Prague visit
 

My husband and I are going to do an impromptu trip to Prague leaving Atlanta, Georgia on July 23 and departing Prague on July 29th.
Please advise as to the top sights we must see and any recommendations on eating establishments and hotels.
Thanks you!

Look at Fodor's destination guide on Prague for info on the top sights.

You don't have time to wait for feedback on hotels. You need to book something NOW. For what it's worth, I can recommend the Savic, but I'm sure it's booked up.

I think there have been some recent threads that mentioned restaurants. Do a search.

I just returned from Prague, so am very jealous of your trip. You will love this city! The best part about Prague, is that there are very few "must see" places... the main joy of the city is to just walk around and soak it all in. Eat (and drink) at whatever outdoor cafe looks appealing to you.

I suppose it's required to walk over the Charles Bridge as much as possible, and you have to visit the Prague castle. I'd also reccommend popping onto the Wallenstein Gardens (in the Little Quarter) on your walk back down from the castle. Other than that, visit some of the many beautiful churches, stroll the streets, and just soak up the magic of Prague!

We enjoyed our stay at the Walstein, except for a horrible receptionist who probably has a new job at the local women's prison.

Nice quiet room, excellent breakfast, excellent location under the castle, close to the river.

Highly recommend David restaurant in Mala Strana side of Prague. Spend a day in Mala Strana to explore the castle complex, Loreto and the compact center of Mala Strana itself and have a meal at David for a great reasonably priced meal.

DAX, how long ago were you at David? I used to see recommendations for it whenever I saw info about Prague but haven't seen anything recently and wondered if it had closed. We were in Prague 2 years or so ago and didn't go to David and I've been kicking myself ever since. I was determined to go when we go again in September, but as I say, suddently ceased hearing about the place and wondered if I'd blown my opportunity to dine there forever.

A couple more pieces of Prague advice:

A. Avoid at all costs using a taxi in Prague unless you want to get ripped off mercilessly and shamelessly. Use public transport or walk if you can.

B. When you go to a restaurant:

1. check your bill with care and question any unusual charges.

2. if you see any food on the table (nuts in a bowl, cheese and crackers, or other snacks, for example), don't indulge as (unlike in U.S. restaurants) they're NOT free and will probably be very costly.

Hi DIFlyGal - My husband and I did the same thing about a year and a half ago - on a whim we booked a trip to Prague about 1 week in advance and tried to research everything last minute. I can appreciate your situation :-)

We stayed at a place called the Betlem Hotel in Old Town - I wouldn't really recommend this place, but we saw a few other hotels which looked really nice. I loved Kampa Island just under the Charles Bridge and there was a cute boutique hotel there called U Karlova Mostu that we liked a lot. I would consider staying there next time. The Wallenstein also got pretty good reviews when I went - that is located in Mala Strana. I would base myself either in Mala Strana or Old Town.

Places to visit:

Charles Bridge

Old Town

Jewish Quarter

Wander around Mala Strana - beautiful area! Be sure to hit the little hidden garden right next to the Church that houses the Infant Jesus of Prague - it's on Karmelita street - so quiet and beautiful with gorgeous views of Mala Strana

Hradcany - Castle District - make sure to wander down the lane of Novy Svet

Hit some of the pubs for Pilsner or Budvar - the beer is cheaper than water over there!

If you can, take a side trip to Cesky Krumlov - a picturesque little town with a castle - gorgeous scenery! We also went to Vinohrady, which is supposed to be an upscale neighborhood in Prague. I wanted to see how the "locals" live - even though I think some of the other neighborhoods may be more representative of Prague daily life.

We went to Restaurant David for dinner - delicious and cute little place in Mala Strana. We had some street food - including some hot dog/sausage sandwiches in Old Town Square. We enjoyed all of the food we had in Prague.

See a classical concert in Smetana Hall or another famous theater.

So much to do! We absolutely loved Prague and I'm sure you will to. A definite plus is that they are not on the Euro :-) Enjoy!

Prague is an incredibly popular destination and hotels still haven;t caught up to demand. so you need to confirm a hotel today - unless you want to stay in the far suburbs - or on a park bench.

You can figure everything else out later:

But as to what to see:

the Castle and Cathedral
Old Town Square (and take an architectural walking tour of old town)
Mala Strana
The Jewish Quarter - see it in depth - incredibly moving - since before WWII Prague was an anomaly in europe - 1/3 catholic, 1/3 protestant and 1/3 jewish - with an incredible cultural life as a result

Music - see all you can - it's everywhere around you - from street corners to all sorts of cafes and clubs to programs in churches, public halls and all sorts of traditional venues. The quality and selection are wonderful and the prices very low.

As for restaurants - we enjoyed every place we ate - from casuale cafes to a couple of very special dinners - one we paid only about $160 for 4 people, including wine - for a meal that in NYC would have been at least $500 (from amuse bouche, appetizers, main course, dessert, coffee with handmade chocolates and complimentary liquers, wine and water). And I can;t find the name of the place in my files - although I'll be able to locate it once I get back there.

I have a trip file on Prague, and would be happy to send it if you want to write to me
ESL1051 at yahoo.com

I am also a fan of the David restaurant mentioned above.
You will be fine taking a taxi as long as you have your hotel or restaurant call one. A couple of radio taxi companies are known to be pretty reliable.

Beware of pickpockets on the subway. They work in groups.

IMHO, they are bolder than in France or Italy.

Woody

http://www.restaurant-david.cz


Thingorjus gives David his HIGHEST rating.

Another recommended restaurant is Zahrada v. Opere next to the Opera House near New Town Square.

Thin

DIFly,

You'll have a swell time in Prague. It's a lovely Barogue city, but get ready to share that love with a good many tourists. For a welcome break from the touristic crush, let me recommend a hotel that's charming in an Old World kind of way, located a mere ten-minute walk from the Charles Bridge:

Dum u Velke Boty (House at the Big Boot).

Located across from the German embassy, the Boty features stylishly decorated rooms, friendly service, and is reasonably priced. Were I to take my holidays in Prague, I'd return to this accommodation.

See www.dumuvelkeboty.cz

Best of luck.

Julie - we were just in Prague at the end of June and ate at Restaurant David. It is alive and well!

DlFlyGal - here are some excerpts from my trip report on the restaurants we ate at:

Kampa Park - Today was actually DD’s 16th birthday so I had made a dinner reservation at Kampa Park on the other side of the Charles Bridge. We walked leisurely there across the bridge taking in the incredible views of the castle and the city. We have a wonderful dinner as we sit outside with a view of the river and the Charles Bridge. Our food was very good and service was good, although a bit slower towards the end of the meal. This was a wonderful place to have a special occasion meal, but a bit expensive for just a regular dinner.

Kolkovna - For lunch we ate at KolKovna (V Kolkovně 8) located not far from the Jewish Quarter and Old Town Square. This looks like a big pub so I wasn’t expecting much, but the food was actually really good (in fact we went back for lunch on our last day in Prague).

Chez Marcel - For dinner we ate at Chez Marcel (Hastalska 12) a few blocks in back of Tyne church. It is a sort of French pub/bistro. We enjoyed another great meal, particularly the pate (yum!)

Au Gourmand (Dlouha 10) for lunch. This is a little patisserie which had good sandwiches and great quiche but awful service. If you wanted to sit at a table you had to wait for them to serve you there, which was fine, but they kept helping the people with “to go” orders first, which became extremely annoying.

Tri Stoleti - For dinner we ate at Tri Stoleti (Misenska 4, Mala Strana). The notes I had said it was an Italian restaurant, but it really was Czech. We had a very nice dinner, not too expensive and our waitress was the friendliest we had since our arrival in Prague.

Restaurant David - For dinner we had a 8pm dinner reservation at Restaurant David(21 Triezeste, Mala Strana) to celebrate our 22nd anniversary. It is located right near the American Embassy. We have another lovely meal of salmon, ghoulash, sea bass and veal. They served us complimentary champagne for our anniv. in the biggest glasses we have ever seen!!

I can second the recommendations for Hotel Savic and a trip to Cesky Krumlov (although we did stay overnight there). Also, if you are so inclined it is about an hour drive to Terezin.

We enjoyed our stay at the Bellagio Hotel in the old Jewish Quarter. Old building very nicely rennovated. Helpful staff. The rooms that our two couples had were large with great bathrooms.

As much as I love Prague my husband and I rent a car and see the countryside, castles, villages, etc. besides. If you have 6 days it may be worthwhile considering it. I believe that when people see only Prague (as fabulous as it is) they are missing out on so much of the rest of the country! :)