LynnieD

I have (accidently on purpose) booked a few extra days in Prague at the end of a Gate 1 river cruise. Screwed up the end date of the tour and misbooked the flight. Therefore I have 2 days to busy DH and myself on our own.

Gate 1 has us booked at the Prague Hilton for 2 nights. I need to add 2 more nights, but the rates are 200 and up a night. Does this seem realistic for Prague in October? If not, where do you suggest we stay for the extra 2 nights.

We are doing the following with the group:
1. Visit Royal Castle at Hradcany

2. Visit St. Vitus Cathedral, view St. George's Basilica ant the Golden Lane

3. Visit Jewish Quarter and the Old Town Square to view Town Hall Astronimical Clock.

This seems to be just a morning tour and leaves us with 2 afternoons plus a whole day to do whatever we want. We are interested in food, wine, art, churches.

We are responsible for getting ourselves to the airport. Flight leaves at 11 am on a Wednesday morning. Any ideas? Cab, shuttle, etc.?

Any ideas would be very helpful.

Mucky

Hi LynnieD,
When you say 200 / night do you mean € OR $.

It depends what you want in the way of hotel, I just booked a great hotel for about €80/night some are cheaper some are dearer, October is out of the main season so unless there is something going on I would say €200 is more than you need to pay.

Perhaps you should just spend the time you have walking around, there are loads of things to see that your group won't see, check this site for ideas.

Muck

kappa

I'd say you are lucky to have 2 (can be a very romantic) extra nights only for 2 of you in that beautiful city.

If you don't mind changing the area (Hilton is in Karlin district, I think), I liked Mala Strana district very much last November at my 5th visit to Prague. I stayed at Hotel Roma 4* which is much smaller than Hilton and easy to use. That was last November and I paid for a double room 75EURO. Room and bathroom large enough. Breakfast plenty and fine. Mala Strana is an area beneath the Hradcany/Castle distrct, well served by tramways. If you are fit, most places of interests can be reached on foot (Charles Bridge in 10 min, the other side of the river 5 minutes, old town square less than 20 minutes, etc)but one or two tram lines can take you up to the castle area easily. The funicular station for Petrin hill is only 2 minutes walk. Also many cafes and restaurants that are not overly touristic, atmospere and price-wise, in the immediate neigbourhood. Take a look at the following thread. You can get ideas including mine.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34906885

Dukey

Can you (do you want to) get out of that tour? I ask because doing ALL of those things in one morning is rushing it IMO. And you can do all of them on your own using Prague's excellent tram system.

ira

Hi kappa,

That looks like a real find.

amp322

I would change location, if you can. The Hilton is not in my favorite area. As others have said, Mala Strana is great, or Old Town - anywhere that puts you where the action is. 2 days is so little, you don't want to waste time.

Don't know what * hotel you want, but Grand Hotel Praha is nice (Old Town) - book it through Athos, I think.

www.travel.cz
www.athos.cz
www.marys.cz

All will have hotel ideas. Seems to me like October should give you some options as far as location/price. I would do some research.

kappa

As Dukey said 1,2 and 3 all in one morning would be very rushed visit, even though 1 and 2 are in the same castle ground and Jewish quarter and the old town are next to each other. Perhaps consider the group visit as an orientation tour and you can return later on your own to explore at your pace. If you return to the Castle, try to go a little behind the castle and visit Loreta
(Photo)
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...ueNOV07068.jpg

and another place, I forget the name, known for its ancient library.

Again if you are fit enough, climb the narrow and spiral stairs (about 280 steps) to the top of the castle tower and enjoy the view of the city like this.

http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...ueNOV07016.jpg

Transport to airport, knowing the way and my luggage being small and manageable, I use tram and bus combo but in your case, the best would be let the hotel organize a taxi. They should do it with a reliable/No ripp off taxi company such as AAA. It takes about 20/30 minutes from city center to the airport.

kappa

Hi Ira, I think it is. Even so, Roma will cost double the end of this month when I will be back in Prague. So for that time I reserved 3* Residence Mala Strana which is in the same area. Then the price is even better. This time I will be alone and will pay finally EURO39. I collected info on Tripadvisor site for both hotels and Residence even gets a bit better review than Roma.

tedgale

The breath-taking library is at the Strakhov monastery, not too far from the Castle and on the edge of the major park, whose replica of the Eiffel Tower merits some amused contemplation.

Also in the upper town is the Loreto convent -- certainly worth visiting, if only for its collection of jewelled monstrances (holders of religious relics)

All names and spellings above are approximate -- too lazy to look them up in my guide book.

RufusTFirefly

200 dollars or euros seems high for Prague in October--unless the Hilton is some sort of superlux hotel there, or there's a huge trade show or something going on. Maybe an entire box of chocolates under your pillow at night? It is a bit out of the way from the major sights. Not terrible, but not real convenient either.

In November we stayed at the Bellagio in the old Jewish Quarter--a 5-minute walk from Old Town Square for 98 euro a night with breakfast. It was very nice--old building, but modern inside. Helpful staff. Many nice pubs and restaurants within easy walking distance.

That will be one fast tour if it's all in one morning. St. Vitus, St. George's, and Golden Lane are all in the Prague Castle complex. And there's a lot more to see in the castle as well. As I remember we spent about 5 or 6 hours at the castle alone seeing "The Castle" and St. Vitus, St. George's, Golden Lane, art musuems, palaces, etc.

Of course, yours could be one of those walk-by tours where you don't actually go inside anything that costs money to get into--and that can be fine if you have a knowledgeable, articulate, and entertaining guide. We did one of those in Berlin that was excellent. If it is like that, then you might want to return to Prague Castle to go through the churches and other buildings at your own pace. Same with the Old Jewish Quarter which has a variety of museums, the old cemetary, etc.

Among of the some less often mentioned Prague sights that Mrs. Fly and I enjoyed are the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Mucha Museum.

Our hotel arranged airport transport (a van) for 4 of us for 21 euro. Our van driver was very entertaining with his personal insights into Czech history, current affairs, politics, culture, and family life.

RufusTFirefly

Oh, the Roma Hotel that someone mentioned is one that we almost reserved. We just decided that the Bellagio was nearer more of what we wanted to see.

The Bellagio did a nice job on some special requests that I had made (e.g., sparkling wine on arrival, fresh fruit bowls in each room, arranging the above mentioned airport transportation).

basingstoke2

If you can get out of the Hilton, do it. As others have mentioned, that price is high for Prague in October unless it is really special (which it is not) and is not in an area that I would choose. You have some fine hotel recommendations. I would add Hotel Kampa Garden as an upper level budget hotel in a great location or the nearby Three Ostriches - more upscale but more expensive. Kampa Island is IMO an ideal location, just under the Charles Bridge. Otherwise choose a hotel in Old Town - the Jewish Quarter is in Old Town too - or in the lower parts of Male Strana (New Town). That will minimize time on public transportation since most everything will be walkable. Prague has lots to do and see and your extra days will fly by too soon.

LynnieD

Thanks for the replies. The 200 is dollars. I think I will look into some of the hotels suggested here. DH, however, thinks changing hotels is a big fat waste of time considering we are there for 2 nights anyway, we should just buck up and stay. He may have a point.

As far as the tour, I am going to use it as an orientation base. We for sure want to spend more time in the Old Jewish Quarter and the library sounds wonderful. Since the last stop on the tour is the Jewish Quarter we will just abandon bus there and spend lunch and the balance of the day there and at Old Town.

kappa

Basking,

Male Strana, that's MalA Strana.
And New Town is Nove Mesto. Mala Strana, as far as I know, seems to mean "Lesser Town"

lucy_d

I always like to recommend a visit and tour of the Municipal House. It is an exquisite and lavish example of Art Nouveau. In order to see all the rooms, you will have to do the tour, which is quite intersting. I think the first one begins at 10:00 a.m.

A cafe and restaurant are also located there. It may be nice to start your day there, do the tour, eat lunch and then head to the other sites you want to see.

Prague is one of my favorite cities; you will love it!

RufusTFirefly

I wouldn't think it would take more than a few minutes to find a hotel using a search site like hrs.com.

Keep in mind that it's a bit early for hotels to have their autumn 2007 specials going.

What are the cancellation provisions for your hotel?

basingstoke2

Kappa - thanks for the correction - of course you are right. That is what happens when I put my fingers in motion before brain is in gear.

Annellaw

We stayed at the Hotel Jacob which is about a 5 minute walk from the Clock Tower (underwhelming) and very new and modern. Can't recall the cost, but very reasonable and very chic design. Don't under ANY circumstances get currency changed by individuals in train stations, on the street etc, as you will be ripped off and may end up with worthless Bulgarian notes instead of Czech Kroner. Always use recognised outlets. Also, you're best to have your hotel organise taxis for you, and the Hotel Jacob has cars and drivers on standby. Prague is beautiful, and you will love it.

jdraper

I recently checked Hotel Roma in Prague and they quoted 200 Dollars per night and all of the hotel sites seem to indicate that October is still high season in Prague. Where are all of these great deals everyone is talking about. Bellagio quoted us at 159 Euro per night so that wasn't a great deal either. We would love to find a decent hotel at a good rate in Prague from October 25 through 28 but just can't find the good deals everyone else seems to be finding. We have loved the Uhland in Munich and Bonaparte in Paris and are looking for something along those lines. Any ideas?

basingstoke2

jdraper - google the Hotel Kampa garden website and see if it suits you.
Not fancy but it is a very nice place in a great location. Rooms are spotless, fairly new, good size, nice baths. Decor is Ikea modern. The hotel is entirely non smoking.