Prague on a budget
 

My girlfriend and I will be in Prague for three days/two nights. We found a nice, cheap place to stay. We want to learn as much about the cultural/social aspects of the city as we can, enjoy some food and beer, and spend as little money as possible. We're not cheap, just don't have very deep pockets as we are both students. Any recommendations on how to sightsee for free/cheap and where to eat quality, budget food? Thanks in advance.

Prague is small and if you get a good guidebook you can use it to map out your itinerary and learn about the sites so you don't feel pressured to have an organized tour. Concerts are relatively inexpensive - we saw the Prague Symphony and the ballet and it was really cheap compared to US prices. There are concerts around the city. Hanging out in the evening on the bridge and in pubs is easy for young folks and there is a young scene in Prague. We found food to be really reasonable. I'm not a beer drinker but czech beer is really delicious. I like Prague Knopf CityMaps guide -it lays out Prague by neighborhood listing sites, restaurants, and hang out places per area but you should also find a guidebook geared to students on a budgets. It is one of the most beautiful cities I've visited and very cool.

You definitely need to get hold of a Prague Card (either Prague Mathilda or Prague Recklama). These cards are about $30-35/pp and will provide you free access to about 50-60 Prague sights and free public transport for about 3-4 days. You can get them at the American Express Office, Town Hall, etc...

Website: http://www.praguecard.biz/index.php

I do not remember the name of this Prague cafeteria but this is how you get there. With your back to the astronomical clock you will see a very narrow street straight ahead with a crystal shop on each side. I believe is called Vichova. Walk down that street until Havelska street. Turning left but not crossing Havelska you will see the cafeteria about 50-100 yards up the street. The food is good, lots of variety and incredibly cheap. You can have a full meal with beer for under 3 dollars! The cafeteria does not stay open late.

As you are walking up Vichova, on the right hand side of the street there is also a vegetarian place that is reasonable. It is run by Seventh Day Adventists and has limited hours.

Thanks for the prompt replies and good advice. I'd appreciate anyone else who wants to chime in.
I'd also like to know if anyone knows of the best (and cheapest) way to get to Prague from Bavaria. We are currently in Ingolstadt. Munich is very close. Trains run expensive. I have heard that maybe getting a Bavarian pass to the border and then taking a Czech bus is a good way to go. Anyone have any other ideas?

My best guess would be train or bus....or go to a travel agency and see how much would an organized tour be. We looked into this when we decided to go to Prague from Munich. For us, a rental car was the way to go, but an organized tour from Munich was very reasonably priced.

As you can see Fodors is an excellent website but you may also find some good information on tripadvisor's travel forums.

It's a while since I have been in Prague, and things change, so that anything I remember about bars and restaurants is likely to be out of date. I can offer a couple of general points.

1. The parts of Prague most likely to interest visitors are close together, so you can walk rather than use public transport a lot.

2. Prices are spectacularly higher in the tourism areas. Venture a little further afield and you come closer to the price levels local people pay. If you escape from the tourist area, language might be a problem, but you will find that smiles and gesture will serve you well. Your writing suggests to me that English is your first language, and many Czech people speak some English. German is also very useful, if you can speak some.

3. Nightclubs in Prague exist in order to separate visitors from their money -- best avoided.

Although I haven't used this strategy, the venerable Ben Haines recommends buying a train ticket to the border and then another ticket you your destination; this is said to be more cost effective than buying a complete ticket for a journey that crosses a border. Maybe you could buy an inexpensive ticket from Munich to Passau then another from Passau to Prague. You may want to check this out with a travel agency in Munich, or maybe someone will chime in here.

No need for any organised tours, the historical center is very compact and can be done on foot. You can also buy one of them 3 or 5 day or what ever lenghth travel tickets at one of the metro stations. This will allow you to travel as much as you like on the Trams, bus, and Metero forhow ever many days you paid for.They really are cheap, and his will give the felxiblity of going outside of the main center. Armed with a good guide book and map of Prague you should be able to do lots very cheaply. As for eating and drinking, you will pay more if you eat in and around the main Squares and the high street shops. Just go off down one of the many side streets off places like Wenceslas & charles square or the old Town square and you will find better places to eat.

crazy-- I can see you didn't get the gist of the organized tour suggestion: he needs to get to Prague CHEAP; therefore, a suggestion is to look into traveling into Prague as part of an organized bus tour and still have independent sightseeing. The reason I suggest it is because we looked into it and it was only half-day sightseeing with the group, which was perfect. Even better THE RIDE INTO PRAGUE WAS CHEAP.

Train is cheap I used them to travel around a few places last year. Thsi site will help and it also ahs some bus details.
http://jizdnirady.atlas.cz/JRCis.asp?tt=c&cl=E5

If you can bus up to the Hamburg area, you can catch a morning flight On Ryanair to London in plenty of time to connect with an early afternoon flight to Brno. Brno is only a couple of hours by bus or train to Prague. You would get there in time for dinner. Depending on when you go, the Ryan air flights can be little more than just taxes and fees.

Uh, let me get this straight: Bus from Munich to Hamburg, fly to London, fly to Brno, bus or train a couple of hours to Prague? Have I left anything out? Are you serious?

as someone who lived in Prague as a student for four months, we learned cheap like it was our last names

some suggestions and comments on other posts:

the vegetarian restaurant idea is excellent... good food, even for meat-eaters like myself, not badly priced but avoid the desserts. the vegan-non-dairy cakes and pie slices taste awful. and i love anything organic/vegan!

Bohemia Bagel and Panera... both near Maly Namesti (i think that's the square name)- walk in the direction of the jewish quarter and you can't miss it. Bohemia attracts an American expat population and is totally funky and cool, but can see a bit pricey (compared to prague standards) for a toasted bagel with ham, cheese and herb butter. But Panera has ready-to-eat sandwiches and pastries at cheap prices.

also look up in guides places to eat/drink/chill in Vinohrady and Zizkov. they are totally awesome neighborhoods outside the over-priced tourist areas. Meduza Cafe in Vinohrady and Zanzibar (if they're still there) rock.

eat radost fx brunch if you can at least once. it's phenomenal.

also, late night eats... smazeny syr (fried cheese) or the famous "tram pizza" or gyros at the narodni trida tram stop. chea-as-hell- and so good it's got to be bad for you food. i still miss it.

sightsee:
HIKE up petrin hill. you get a hella (and romantic) view of the city for free.

holesovice cemetery- really pretty in the area actually and some gorge tombs. used to be the hunting grounds for ancient czech rulers.

walking around in general is wonderful in prague... you will discover so much not in guidebooks!

and go to the box offices at the city opera like a day ahead to score cheap tix for opera/symphoy- i'm talking like $5-$10

walk over charles bridge and marvel at the view. avoid it during noon though when it is packed with tourists and pickpockets

Betsy - ravikevin wanted cheap - did not say anything about direct or convenient. If you hit the Ryanair schedule right, you can do it very cheaply. And yes, one can complete the trip the same day. I know a person who actually saved money flying from Frankfurt to the US via Turkey - my wife once saved more than $100 flying from Tel Aviv to JFK via Copenhagen (that was a time when $100 was worth more than today). The point is that if you are willing to give up convenience and direct routes, you can sometimes save money by taking advantage of airline specials.

The restaurant "genibre" recommends is Paneria, not Panera. They are all over the place. Good choice for take-out or quick sandwiches, breakfast, etc.

For cheap food, stay away from Old Town Square & the castle, unless you have a guide book/paper telling you of an afforable place. Wenceslas Square, Charles Square, the area around Tesco, and Zizkov will all be cheaper, with lots to choose from. Also, there is the Flora shopping mall, with a foodcourt. A neat place to check out. Ask other teenagers or college aged students where they eat, because there are some great little places near Charles University that only locals will know about. There will be lots of signs advertising specials, and you can look in the Prague Post for tips, too.

Even people as venerable as me use the Thomas Cook European Timetable, which German Rail offices sell at about 12 euros, or their staff or you can look up the journey online. The most convenient saves you a hostel bill if you take a couchette for a 20 euro supplement from Ingolstadt or Munich at 2207 via Decin to Prague Hlavni (Main) station at 0817. The cheapest involves a German ticket, then a Czech ticket. An example is this:
Monday to Friday Ingolstadt buy a ticket to the frontier, leave 0805, Regensburg 0912 to 1001, Plattling 1046 to 1105, Bayerische Eisenstein 1211, walk over the station to the Czech part, called Zelezna Ruda Mesto, buy your Czech ticket, leave 1244, change at Plzen 1456 to 1513, reach Prague Hlvni (beware pickpockets) 1745. 9 1/2 hours. The more usual day route lies via Nurnberg, thus: Munich 1021, Nuremberg 1132 to 1140, 1645 Prague. 6 ½ hours.

Zelezna Ruda Mesto station may have an ATM: can you please tell me what you find ?

In Prague main station pickpockets work in gangs of three, so you should cross the station with your passport and other valuables well down in a big bag, and carry just your ticket and a little euro and Czech money, and take out the passport when you are settled in a couchette or when you approach the frontier. Please do not pass the frontier by night in a seat, as seats cars have no locks, whereas berths have.

The train from the 242 kilometers from the frontier to Prague takes 114 kilometers and costs 10 euros. The international daytime fare from Munich to Prague costs 77 euros, and a night with a couchette costs about 90 euros

Please write again if I can help further. Prague is beautiful, and cheap if you don’t shop among tourists.

Ben Haines, London
[email protected]

Thanks for sharing your expertise, Ben!