What might you suggest for a hotel, Prague, in the $150 (and up a little!) range..good location and convenient for someone with bad knees and not quite 100% walking for long distances.. In GENERAL, are there MANY steps in the city of Prague,,,and/or can one experience the city without climbing a LOT of steps!? THANKS

I recommend going to www.athos.cz and seeking the inout of the knowledgeable and friendly agents there - - available live, online to chat (ICQ) if you wish. Prague has hundreds of hotels (and apartments), and as is true of lots of tourism-intense cities, in most cases you get what you pay for; thus asking them for properties offering better-than-usual deals right now might get you a room that is normally priced higher than that (and thus, hopefully "worth" more - - in features, or location).

I also generally give a strong recommendation to familiarize yourself with www.livingprague.com

For what it's worth, we chose an apartment (well, actually, a pair of, for our family of five) - - Zatec - - for our three nights there (in 2003), and thought we got an excellent bargain (a little over $200 per night for the two apartments combined). Not recommending in your case though - - location was good, but even with the (retro-fitted) elevator (on the outside of the buliding, literally in the courtyard) - - there were still one and one-half flights of stairs to climb to our attic apartments (this accounted in part for their being a bit extra spacious).

Best wishes,

Rex

Oh... and to answer your question more generically, one of the chief attractions in Prague - - Prague Castle - - does involve a fair amount of climbing just to get TO it, if you use public transportation; perhaps a taxi can eliminate much or all of that.

I really liked the Hotel Maximilian in Prague, which is up a little from your budget, I think. It really depends on when you plan to go, though, as rates vary by season.

I don't think there are any more steps in Prague than most cities, unless you plan to take the metro, of course. I think it's about the same as anywhere. With most sightseeing, there is a lot of walking involved, usually, but the steps are about the same as usual -- any church will have some steps to get up to the main area, and museums usually have some steps, also.

I don't remember any large number of steps in the castle -- most of everything you see there is ground level, although you can go up to the first floor in some of those complexes. You wouldn't have to, though. There is a lot of walking, though. I took public transportation to the castle, and don't remember any large numbers of steps -- you simply have to walk from the tram stop to the castle complex (maybe about a block or two). The tram stop is not below the castle, at least not the one at the top of the hill.

I stayed at the Hotel Constans - between Charles bridge and the Castle - looks to be in your price range - hope this helps...

http://www.abaka.com/Czech/Constans/index.php?lang=EN