carmar

We just returned from Prague last week and I'm at a loss of why everyone likes it so much. We drove from Berlin and as we were trying to find our hotel, it was difficult even with Garmin. There was a police car parked in a square so we pulled in next to it to ask direction and he put on his flashers and asked for our passports and drivers licence. With that, he asked for $$ to let us go. We were shocked and of course it was hard to communicate but we understand when he told us to go to a nearby bank and use the ATM to get money. Since we just go into town, we had no local currency but I offered him 5 euro because that was all I had. Ater several minutes, he threw the passports back at our and sped off in his car. Nice welcome!
The buildings were beautiful as was Prague Castle and the Town Center but I have never seen so many souvenir shops. We did have good food and our hotel was nice but I would never recommend this city to anyone.
What did we miss??

flanneruk

"What did we miss??"

Probably nothing.

You just encountered a moderately pretty European city when you were in a bad mood.

Prague has a great deal less of interest than Florence or even Cambridge. It's also got - from tourist tat to (at best) over-zealous police - a lot more that's unpleasant than most major European attractive cities. But it'#s still nice-looking.

It's actually a great deal easier to navigate than Oxford, Seville or Avignon: the secret is to get a proper street map and throw away your electronic toys. But no European city worth visiting is laid out on a gridplan. And there's no law, anywhere, requiring police to be welcoming.

I've never understood why people go ga-ga over Prague either. It's nice enough. "Beautiful" 's pushing it a bit - but if that's what you think it is, that's why some people recommend it. And it's hardly unique in having souvenir shopd

logos999

What did we miss??
Bavaria

USNR

Prague suffered next to no damage during World War II. That said, we found it highly overrated, too. We noticed that it was a hanggout for German punks, lots of pickpockets, and overpriced shops.

annhig

carmar,

we spent 3 lovely nights [and days!] in Prague between Christmas and New year about 4 years ago. we loved the crisp cold weather, the hearty food, the great beer, the interesting buildings [especially the art nouveau], the reasonable prices, [the opera was a bargain], the Christmas market, the puppet show, the Christmas concert in the lovely municipal building, the....

I'm very sorry you didn't have the same experience. I too have been to places that others rave about but did little for me. I tend to blame myself!

logos999

Thinking of Prague, what comes to mind is cheap shopping, booze and the 30 years war. Shopping has come to an end with the steeply rising prices, food is still worth it, so much like home, yet cheap and good! Give me knödel and gravy until I burst!

Other than that? No, not at all, there are many better places in the vicinity.

A weekend eating an drinking however, anytime!!

CAPH52

I'm very disheartened to see this because my son is considering a 6 week study abroad program in Prague for this coming summer. If a few other things fall into place, he'll probably do it. The program itself is ideal for him and fits well into his schedule.

But I'd heard such good things about Prague...

logos999

There are places far worse than Prague! . Study during the day, eat and drink at night, he will love it! If I were that age, I'd have the time of my life with friend around! Not that bad at all.

cambe

It's just OK IMO

Lovely buildings
lots of tourists
Expensive
Awful food

logos999

I could eat nothing except this, until the day I die. So easy to make a Bavarian happy.

Ingo

It is a mystery to me, too, why so many people rave about Prague. I have no urge to go there again. Probably must for business, though. Yuck.

Glad you enjoyed the East German cities, carmar ;-)

I.

CAPH52

Thank you, logos! That makes me feel somewhat better. I want him to get as much as possible out of this experience.

outwest

We spent three nights in Prague this April and loved it. I had read so much about the hoards of tourists, the stag and hen parties, getting ripped off at restaurants etc. that I was quite nervous about what we'd find--but I was also determined to do what I could to avoid that and have a good experience.

I found Prague absolutely beautiful (and so did my SO)--we stayed on the castle side (a bit quieter I think) and did as much as we could to avoid the crowds--got an early start on sight seeing (and we were there over Easter--it was crowded). I bought concert tickets to a performance that wouldn't interest the average tourist (Gregorian chants)--and I pretty well knew what restaurants we were going to eat at before we went--something I wouldn't normally do but it paid off because we only had good experiences.

Prague is horribly crowded and touristy but I think if you do some preplanning you can still make it seem almost magical. It gave me hope about Venice (somewhere I've never been, but want to--another place where I constantly read about the hoards of tourists)--

takemealong

I know that everyone has different tastes, but I found Prague to be one of the most beautiful European cities that I have visited (Over the past twenty-three years, I've visited most of Europe). I was in Prague last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather was gorgeous. I was there on St. Nicholas Eve and enjoyed the festivities in the Old Town Square—families, Christmas market, street food. Yes, there are many shops that cater to tourists. Most cities that attract tourism have many shops. As USNR said, Prague had very little damage during WWII. Its buildings are the originals and are not reconstructed.

elcon

I went to Prague last December and liked it very much. I had a lovely hotel, met many lovely locals and liked the food(especially the prices). I also enjoyed the Christmas markets and found that the city had great energy-lots of live music and entertainment.

Kristinelaine

I love Prague -- won't go into reasons, many of which have already been given. Just want to encourage CAPH52's son to go ahead with his plans. My daughter was there for four weeks on a study program and had a wonderful time. (Just one highlight -- coming out of a great concert and looking up at the well-lit Prague Castle sparkling against a dark sky -- just unbelievably gorgeous!)

RedStater

Spent some days there earlier this year...I must say that I agree with the OP. Lovely architecture, but overrun with tourists, overcrowded with kitschy souvenir shops, and ridden with restaurants whose business practices verged on the piratical.

I came away also without much affection for the Czechs...they seemed, on the whole, a dour, unfriendly lot. I could have understood this in the more touristy parts of Prague, but their attitude didn't change much when we got into the smaller towns and villages. My son summed it up when he observed in disgust..."Should have let the Russians keep them". Perhaps this reserve originates from the days...not that long ago...when it wasn't really safe for the Czech man or woman on the street to be seen talking to foreigners in general and Westerners in particular.

There were many exceptions to this gross generalization, certainly, but I found the people in Austria, France, Mexico and Argentina (our most recent travel venues) to be on the whole much more sympathetic than those of the Czech Republic.

CAPH52

Thank you very much, Kristinelaine! That's what I want to hear!

bachslunch

I found a lot to like about Prague:

--amazing architecture (one of the rare cities in this area whose buildings got through WWI, WWII, and Soviet occupation pretty much unscathed).

--some world-class attractions (Prague Castle complex, Vysehrad, several churches, Jewish Quarter attractions, Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock, etc.).

--some good restaurants (just watch for shenanigans with the check, etc.).

--a strong tradition of music and concerts.

One needs to be careful to avoid getting ripped off by taxi drivers and at restaurants, and the place is no secret with tourists worldwide and thus likely to be mobbed with such folks. But that can be said about other cities as well.

Sorry to hear about the police problem you had. Makes one wonder if this was a phony or not. I didn't encounter a problem of this sort.

To each their own.

Jean

We visited Prague in October 2008 and had a great time. We're not shoppers, so it was easy for us to ignore the tourist-oriented shops. We loved our hotel (Savic) and, without doing any research, had good luck with all of our meals. We enoyed a classical concert, a band that played in a restaurant/bar and several street performers. We spent a lot of time in the Prague Castle complex and wandering the different areas of the historical center, following the Royal Road. Loved all the different architectural styles throughout the city. We didn't get a chance to see everything, so I'd love to go back sometime.

To each his own...