Visiting our daughter in London in September and while there we like to take advantage of the proximity of other european countries.She has a friend posted in London who has offered his flat in Prague for a few weeks in exchange for our condo in Florida. Am just beginning research on Prague and thought I would get invaluable information here. Should we go? Thank you for any input. <BR>Pierrette

Hi Pierrette <BR> <BR>We just returned from Prague last Monday. Great shopping, if crystal is what you're looking for. For garnet jewelry, I'd stick with Granat Turov -- they seem to have the best reputation. I bought from another place and the jeweler I'm using to get the rings sized said the gold mark on the ring is almost undecipherable (indecipherable?), so it won't be until after sizing that I'll know if they are really 18K. <BR> <BR>Pretty city, walkable if you're up to it. The distance from Old Town to the castle/palace is pretty long, and all uphill. Around Old Town isn't bad, pretty easy from the Jewish cemetary and museum to Old Town to the "commercial" shopping area (Marks and Spencer, etc). <BR> <BR>Personally, we prefered Vienna, so if she has a friend with a flat in Vienna, take them up on it in a heartbeat. <BR> <BR>There's no reason NOT to go to Prague -- people are very friendly, most speak English (very well) and seem not to mind speaking it. I don't know about spending a few weeks there, unless you want to do some countryside (which I know nothing about), a 3-5 days should be more than enough. Three for ALL of the town at a very leisurely pace, and five if you want to do the environs (I'm guessing on that though). <BR> <BR>We did enjoy it and wouldn't recommend NOT going. I had always wanted to go, ever since I was a kid, and everyone we've spoken to who's been there has said it's their favorite city in Europe. <BR> <BR>Chris

We just spent 6 days in May in Prague and enjoyed every day. You can spend days walking around seeing each part of town such as old town, new town, the royal hill, the Jewish museum tour, etc. The museums are not first rate but they are cheap and some are interesting. We enjoyed the food and we were amazed at how many restaurants had opened since 1989. We had good pizza and salads when we got tired of the Czech food. You can spend days visiting towns outside of the city. We went on a all day tour of the castles with a full dinner lunch that only cost $40. a person. The city is very easy to navigate using the tram and the subway. In September the weather should be great and you can sit outside at a cafe and people watch. I have been in most of the major cities in Europe and would recommend Prague especially if you are interested in old buildings and beautiful city squares. The people are also friendly and they do speak a great deal of English. This is the time to visit for in 10 yrs. the cost will probably match the rest of Europe.

Prague is beautiful and magical. If you have the chance, go. You won't be sorry.

Prague is one of the prettiest cities I have ever been to. We were there for 5 days in 1995. We walked and walked, getting lost to only find a wonderful building, street. The history of the statues on the Charles Bridge was fascinating, the Jewish Quarter wonderfully (and sadly) historic. One of my favorite events there was just sitting in the Old Town Square at night when the crowds had left. One night a woman came out of the shadows to sing arias by the Astonomical Clock. Beautiful. I can't wait to go back.

Sorry, meant Astronomical Clock (missing "r"), however at least I did not butcher it as badly as Rick Steves did in one of his PBS specials..."Astological Clock".

I was in Prague for a few days in March and it was wonderful. I would love to go back to see so many of the things I missed. The Old Town is lovely even if there are lots of tourists around. The Charles Bridge is beautiful and lively with vendors and musicians. We climbed up to the Stefanikova Observatory and got gorgeous views of the city from the park. <BR> <BR>Lots of good food to eat and, as others have said, many speak English so there's little problem communicating. <BR> <BR>Lee

Thanks to all of you for your comments. We will probably go but will take Chris' advice and stay 4 or 5 days. Can't wait now!