Home > Rick on TV > Guide to Shows > Prague and the Czech Republic

Prague and the Czech Republic: Travel Details

This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in the "Prague and the Czech Republic" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Prague & the Czech Republic guidebook.

Lida Šteflová

Magic Praha is a tiny travel service run by hardworking Lída Šteflová. A charming Jill-of-all-trades who takes her clients' needs seriously, she's particularly helpful with accommodations and transfers throughout the Czech Republic, private tours, and side-trips to historic towns (Spálená 21, 1st floor, tel. & fax 224-931-674, mobile 604-207-225, www.magicpraha.cz, magicpraha@magicpraha.cz).

Jan Hus

TJan Hus (c. 1369–1415) lived and preached a century before Martin Luther. Both were college professors, as well as priests. Both drew huge public crowds as they preached in their university chapels. Both promoted a local religious autonomy. Both helped establish their national languages. (Hus gave the Czechs their unique accents to enable the letters to fit the sounds.) And both got in big trouble. While Hus was burned, Luther survived. Living after Gutenberg, Luther was able to spread his message more cheaply and effectively, thanks to the new printing press. Since Luther was high-profile and German, killing him would have caused major political complications. While Hus may have loosened Rome's grip on Christianity, Luther orchestrated the Reformation that finally broke it. Today, both are revered as national heroes as well as religious reformers.

Prague Castle Orchestra

If the Prague Castle Orchestra is playing, say hello to friendly, mustachioed Josef, and consider getting the group's terrific CD.

Hotel Julian

Hotel Julián, an oasis of professional, predictable decency in a quiet, untouristy neighborhood, is just south of the Little Quarter on the castle side of the river. Its 32 spacious, fresh, well-furnished rooms and big, homey public spaces hide behind a noble neoclassical facade. The staff is friendly and helpful (Sb-3,680 Kč, Db-3,980 Kč, Db suite-4,800 Kč, extra bed-900 Kč, discount for booking online, 5 percent discount off best quoted rate with this book in 2006, free tea and coffee in room, elevator, Internet in lobby, parking lot, Elišky Peškové 11, Praha 5, reservation tel. 257-311-150, reception tel. 257-311-145, fax 257-311-149, www.julian.cz, casjul@vol.cz).

Black Light Theater

A kind of mime/modern dance variety show, Black Light Theater has no language barrier and is, for many, more entertaining than a classical concert. Unique to Prague (though somewhat comparable to the Canadian Cirque du Soleil), Black Light Theater originated in the 1960s as a playful and mystifying theater of the absurd. The two main venues are Ta Fantastika (Aspects of Alice at 21:30, more poetic, more puppets, traditional, a little artistic nudity, 620 Kč, reserved seating, near east end of Charles Bridge at Karlova 8, tel. 222-221-366, www.tafantastika.cz) and Image Theatre (more mime and absurd — "it's precisely the fact that we are all so different that unites us," shows at 18:00 and 20:00, 450 Kč, open seating — arrive early to grab a good spot, just off Old Town Square at Pařížská 4, tel. 222-314-448, www.imagetheatre.cz). Shows last about 90 minutes. Avoid the first four rows, which get you so close that it ruins the illusion. The other black light theaters advertising around town aren't as good.

Kutna Hora's Ossuary (Sedlec Bone Church)

Sedlec Bone Church (Kostnice u Sedlci) — Located a mile away from the center of town, in Sedlec, this little church looks normal on the outside. Inside, the bones of 40,000 people decorate the walls and ceilings. Fourteenth-century plagues and 15th-century wars provided all the raw material necessary for the creepily creative monks who made these designs. Those who first placed these bones 400 years ago wanted viewers to remember that the earthly church is a community of both the living and the dead, a countless multitude that will one day stand before God. Later bone-stackers were more interested in design than theology...as evidenced by the chandelier that includes every bone in the human body (30 Kč, July–Aug daily 8:00–18:00, April–June and Sept–Oct daily 9:00–17:00, Nov–March Tue–Sun 9:00–16:00, closed Mon). To get to the Bone Church, you can walk, catch a taxi (less than 100 Kč), or ride the city bus (leaves from Masarykova Street, buy ticket at a newsstand).

Jewish museum

Seven sights scattered over a three-block area make up the tourists' Jewish Quarter. Six of the sights, called "the Museum," are treated as one admission. Your ticket comes with a map locating the sights and listing admission appointments — the times you'll be let in if it's very crowded. (Without crowds, ignore the times.)

To visit all seven sights, you'll pay 500 Kč (300 Kč for the Museum and 200 Kč for the Old-New Synagogue; all sights open Sun–Fri 9:00–18:00, closed Sat — the Jewish Sabbath). There are occasional guided walks in English (40 Kč, 2.5 hrs, start at Maisel Synagogue, tel. 222-317-191). Most stops are described in English. The ticket lines at the cemetery and Pinkas Synagogue are longest. You'll likely save time if you buy your ticket at the Maisel Synagogue (the best place to start your visit, anyway).

Pinkas Synagogue (Pinkasova Synagóga) A site of Jewish worship for 400 years, today this is a poignant memorial to the victims of the Nazis. The walls are covered with the handwritten names of 77,297 Czech Jews who were sent from here to the gas chambers of Auschwitz and other camps. (You'll hear the somber reading of the names as you ponder this sad sight.) Hometowns are in gold and family names are in red, followed in black by the individual's first name, birthday, and last date known to be alive. Notice that families generally perished together. Extermination camps are listed on the east wall. Climb six steps into the women's gallery. The names in poor condition near the ceiling are from 1959. When the communists moved in, they closed the synagogue and erased everything. With freedom, in 1989, the Pinkas Synagogue was reopened and all the names rewritten. The Synagogue closed briefly in 2003, as flood damage meant the names needed to be rewritten once again.

Upstairs is the Terezín Children's Art Exhibit, displaying art drawn by Jewish children who were imprisoned at Terezín Concentration Camp and later perished. Terezín is a powerful day trip from Prague (get details at the TI). But the evocative power of the children's drawings is stronger than all of Terezín.

Mucha Museum

This is one of Europe's most enjoyable little museums. I find the art of Alfons Mucha (MOO-kah, 1860–1939) insistently likeable. See the crucifixion scene he painted as an eight-year-old boy. Read how this popular Czech artist's posters, filled with Czech symbols and expressing his people's ideals and aspirations, were patriotic banners that aroused the national spirit. And check out the photographs of his models. With the help of this abundant supply of slinky models, Mucha was a founding father of the Art Nouveau movement. Prague isn't much on museums, but, if you're into Art Nouveau, this one is great. Partly overseen by Mucha's grandson, it's two blocks off Wenceslas Square and wonderfully displayed on one comfortable floor (120 Kč, daily 10:00–18:00, Panská 7, tel. 224-233-355, www.mucha.cz). While the exhibit is well-described in English, the 30-Kč English brochure on the art is a good supplement. The included 30-minute video is definitely worthwhile (in English, ask for the starting time upon entry); it describes the main project of Mucha's life — the Slavic Epic, now on display in the village of Moravský Krumlov (in the eastern Czech Republic).