Prague for the first time!
I'm looking forward to my visit to Prague in early January, but I'm having a hard time finding things to do. All the guidebooks go into detail for each country in western Europe but just sort of wave a hand over ALL of eastern Europe in one chapter! I'm on a budget (hostels, grocery store shopping) but I'd love to hear what you all did and saw both tourist and off the beaten path. Will have maybe four days there. I Love history, art, food, beauty, outdoors, indoors...
Sarah
Dallas 9/18/12
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I've never been to Bratislava but most that I have spoken to say its a decent one or two day visit. As its 30 miles from Vienna, more or less, sounds like a good day trip from Vienna. Budapest is about 3 hours by train from Vienna and is a good 3 to 6 night visit. But i confess to being biased. Just read an article today that was about how Budapest has some of the best priced hotels in Europe. Again, i am biased.
They might be known globally for their pilsners (Plzen being a Czech town, after all!), but I can assure you I've enjoyed many a beautiful dark brown beer there over the years. Makes me feel cozy just thinking about it!
We were in Prague for 3 days right after Christmas in 2010. It was during a very heavy snowy period and frigid temps. I don't know if it was about 25 the whole time we were there. It was fabulous despite the weather! It is so beautiful with snow (though the sidewalks were slippery). It was crowded but not miserably so.
We had everything we needed from Rick's book. Didn't see it mentioned, but if you enjoy art, the Mucha Museum is worth a visit.
We only had one waiter try to scam us with our change at lunch.
Have fun!
i spent four nights in prague back in may.
i slept on a botel (a boat that is a hotel, just in case you are unaware). i was reallllllllly excited to do this. once i got there, i realized it was better in my mind than in reality. there were no screens on the windows and there were lots of mosquitos.
i didnt eat in any restaurants. breakfast was at the hotel, lunch was a cliff bar (brought a box with me) and dinner was usually purchased at a supermarket.
things i did:
walked around foreverrrrrrrrrr. its so beautiful there. this was also my first real trip to europe so just the "IM IN EUROPE" factor, added to being in prague, kept me busy forever.
i took a train to kutna hora to see the sedlec ossuary
took the furnicular up to petrin tower. then walked down in a rainstorm and stopped and looked up and saw a rainbow over prague! it was so beautiful and unexpected!
took like fifty pictures of the fred and ginger building.
walked across the charles bridge every morning at sunrise
i may or may not have cursed out any tourist who jumped right into my pictures of the john nepomuk statue
went to the castle
went to the zyzkov television tower (skip this one)
rode the trams a bunch just to get acclimated
went to the astronomical clock tower
i wish i would have gone to ardrspach-teplice but now i have a reason to go back.
I was in Prague 4 years ago at Christmas, it was a great time to visit. I would suggest visiting Terezin for a day. If you like history, it will be a very powerful day.
Hi - We just returned from a trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. It all went well and we had not trouble ordering or getting along in English. Everyone seemed friendly and we had no problems.
I really enjoyed riding the Metro(subway)in all three cities, right on time and easy to use. The signs and rolling stock on the metro in Vienna were especially impressive. Not so much in Budapest.
Bill
Thanks everyone! It looks like we are going to have to take Vienna off the list (heartbreaking) but we will still be going to Prague, so I appreciate all the ideas and stories!
I'm a Texan currently in Prague on a residency as musical director with the Prague Shakespeare Festival and an ardent fan of this amazing city. Some very good advice in this thread. It's cold and wet in January, but there is more of an "outdoor" culture here than we're used to in the US, so people are always out doing things, walking, etc. You can eat well for cheaply if you avoid the obvious tourist places and eat where the locals do. Lunch specials are the way to go for a main meal of the day for well under $10. Lots of English spoken here and many restaurants have separate English language menus or translations.
You don't need to worry much about crime as long as you keep an eye on your purse/wallet in bars and take obvious precautions against pickpockets in public places.
Make a point of crossing the river to have a beer in the Letna Biergarten in a beautiful public park with the best view in the city. History? Tour the massive fortress complex and park at Vysehrad for free and take advantage of the superior subway/tram system that will get you anywhere for $1.30 or so. Make sure you catch the changing of the guard ceremony at Prague Castle. Walk around the neighborhoods and marvel at what must have been a "full employment" program for sculptors in the days of the Empire (and do bring your camera). Make sure you visit the site of the Black Madonna in the Old Town where there used to be a chapter house for the Knights Templar. I'm constantly amazed at statues, busts, architecture and graphics (a lot of the buildings are painted) that I've walked by dozens of times but missed. Every walk is an adventure.
I was in Budapest after last year's tour closed and enjoyed the city enough to want to return, but Prague wins out in my humble opinion. Feel free to message me if you need specific answers to specific questions. I'm here until mid November.
Hi Sarah,
We (two couples) were in Prague September 19-23. We enjoyed it very much, we stayed in an apartment in the old town. The apartment owner even had a person meet us at the airport and bring us in for a resaonable fee. We enjoyed the food and the beer and exploring Prague.
It was fun to ride the subway and the trams.
For me, three nights in a city are enough to get a good feel for the city and see the highlights. Of course we follow Rick Steves' guidebooks all the way!
Best, Bill
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