3 day itinerary for visiting Prague
Before jetting off to Prague for 3 days we bought a Prague Pass online.
For £80 each we got three days of sightseeing, including 24 hours on the hop on/hop off bus and admission to 34 visitor attractions.
If you did the attractions without the pass, admissions would cost about £200 each !!! it also made us do more than we would have done otherwise. 😀
The flight from Heathrow Airport took an easy one hour, 25 minutes, albeit after queuing for an hour to get through a crazy busy Heathrow security.
A pre-booked taxi transfer took us through Monday evening rush hour traffic to our base for four nights, Hotel Praga 1.
This comfortable four-star hotel is situated right on the edge of the Old Town and we had a spacious room with a king size bed, TV and nice little bathroom.
Our first night comprised of a meal at close by Pricny Rez, a local cafe which was popular with locals.
Tasty meals of duck and dumplings and chilli with nachos, washed down with three .5l glasses of local lager, cost a total £32.
DAY 1
Our 3 day itinerary starts here
After a continental breakfast our first day started with the hop on/hop off bus tour of the city.
Prague is truly beautiful.
Our bus weaved its way through the tinkling trams and traffic as we listened to a running commentary on our complimentary earphones.
We went on a circuit from the Dancing House Hotel (it looks like a dancing couple, some say Fred & Ginger), passed the National Theatre and the Charles Bridge and then headed up to Prague Castle.
With its bridges spanning the Vltava River it is reminiscent of London and its Thames.
Except here the buildings which line the banks are old, ornate and beautifully preserved and are largely uninterrupted by modern monstrosities.
We did a full lap on the packed bus, which seemed more hop on/ stay on due to nobody getting off.
But on lap two we alighted at Prague Castle and initially had a pleasant wander through gardens with a variety of tree species from around the globe, including the thought to be extinct Dawn Redwood.
Then we joined the throng of tourists and visited Prague Castle, with its plethora of places to see.
These included the magnificent St Vitus Cathedral, with its myriad-coloured stained glass windows, statues and frescos.
As well as the cathedral we took in the Old Royal Palace, which dates back to the 12th century and contains the Czech crown jewels.
Splendid views over the city can be enjoyed from various windows.
After that it was on to St Georges basilica, and then Golden Lane.
Here, a terraced row of ancient houses has been topped with a knock through gallery containing a mighty selection of suits of armour and helmets.
Enough, in fact, to equip a small army of tin men.
There was also a grizzly, spine-chilling display of torture equipment of yesteryear.
We followed Prague Castle with an amble back down to the city, which included a walk down a 70cm wide traffic-lighted pedestrian passageway which leads down to a riverside restaurant.
From here we pressed on, stopped for a spot of late lunch before grabbing an ice cream and crossing Charles Bridge.
Just like London’s Millennium Bridge, this people-only crossing was packed with tourists.
There are 36 biblical and historical statues which grace the bridge and we followed tradition and touched the statue of St John of Nepomuk.
It means now we have good luck and ensures we return to Prague, which is a very good thing.
With that we returned to base, freshened up and drank and ate at nearby Lokal U Jirata.
This chain restaurant was packed with locals and had the feel of a good British boozer.
We had beef goulash with bread dumplings (they seem to be a speciality) and chicken schnitzel washed down with three .5l glasses of local lager and the total was again about £32.
DAY 2
Day two of our trip started with a moving trip to a place which pays homage to Czech heroes.
On our hop on/ hop off tour we had noticed a low, small rectangular window in a church, under which was a lit candle and flowers.
Shortly after seeing this the penny dropped.
This was the place where, in 1942, brave members of the Czech resistance holed up after the assassinaton of Nazi SS stalwart Reinhard Heydrich.
A meticulous plan had been executed to terminate Heydrich as his open top Mercedes car slowed for a bend on a Prague street.
Unfortunately, the British Sten gun jammed as the first assassin struck.
Seeing this, Heydrich shouted for the car to stop, stood up and went for his gun.
Then a second assassin lobbed a bomb which fell at the car’s back wheel, detonated, and hurled a piece of car seat into Heydrich’s spleen.
Despite copious transfusions he died of blood poisoning a few days later.
Meanwhile, thanks to informers, the Nazis tracked down conspirators to the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
A gun battle ensued in which the resistance was holed up in the church choir balcony and crypt.
Sadly, after the Nazis blitzed the place with bullets, and flooded the crypt, the conspirators were either killed or committed suicide.
A marvellous, free exhibition tells the story with artefacts and film and gets you into the crypt.
Well worth a visit.
We next went to the Jewish quarter, where the Pinkas Synagogue has the names of nearly 80,000 Czech Jewish victims of the Shoah (holocaust) on its walls.
We then strolled around ancient gravestones of the old Jewish cemetery and visited the Old New Synagogue, one of the oldest and most valuable European and world Jewish monuments, and the oldest synagogue in Central Europe. We then moved on to the stunning Spanish Synagogue. The Spanish Synagogue is the most recent synagogue in the Prague Jewish Town, built in 1868.
Next we stopped for a coffee and cake before joining the masses at Old Town Square.
A large gathering pointed the way to the Old Town Hall, where the clock tower’s astronomical clock chimed at 3pm and 12 apostles processed across two small windows.
Incredible how this little spectacle has been drawing in the crowds since the middle ages.
We finished off day two with a visit to the Central Gallery, where our Prague Pass gave us admission to two art exhibitions from three; Salvador Dali, Alfons Mucha and Andy Warhol.
We opted for Dali and Warhol.
Dali turned out to be, well, bonkers.
Warhol was colourful and more straightforward, with touches of bonkers.
Day 3
Day three started with a look at the 216 metre high Zizkov TV tower, Prague’s tallest tower with a 360 degree observation deck at 93 metres.
A large group of people queued to use one small lift to the top, so there was a bit of a wait to ascend.
But the wait was worth it, with the deck providing far-reaching views over the city and prompts on the floors and windows pinpointing landmarks such as Prague Castle and cathedral.
From the tower we strolled through the city, where seemingly homeless dirty looking men perused rubbish bins and affluent tourists perused designer boutiques and beautiful buildings.
Our Prague Pass gave us an hour’s river cruise, so we navigated through busy streets to a fully electric Prague Boats vessel and hopped aboard.
In complete silence we glided from our berth and set off.
A running commentary in English (Czech and German were also spoken) filled us in on landmarks as we cruised up to and under Charles Bridge, turned around, and pottered back. Very pleasant.
After the trip we took a look at the Lennon Wall, a graffiti-strewn stretch of wall near Charles Bridge.
Visitors flocked to an image of John Lennon with peace signs on the lenses of his famous round spectacles.
We then zig-zagged our way across bustling Charles Bridge and ended up at the Pilsner Urquell Original Beer Experience at 28. rijna 377-13.
This was also on the Prague Pass and after a nice welcome friendly young staff supplied us with headphones for an illustrated walk through history of beer and brewing.
We went from Gods to monks, to Kings and businessmen who strived to create a great tasting, low price beer.
We sampled some beer, were shown how to pour it and learned about the roles of good water, barley and hops in brewing it. Very interesting.
The tour culminated in a couple of complimentary pilsners in the bar which went down a treat.
With these on board we pressed on to a Lokal pub cafe – like a UK pub – and drank a few more before an early evening dinner and then bed.
Summary
So there you have it.
Prague, easy to get to, cheap food and drink, wonderfully preserved buildings, interesting places to visit and friendly, helpful people.
Ten out of ten.