Am taking my parents for a weekend visit to Prague. They are in decent shape, but my mom has smoked for many years and doesn't do brilliantly having to walk in hilly areas. We've decided against Edinburgh for this reason, but have noticed hills mentioned in some of the posts about Prague. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Some parts of Prague (particularly the Old Town area) are relatively flat, but there are also quite a few hills. Some of the main sights are at the top of a very tall hill, which requires a long, uphill climb. You may need to use a taxi when you go to the Castle. You can visit the top of Petrin Hill by a cable car, so that one is less of a problem.

I remember walking up about a thousand steps to get to a castle and a church.

Hello inessa0923 - yes, the hill up to the castle can be quite daunting. We're not talking Alps steep, but a good steepness to it.

But the cobblestones - oh, look out! It is very easy for your ankles to slip on them and get twisted. So I would highly recommend a shoe with a good solid base.

Hop a bus or tram up there - Prague, at least where the tourist sights clustered around Castle Hill are is far hillier than Edinburgh for pedestrians - in Edinburgh there are long bridges to bridge the ravine.

Prague trams take a round about route to behind the castle and then you walk down past the castle and other sights to the main town across the Charles Bridge.

Where we stayed in Old Town, the roads were flat, but the cobblestones were difficult to manage. I slightly turned my ankle a couple of times and my husband actually fell on his bum one day.

Agree with others that most of Prague is flat. And it has such a good public transportation sytem (metro, tram) that you can really get almost anywhere without walking up hills if you don't want to. And if you really want to avoid walking, you can take the metro or tram to different parts of the city - although the center city is not that big and easily walkable.

To get to Prasky Hrad (Prague Castle) take tram 22 to the top entrance of the Castle and walk down. I used to live at the top of the Castle district and it really is a very scenic tram ride.

The Old Town is mostly flat and can be easily walked - I did it with a relative who has problems walking long distances. Other major tourist parts of the city are very hilly. the key is to take transport - either a tram or taxi or wherever - to the highest point and walk down from there.

But, one way and another there is a lot of walking involved.

Firmgirl is right. I would add that tram #23 will also take you to the Castle and drop you off the same place as #22.