Prague
 

First time in Prague in September. Married couple - middle age. No special requirements or must do things. Just want to see and enjoy the city. Is Old Town Square area the best choice to stay or do you believe another area is more desirable.
Also, is 5 nights too much, too little, or just about right. We are planning to take 1 or 2 day trips.

Five nights is 4 full days of sightseeing. If you'll be jetlagged, it could be less than 4 full days.

If you take 2 day trips out of the city, that leaves 2 days (or less) for Prague. That wouldn't be enough for me. We spent a day exploring Castle Hill alone. But you should read some guides and make a list of everything you want to see/do and then figure out how much time you'd need to get through the list. Only you can know what interests you.

Prague is a very walkable city, and it has a good public transportation system. We have enjoyed staying near Old Town Square, but I think we could be happy just about anywhere close to the river.

Our first visit to Prague was for six nights/five days; and I just happened to be 7 months expectant with our second child at the time (my physician cleared my travel from the U.S.) We used three of those days to explore Prague; and the remaining time for day trips to Cesky Krumlov and Theresienstadt. We felt the time allotted was appropriate given our interests, though we could have skipped the day trip to CK and saved it for an overnight; we felt rushed through like ordinary day trippers.

As others above have written, it is important to identify your priorities to know what itinerary will best suit you.

We have visited Prague six times since (we lived in Vienna for a number of years), and always choose to stay in the Old Town area. The Charles Bridge and Stare Mesto are magical in the early morning hours before the tourist hoardes descend up them. If your visit is over a weekend, the market at Holesovice might prove interesting if local markets appeal to you. And, as you will be visiting in September, you might want to consider an outing to Vsyehrad if the colors are at peak, as well.

Are you coming directly from North America? If so, then you will have jet lag and won't be able to do much on your arrival day. So you basically have 4 full days, which I think is a good amount of time for Prague ONLY. Visiting the castle area takes a full day, just about. There are many churches you can visit; wandering around Old Town Square; some museums, such as the Communist Museum, Alphonse Mucha Museum, etc. You might have time to visit Kutna Hora (outside of Prague) to see the bone church, if that interests you. I recommend purchasing a good guidebook so that you know what there is to see and do in Prague, and what interests you.

I agree with fourfortravel about visiting Vysehrad, a neighborhood in Prague that is wonderful, and especially during autumn when the colors are at peak, and leaves are on the ground. It just adds to the beauty. Our daughter studied in Prague for a semester, and we visited in October. Her classes were held at Vysehrad; otherwise, we wouldn't have known about it. We took the tram there; slowly walked up hill with views of the river; and at the top of the hill you have more gorgeous views of the river and Prague. There are the remains of a fort, the Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica, and a very interesting national cemetery. We have such wonderful memories of this area, and there were very few people there when we visited. A place where you can escape the maddening crowds.

Old Town is a great place to stay. I can also recommend staying in Mala Strana, on the other side of Charles Bridge (the same side as the castle).

We spent 2 nights in Cesky Krumlov. I would find it very frustrating to visit CK as a day trip from Prague. It's a long day, and very crowded when the daytrippers are there. It's beautiful at night and peaceful. Can you add a night or two so that you can overnight in CK?

If Cesky Krumlov is one of your proposed day trips, then I personally wouldn't. It's almost 3hrs each way, which is waaay too long for a day trip in my opinion. I don't really understand why it's a popular day trip. We only spent 24hrs there (could easily have spent longer) and that's only because the castle, theatre, Schiele gallery (and just about every other tourist attraction) was closed at that time of year (late Dec).

I agree that Mala Strana was really nice.

I’ll put in another vote for staying in the Mala Strana. I’ve been to Prague twice and stayed in that neighborhood both times, and when I go back I’ll stay there again. It puts you between the castle and Old Town, and the fact that we had to walk back and forth across the Charles Bridge at least once per day was, for me, a positive.

Prague is magical! Make sure to leave yourself plenty of time to just wander and discover all of the beautiful buildings.

ditto to what Jean said. :)

I think the Old Town Square area is best, but that depends on how you define that radius. Not right in it as I think that would be noisy but anywhere in the official designation of Old Town is convenient. I don't care for the other side of the river as much, but some people do, as a place to stay.

I don't agree that a day trip to Cesky Krumlov is bad nor unenjoyable. I did it because I had zero desire nor time to actually go there and stay there. So what's the alternative, to not go? It was a very enjoyable trip and it's not arduous as you are driven by someone else. It's no big difference from taking a train trip, as I often like to relax and see the countryside that way in a country I am visiting. There isn't that much to see there, anyway, it's not like you can't see the highlights in one day. So you leave around 9 am and return by 7 pm, plenty of time for evening/dinner. Tours generally take about 10 hrs, plus on the one I took, we stopped by some old church outside town you wouldn't be able to see if you did it on your own. I used Martin Tours which was convenient as their "bus stop" for their tours was a short walk from my hotel near Namestki Republicky metro stop. So that is a convenient location to stay for all kinds of reasons. It wasn't really a bus but a van as it was a very small group. I've stayed in Hotel Pariz (now Hotel Paris) a couple times, I really like it.

You have to know your own energy level. I've flown there from the US and still had time and energy to see stuff the first day, after all, I was checked into my hotel by noon. What else are you going to do with all that time? I didn't go to the castle that day, no, but there are plenty of smaller museums to visit, as well as just checking out the Old Town Sq or Wenceslas Square areas.

We loved the Golden Well hotel in the Mala Strana - wonderful breakfasts, great staff, beautiful views. Stayed five nights, and that was, for us, a good amount of time. It was our first destination from the US.

2-3 days will be enough for Prague. I recommend you to take a boat tour, to tour the old city by bike, to the music concert in the palace (at noon).