

WHERE TO STAY

The only time we used transport in Prague was when travelling to and from the airport - and for this booking a transfer or using Uber are the quickest and cheapest option! Everything in Prague is pretty much walking distance. The walk up to Prague Castle was as challenging as it got and it was definitely an easier journey than walking up to Park Guell in Barcelona! We stayed in the Old Town Prague (Rybna Street), and we were pretty much next to all the atmosphere and a 5-10 minute walk from the main square. 

WHERE & WHAT TO EAT

If you're visiting around Easter time, then the markets provide plenty of local treats - including kremrole, trdelnik, fried cheese and of course, Czech beer! If you are visiting during another time of the year, not to worry you can still find these scattered around the town and in Czech restaurants. I kept seeing 'pork knuckle' on the specials so I went for it, and I'm not a massive fan of  the jelly-ish texture so it wasn't the best choice for me, but might be for you. Another local dish I tried was 'Haluski" which at first glance, I thought was mac n cheese, but instead I bit into potato dumplings with cabbage and bacon, still just as tasty. For good local food, I recommend Kulatak , Mlejnice and COMO. We treated ourselves to a 3 course meal at COMO and paid under 20 euros for it.

trdelnik

I always enjoy a good burger when I'm travelling, and this one was provided by Fat Cat. We stumbled in here for lunch on our first day and of course I had to try the Czeck's version of Goulash soup (however, Budapest still remains in first place for this). We later returned on our last night and I went for the pear and goat's cheese beef burger which was delicious - and less than a tenner. If you fancy an evening with a hearththrob, the James Dean Cafe is an American diner that does good, well American food and milkshakes.

fat cat

If like me, you like your coffee and treats then there are tons of quirky little cafes around Prague. 'Pernickuv Sen' is a gingerbread lover's haven - with all sorts of treats and cakes and hot drinks. OneSip is great for coffee lovers, and for you Vegan and Gluten Free folks, TriCafe is a cosy, affordable and delicious cafe.


gingerbread cafe

WHAT TO DO

We started off our trip with a 'free' walking tour provided by Sandemans - I do these wherever possible as they usually cater for a younger crowd and keep the history interested and entertaining. This will probably take up your morning as the tour lasts roughly two hours. After lunch we spent the afternoon exploring the rest of the town - for some pretty photo spots head to Lesser Town, Charles Bridge, Novy Svet and practically every street across the bridge to be honest!

prague 2

If the sun is shining, the walk to Prague Castle is actually quite pleasant and not as steep a walk as I have encountered in other places. On your way down, map your way to see the John Lennon 'memorial' wall that has been filled with Lennon inspired graffiti since the 1980s. You can also explore Letna park and little Venice in this area. You'll probably also notice their 'Tour Eiffel' in the distance.

lennon wall

An interesting area to explore is the Jewish Quarter, which is now quite an affluent looking area and one street away from Parisian Street. Something that stuck with me when here was that Hitler wanted to preserve this area because he wanted to make it a 'museum for an extinct race'. There are very interesting exhibits in the museum, including drawings children who were sent to the ghettos had produced which I found extremely moving - you can read more about it here.  

If you'd like to see Prague from the river, then a boat cruise will only set you back 10 euros, and don't worry you're kept warm! One of the highlights for us was seeing Prague in a vintage 1950s car, I do wonder how many strangers pictures we are now in. If you ever wanted to feel like a Hollywood star (attention and ride wise) then this is definitely something fun to try. If you'd like to try something alternative and got some time to spare, Prague has some pretty cool EscapeRooms - my friends get scared of their own shadow so we didn't get to do this, but I wish I would have done it!

vintage car

Things I DON"T recommend you waste your money on - the wax museum (the Madame Tussauds rejects), museum of torture (eh, boring and small) and the ghost and legends tour. I was super excited for the ghosts tour thinking we were going to learn about all the ghouls and have a laugh, but instead we had a guide who barely spoke English, left her stories unfinished and spoke about ONE ghost - a headless man who roams the streets on a horse. It might have just been bad luck, as I went to check if anyone else had a similar experience and the other guides didn't seem to be as bad, so your choice! I am still bitter about this tour and it's been 14 days. 

Finally, for my party people you might have heard that Prague is home to one of the 'biggest' clubs in Europe - a 5 story club called Karlovy Lazne. We started the night with a Prague Pub Crawl that included an hour of unlimited drinks and a shot in each club. I don't think I've ever seen more people on a pub crawl in my life,  it was like a cauldron of languages in the first bar and it was particularly entertaining to see how different cultures/nationalities get down. If you'd rather have a drink and a chat then Tretter's, El MojitoHemingway Bar and Black Angel's Bar are good choices. If you're looking for a closer to home pub, then The Dubliner is a popular one with the lads.

czech beer

TOP TIPS FOR PRAGUE 

  • Although they accept Euros, using Czech Korunas will get you a better deal. When taking out cash at the ATM, always choose 'decline conversion'. I recommend getting a Revolut account for your currencies if you haven't yet! 
  • The Astronomical Clock is one of the most popular 'attractions' in Prague, but sadly it is under renovation until August. 
  • I'd recommend 2 days and a half to visit, and market time (Easter/Christmas) would probably make it extra beautiful. 
  • Don't be offended if the locals are rude to you when serving, apparently this comes from their long history of communism. 

I hope this guide has been useful and if you have any other questions feel free to drop me a line! Have you ever been to Prague? Is it a place you would like to visit? 

G


for more ideas on what to do in Prague head to my Czech Republic Pinterest board.


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