We just returned from a 3 night stay in Prague. We are two couples in our 40s, from the US, meeting in Prague for a long weekend. Our plan was to see the sights, but also spend time together, people watch, talk with the locals, learn some of their language and customs, etc.
We stayed in Mala Strana at the Hotel Aria. It's a fabulous hotel with an emphasis on music. It's about 5 minutes walk from the Charles Bridge. The hotel is right next to the US Embassy, and near the Alchymest (another beautiful hotel). There is a rooftop terrace where you can view the church steeples and rooftops.
Our first evening we walked to dinner at Olympia for some local food and beer. After we took an evening walk across the Manusev(sp?) bridge to the Stare Mesto side, made a left along the Vlatva river and crossed back on the Charles Bridge. It was a spectacular first evening walk. There were fireworks over the National Theater.
The next morning we visited the Church of Our Lady Victorius (Infant of Prague Statue) and the massive baroque Church of St. Nicholas (both in Mala Strana). After we walked across the Charles Bridge(use a guidebook with explanations of the different statues across the bridge) to Stare Mesto. We took a 50 minute boat cruise with the people dressed in sailor suits at the end of the bridge.($15pp) The boat tour was informative, casual and fun...and including beer, coffee and cakes. We learned about the architechure, the city, the terrain and floods that have affected Prague. Next we walked into Stare Mesto to see the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, then into the square at the top of the hour to witness the Astronomical Clock at the Old Town Hall. We spent some time enjoying the shops and restaurants of Stare Mesto. On our walk back we stopped at Kampa Island and the restaurant below the bridge. A very charming spot with excellent views of the city.
The next day we walked to the Prague Castle. At the entrance to the castle, we were greeted by a four man music band playing traditional music. It really set the tone for the day. We watched the changing of the Castle guard (very brief and a bit less informal than we expected). We entered into the beautiful St. Vitus Cathedral. You can walk to the top of one of the spires...beware..287 steps in a spiral. At the top you can view the city, the rooftops, and the rivers into Germany and Austria. We walked the grounds of the castle then up to the Loreto Church. We stopped for lunch in one of the restaurants offering local Czech cuisine. That afternoon we shopped for Czech garnets. **Tip...we were advised by the shopkeeper that the smaller garnets are actually from the Czech Republic, while the larger stones are from India**.
That evening we enjoyed dinner at our hotel restaurant, CODA. We met the chef the night before and he offered to prepare us a traditional Czech dinner of roasted duck, dumplings with cabbage, and potatoes. Finished off with a chocolate cake and traditional Czech herb liquor Becherovka. Na zdrovi!!
We found english to be spoken everywhere. We all agreed that Prague is an absolutely beautiful city. It feels as if it was just created as a movie set. The people were very gracious and wanted us to enjoy their beautiful city. We did.