A few ?'s re: Prague: Beer, cabs, tours, etc.
 

Husband and I are headed to Prague for 6 days and I've got a few questions that I haven't seen specifically addressed recently in other threads. Can anyone please help? We're in our late 20s and this is our first time to Eastern Europe. We're staying at the Kinsky Garden hotel in Prague 5 (Mala Strana). Many thanks!

1) Recommended breweries/brew tours/ brewpubs? I've found several on the web and would love some first-hand accounts. We're headed to the opera while we're there so a few tastings/tours seems like a fair payback :) Recent restaurant rec's welcome, too- I appreciated MarkTyne's thread, but it's over a year old now... Looking for authentic food, we'll eat anything!

2) The evilness of Frankfurt? Our flight to Frankfurt arrives at 7:35 AM and our connection to Prague departs 50 minutes later- both Lufthansa (from EWR). Any tips? Please, please tell me we don't have to go through customs!

3) Recomendations for a day trip? Don't want to spend 4 hours on a bus R/T (no Karlovy Vary?), so is there any day-trip-worthy town/castle closer?

4) There's a number of walking tour outifts out there (Prague Walks, etc.)- anyone have recent experiences to share? I imagine a tour of St. Vitus' and the castle is probably key to a full understanding/appreciation? We like museums, architecture, anything.

5) Finally, are there any movies out there filmed in Prague?

Thank you all so very much for your help! Anything else anybody would like to share would be most welcome.

Hi
You might enjoy the film
"The Unbearable Lightness of Being", with Daniel Day Lewis.
The Soviet invasion of 1968 is very much part of this Prague story.

Have you tried contacting the airline about possible customs clearance in Frankfurt? They might be the most reliable source of information.

However, if you want my best guess, yes, you'll have to go through customs. I've never had to change planes in Frankfurt after arriving on an international flight, but I have in other airports and we had to collect our luggage and clear customs. But I'm sure you'll get all sorts of opinions here.

Since you're obviously interested in beer drinking just kick back and have a beer or two at the FRA airport..they'll be there drinking by 8:00 AM, believe me..Prague and the beer will be there once you finally arrive.

We made our first trip to Prague last spring and loved it.

1) We toured the Staropramen Brewery. I made all the arrangements online before we left, printed out the info and took it with me. The well laid plans, etc.--the tour we were scheduled on was cancelled and we spent a good deal of down time waiting until we finally got a tour with one other couple as it turned out. We enjoyed it and I would recommend it, just hope you wouldn't have the mixup and long wait we had. The website is: http://www.staropramen.cz/centrum/eng/index.html

2) Can't help with Frankfurt airport; we've never gone through there. We fly BA so go through London. We check our luggage through to our destination, but still have to go through passport control.

3) We had planned to go to Cesky Krumlov but didn't make it. Most on the forum suggest bus rather than train as it is quicker. Here's a really good web site: http://www.ckrumlov.cz/uk/atlas/i_cmm.htm

4) Can't help with walking tours. We did the castle on our own and visited St. Vitus, etc. We loved the Mucha Museum. Interesting architecture is almost everywhere you go. The Charles Bridge is very unique. We took a boat cruise on the Vltava. Enjoyed Old Town Square (astrological clock, Tyn Church, shops, cafes, etc.). We visited the old synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Had wanted to visit the Pinkas Synagogue (I think that that's the name) but it wasn't open.

5) I found three movies when researching our trip: The one Elaine mentioned above; Kafka with Jeremy Irons; Lies & Whispers with Gina Gershon & Rade Serbedzija. Got all three from Amazon.

You've made an excellent choice. Prague is a wonderful city.

A great film to watch is "Operation Daybreak" (1976 - with Timothy Bottoms, Martin Shaw & Joss Ackland) a very accurate portrayal of the events surrounding the assasination of Heydrich by Czech partisans in 1942 and their eventual capture in the crypt of a church some days later.

You can visit a very moving museum in that same crypt too.. still with the bullet marks on the walls. A very moving testament to the courage of the individual.

The Church in question is St Cyril & Methodius and is in the centre of Prague. The full story can be read here:
http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/prague.html

I strongly recommend this as a morning's activity - it'll help to keep all the beauty and wonder that is Prague in perspective.

Hope you have a great trip!

Dr D.

There are a couple castles that are not far outside Prague for a day trip. These should be mentioned in any guidebook to Prague -- Konopiste and Karlstejn. After them, I'd suggest Kutna Hora for a nice day trip that isn't too far.

Cesky Krumlov is nice, but much farther than you indicated you wanted to travel for a day trip. I did not do a tour within the city myself as I read a lot and have a lot of books on history, guidebooks, and am well-read in the area, so prefer to do things myself within the city. I did do tour groups for day trips as those logistics are not as easy on your own.

As for movies -- Amadeus was filmed in Prague. I also think that silly comedy with the nanny in it (F. Dreschler) was filmed in Prague, and Mission: Impossible.

Yes, Mission Impossible was filmed in Prague, and if you walk on the Charles Bridge towrad the castle, on your left hand side at the end of the bridge is where those beginning scenes (the murders outside the party) took place.

Amadeus was filmed in Prague, because the dircetor (MIlos Forman) is Czech and Vienna was too modernized to stand in for itself.

You will love Prague. I guarantee it!

There are quite a few movies filmed in Prague. I was surprised when I did a search. I can't remember the site that had the list but it was easy enough to find.
It's been a couple of years since I was last in Prague but I don't remember the bus to Karlovy Vary being hours. It was a nice day trip. We didn't take a tour we just hopped on the bus, it was simple.
I loved Prague so much that I'm going back in April. One of the people in our group of friends has been to Prague 3 times already and is always ready to go back.
We especially enjoyed the Magika Lanterna for a night show. But I've read mixed reviews about it on this site.
Have a great time.

Try www.praguepubs.co.uk for details of some pubs you may be interested in.

Hi
I'm going to Prague in a couple of weeks and I've compiled a file; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

I highly recommend Sarka Pelantova as a guide in Prague.www.prague-guide.info or e-mail her at [email protected]

We stayed at Kinsky Garden in '99-the rooms are on the smallish side, but it's very convienently located. Our room overlooked the garden and was a pleasant view in the mornings.

We spent a day in Terezin-very sobering, very worthwhile, and a short day trip from Prague.

Finally, although it's not a pub per se, Klub Architect is a great place for beer (and their potato pancakes with caviar and smoked salmon). Share your table with others, and you'll have a great time.

We did a couplle of walking tours from the kiosk in Old town Square - one of the Jewsih quarter and one of the Old town in general. Both were excellent - the guides were informative, amusing and had excellent english. We did not do a guided tour of the Castle - since we find that they usually skimp on things we would like to see we do those ouselves with a good guidebook.

We also visited the crypt in St Cyril's church, and found it very moving.
Particularly touching were all the handwritten notes, and poppy wreaths sent from various branches of the British Legion in rememberance.
We walked there from the old town but I would recommend a tram or taxi, too far to walk on those cobbles.

The only walking tour we did was the ghost tour at night. Meet under the astronomical clock at 7.30 and 8.30 I think, and it will be the young woman with the yellow umbrella! You can pick up the leaflets from your hotel with the correct details.
This tour lasts around an hour, is very reasonable and we really enjoyed it.
When we went in December there were only four of us on it and we had a good laugh.
The guide finishes the tour by taking you to a local bar (one you probably wouldn't find by yourself) and you get a free drink.
It was a cheap bar and the food was good. Nice way to meet other people too, we got on so well with the other couple (lots of football talk!)that we all staggered home after 3am :)

Look for beer signs for Krusovice. Wonderful beer. Its brewery is near the Karlstein castle.
I think Terezin concentration camp is a day trip north of Prague.
Current Czech film, ""Autumn Spring" I recommend.

Re films:

The Jack The Ripper Film "From Hell" is filmed in Prague - ie all the bits that are supposed to victorian London are actually old Prague.

Thank you all so very much for your considerate replies! It's funny, at times I try to remember how I normally planned for trips before finding this board - almost like trying to remember life before email and the web...
Dr. DoGood - thanks so much - I never would have known that important story. Will try to find the movie.
Dave - nice site. Have you ever looked at www.fancyapint.com? We downloaded their info onto a PDA before a trip to London and I swear we consulted it more than our Tube map... and no, JonJon, we're not 'holics :)
Giovanna- Excellent, will email Staropramen shortly!
LLC - thanks for the guide rec
Rufus- still trying to find an 800 # for Lufthansa in the states, but perhaps I'll cave and email them...

Again, many thanks to all (and for the daytrip suggestions)! I'm getting really stoked. Is anything better than adventuring??

800# for Lufthansa
1-800-645-3880

Thanks again, LLC! Couldn't find it on their website.