Hey Folks
We’re planning a trip to Prague. I like to boast about the number of places I’ve been, but Prague will be a first for me.
I’m looking for suggestions on where to stay. We like to be right in the middle of it all, and we like walking whenever possible. We’ve no trouble doing 10-12 miles in a day on foot. Also, the older the neighborhood the better.
Anyone have any recommendations on neighborhoods or even hotels?
Thanks!
We stayed in Mala Strana, which was very nicely situated near the Charles Bridge.
You can walk up to the castle, and there is a great number of restaurants nearby. Easy access to the subway, which we used for getting around the city. But not in the “party zone” really; so it was reasonably quiet at night.
I believe we stayed at a hotel called Hotel Bishop’s House, which I remember as “fine”. I think it had a nice breakfast available, and was a very easy walk to the bridge if you want to do the whole “sunrise” thing - which I did but my wife slept in. I’m sure there are other good options in the neighborhood as well.
Are you just doing Prague, or other cityies in Czechia a well?
ETA: If by “in the middle of it all” you mean the middle of the tourist scene, then I think Old Town is probably the answer. But if you prefer a bit more quiet and easy walking, then I still recommend Malá Strana.
It’s been many years since I was last there, but yes, any sort of wandering about in the old-architecture places will be grand. It’s less a city of landmarks (although there are some) and more of a just soak-in-the-vibe niceness.
We’re going to visit with some friends in Leipzig and then on to Prague. About 4 days in each.
Prague has excellent buses. I was visiting a friend, so u didn’t need to learn the routes, but i bet Google maps can help you with them.
That means that anyplace moderately central with good bus service should meet your needs. (I know you are happy walking, but you’ll probably sometimes want transit, too.)
It’s been a while, but we spent about four days in Prague on our honeymoon.
We stayed in the Hotel Julian just south of the Mala Strana district, and basically walked up through there to the Castle hill, and across the Karlov Most into the Old Town and New Town. Highlights were St. Vitus’ Cathedral, and just wandering around. It’s a great city for that.
The Astronomical clock is something of a letdown- while it was probably spectacular in its day, it’s kind of anticlimactic now.
FWIW, the majority of central Prague is pretty old; it wasn’t significantly bombed or fought in during WWII, unlike many other European cities. In fact, at least one of the more modern buildings like the Dancing House were built post-war where the USAAF had mistakenly bombed Prague during the war.
We stayed at the Augustine Hotel as part of a tour. The location and the hotel are excellent. But I imagine it’s probably pretty expensive.
It also, like some other East European cities such as Vienna, has an excellent tram network.
They didn’t make the mistake of tearing that up in favor of car traffic, unlike many western European and US cities.
As Kevin Dolgin writes:
Many European cities have their “historic quarter,” where beautiful old buildings overlook sinuous streets that run their cobblestoned length into squares featuring statues and churches and clocks and towers. In many cities, though, the historic section feels like a museum: carefully preserved but vaguely irrelevant. The historic part of Prague, however, is Prague. You never walk your way into a modern, hulking, concrete part of Prague; the nice part just goes on and on.
A couple of slightly different ideas:
The Petrin Tower. You can see it up on the hill from anywhere in the city (it’s the same height as the Eiffel Tower - well, it’s built on a hill, so the top is at the same height, ha, ha). It was inspired by the Eiffel tower. Great views from the top, a really nice walk up through the woods (red squirrels!), and it sways!
Oh, it sways! Slightly unnerving……
The Smetana museum is very good for people with a classical music interest. Vltava is probably the most famous Czech piece of music.
The Pinkas Synagogue is a main Jewish memorial. It lists names and the last known date of record of Holocaust victimms. The names are inscribed on the walls in alphabetical order, so it is possible to see several members of the same family, who all ‘disappeared’ on the same date.