lmavolio

Hi Everyone - I am so excited!! You all convinced me that December is a great time of year to visit Prague, so I am leaving in 2 weeks! Trying to book everything fast...

With that in mind, any recommendation on the best neighborhood in which to stay in Prague? My husband and I are both 30 - we're looking for a convenient location to most sites, not overly touristy, good restaurants, cafes, bars nearby for nighttime fun and we also love windy, cobblestone streets where you can just get lost! Let me know what you think...

I have heard a lot of recommendations to stay in Old Town, but not sure if it's "too touristy"? Or Mala Strana, but I guess different parts of Mala Strana can be inconvenient?? Not sure how big Mala Strana is, so if you're staying on the fringes if it would be too far from Old Town and the Charles Bridge? I have heard to stay away from Wenceslas Square, but I don't know how close that actually is to Old Town. Help !! Any feedback would be MUCH appreciated...Thanks! Laura

wilees

I personally think that you want to stay in the touristy regions. Prague is completely overrun with tourists so go with the flow and stay centrally. You cannot escape "touristy".

I stayed out a little bit and (short tram ride from the centre) and wished we had stayed centrally especially as it is lively at night.

It is a fairly big city to walk around.

I am sure that you will have fun!

Dukey

Prague will not be as busy with visitors when you are there as it is in the usual "season."

You do NOT, IMO, want to stay away from the part of the city which is heavily visited because if you do you'll find there are parts of Prague, like most other cities, which aren't particularly attractive.

This cocern with things that are "touristy" always sounds a but strange to me when it comes from potential tourists.

fishee

It seems that if you bid for a 5* hotel on Priceline (there are only 5* on the east side) there are a few hotels that are very centrally located -- the Intercontinental is one of them. biddingfortravel.com gives you recent info about who got what hotel at what price. I woulnd't bid for a 4* since you can't control at all for location.

I decided to stay at Eurostars Thalia for $99/night when my bids for $120 weren't accepted. It's a very modern hotel at the border of Old Town. I thought the Betlem Club looked really cute and seems to be in a good location in Old Town across from a large church on a cobblestone street, I think. Betlem looked quite charming, offering less "big hotel" services.

lmavolio

Thanks for the feedback! If you had to choose either the Old Town area or Mala Strana, which would you choose?

Charley1965

We went to Prague in February and stayed on Kampa Island which is beside The Charles Bridge. The hotel was called 'At the Charles Bridge'. Kampa is beautiful, it has cobbled streets and it's just a short walk over the bridge to the Old Town. We had a room that faced the river, it was lovely! We also enjoyed walking up Nerudova and around the back streets up towards the castle. Here's a link to the hotel website.

http://tinyurl.com/yxxx3k

You are also welcome to look at my Prague photos here, they are labelled so you should get an idea of the area...

http://tinyurl.com/yx86ub

Charley1965

This is the official hotel website

http://www.archibald.cz/

fishee

Kampa Garden is an inexpensive hotel that has received good reviews on this board. I decided to pass because some of the rooms had carpet rather than hard wood floors, but I don't think you can get more centrally located. It was around 70/USD night.

walkinaround

i lived in karlin for a while when i worked in prague. not fashionable but central and beautiful old buildings(many being renovated as this area was very hard hit with the flood). not touristy at all but rather a working class place but with some upscale buildings of flats mixed in.

lyb

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