I am traveling with my husband and another couple in our 30's We are laid back - love to have fun and have no problem spending a little $ within reason. Like to see the sights but like to soak up the atmosphere. We decided to stop in Prague for a few days on our way to Paris - I know, I know..not enough time but it had to be done..

Here's how it looks so far:

Sunday, Sept 13 - arrive at 8am

-get to hotel around 9 or so - early check in (so we hope)
-change / unpack / eat something
-1:00 pm - take a 2.5 hour tour with Prague Private Guides - overview of city Old Town, Astro clock, Charles Bridge, Jewish Quarter
- wander around and have a drink in late afternoon
-dinner at some amazing restaurant terrace with a view (NEED HELP HERE)
-if we can bear it - a club or bar

Monday, Sept 14

-Prague Castle and other sights (still working out details here)
-Lunch - NEED RECCO
-Classical Music concert (NEED RECCO HERE)
-Dinner - thinking Celeste or Pravda
-out again at night

With such a short time - don't want to miss important things but really hate to feel rushed as I have the best travel experiences when I slow down. Please help me with the following:

-what are the must sees / can't skip
-good restaurants for lunch and dinner
-great beer establishments / nightlife
-great neighborhoods to wander around to get the flavor of this great city

Thanks so much

http://www.prague.net/the-royal-route
this is a walk I always reccommend to people who are short on time,you have some of this covered so take a look at the full website and you might see things that would interest you.
One of my favourite place to eat above the castle area is the Klasterini Pivovar in the Strahov Monestry complex about a 10 minute walk uphill from the castle.It is a micro brewery pruducing some great ber and the food in there is very good.Not the cheapest place around but very nice.
www.klasterni-pivovar.cz/en/
The Loretta is up here too and this is where one of the James Bond films was partly filmed (can't remember which one)
http://www.prague.net/the-loreto
For Concerts look at this website
http://www.ticketsbti.cz/WBS/ang/
but worth checking in the tourist office to see what is on.St Georges Crypt up in the castle areas often do tourist concerts in the late afternoon /early evening,I went to one a few years ago that was very good,only an hour or so long but more than OK.
beer hall and good pubs can be found in this list.
http://www.classiccitybrew.com/prague.html
I have been to quite a few of these over the years and they are all pretty good,most but not all do food.

if you fancy a night out with food,drinks and entertain ment included you could try one of the Folk evenings.
http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=644
http://www.folkloregarden.cz/
I have been to both of these and they are a good fun night out,price also includes transportation to your hotel and usually back to a city centre location.
You could also try this place
http://www.pastyrka.cz/
does some great food cooked on open grills,there is a small band playing Gypsy style music,can be a bit cheesey but good food and half decent entertainmnet.

- a must see for one person is not for someone else ( the Castle and THE Bridge did not 'grab me" at all).

-some attractions are CLOSED Mondays !
- the idea to check a few sites for concerts is a good one (there are many every day in churches and other venues). I loved the concert at the Municipal Hall .

Prague is very small, you can wonder around and cover most of the central area in a short time / If you are looking for"great neighborhoods" , it might be a residential area like Vinohrady. (I don't think you would have the time in 2 days).

Are you going to a classical music concert just as a casual tourist thing for something to do, or do you listen to classical music a lot and go to such concerts at home? Because if so, you won't be satisfied with the tourist concerts, but if not, you will. The best places are the Rudolfinum, of course, but the Klementinum also has some very good groups (it is near the east side of the bridge), as does the national museum near Wenceslas square. It isn't that comfortable, but they have some good chamber music in there.

You can check the Klementinum's website now for concert schedules by month. They have them in the Mirror Chapel which is beautiful and worth seeing, so that's one way to get in there.
http://www.klementinum.com

There are some tourist concerts and regular ones in the beautiful Art Nouveau Municipal House (you have to read the schedule carefully to be clear which it is, although it's probably clear by the program (eg, Classical Music Masterpieces is definitely a tourist concert, Czech National Symphony Orchestra is not).

There are people handing out flyers for tourist concerts in front of St Nicholas church on Old Town square, also. There are some opera area things, also, in some buildings in Mala Strana that are tourist samplers, but I'm not up on where those are.

Personally, I'd go to the Klementinum or Municipal House because they are beautiful venues, might as well go to a nice place. However, I do not think any of them are in the afternoon anywhere, they are early evening.

I do think the Castle and Brige are must-sees in Prague, actually, as well as Old Town Square. Other than that, I think you can decide on your own from a guidebook or your overview tour what most appeals to you. They have a lot of good museums in Prague. YOu won't have time to wander around, but try Mala Strana for that.

Unclegus - thx for the reccos - I will bring them with me!!

Danon and Christina - Thank you so much for your advice. I will try the Municipal House for a concert - we appreciate classical music so this would be better.

I picked up the DK Top Ten Guide book that came with a laminiated map - it looked like it gave a pretty good overview of the must sees..

Thanks to all

"dinner at some amazing restaurant terrace with a view (NEED HELP HERE)"

From my 2008 Trip repot:

Everything was perfect, but now it was time for us all to walk up to the Bellavista for what we hoped would be a fantastic dinner.

The evening was gorgeous, and the Bellavista was pretty empty when we arrived a little before 9 p.m. We secured a spot on the patio that had fabulous Prague views.

To begin, Kim, Doug and I sucked down another dark, draft, delicious Urquell Then it was on to (arguably) the best dinner of the trip.

First of all, Kim’s grilled salmon with pesto was so incredible that I wanted to sing, “Salmon chanted Evening” but thought the better of it. My mushroom risotto with Mascarpone was phenomenal, while Tracy’s rocket salad with pecorino, tomatoes and lemon dressing also was scrumptious.

Our dishes were rounded out by spaghetti with olio and garlic peppers, a grilled Kielbasa with Tuscan mustard and grilled chicken breasts with spinach salad and pine nuts. Every dish was fantastic; the wine was good and the pivo memorable (obviously).

The Bellavista receives rave reviews from all of us. It’s not often you get great food coupled with a great view, but this is the exception to the well-established rule."

Check out more (with photos taken from Bellavista at:

http://travelswithmaitaitom.typepad.com/travels/

Well I think that tour is a mistake. Not nearly enough time to see the old town and the Jewish quarter.

If you have 2.5 days I would spend one day at the Castle complex, do a boat ride on the river and have a brief look at the new town.

Then spend a whole day exploring the Jewish Quarter (there's a LOT to do) and the Old Town. After our own exploration we took an hour's walking tour of the Old Town with an architectural student - and that was fascinating. But we were there 4 full days.

You could do that and a quick look at Mala Strana on the 1/2 day you have left.

Thx Maitaitom - Bellavista looks great - do you think it is a good lunch option as well? If we are spending the day at Prague Castle starting early - it could be a good break for lunch right?
A general question - what time does everyone head out to dinner in Prague - i was thinking 8pm..

NY traveler - we thought a tour on that first day that would get us a good overview - it is over by 3:30 so we still have the rest of the afternoon til dinner to wander around the Jewish quarter etc. The next day we were planning on spending the day at Prague Castle and St Vitius hope it works out ok... Thanks for your advice.

"Bellavista looks great - do you think it is a good lunch option as well? If we are spending the day at Prague Castle starting early - it could be a good break for lunch right?"

Absolutely. We actually "discovered" it on our first full day in Prague. We stopped and had a dark Urquell draft. Delicious, and I am not a big beer drinker. It would make a great place for lunch, in my opinion.

I have been to a concert in the Municiple house a few years ago in the smaller Smetanta hall,but the Mayors Hall is absolutly stunning.
You can do a tour of this building and it would be a good option should the weather be bad.I did the tour 3 years ago and really loved it.
http://www.obecni-dum.cz/web/en/homepage
Maitaitom is right about the beer in Prague ,it is superb,try as many as you can.I was at the Prague Beer Festival in May and tried some wonderful stuff.
The Classic city brew link I gave you earlier will let you see lots of beers to try.

can I aslo add the Municiple House is a great place to stop for a refreshment they do teas coffees beers and lots of wonderful cakes.again not a cheap place but just a wonderful atmosphere.

When I was in Prague there were students handing out flyers for evening vocal concerts in the city centre. I found these to be very touristy and amateur. With a little reasearch I discovered a terrific concert in a small church in the castle area where we were the only tourits present.

If your walking tour is 2.5 hours then you probably won't go into anything in the Jewish Quarter. Be aware that the quarter was demolished for urban renewal about 100 years ago and only about six synagogues and the cemetary were preserved; the 'quarter' is really a nice modern residential neighbourhood. There is a combined ticket for the cemetary and all of the synagogues (which are now museums), except the Altneushul, for whch you have to pay separately (it is still used).

that small church in the castle area is St Georges Crypt,has regular concerts on and a very nice place as well.
it is the only place I have seen and heard a harpsicord being played live.