Petrin is a hill in the centre of Prague, and it takes some climbing to get to the top! It rises 130m above the left bank of the Vltava River and it's covered in parks, making a great site for a lovely walk, and it's a favoured recreational area for the people of Prague.
You can see the hill from Charles Bridge and on the top of Petrin Hill in Prague you may notice an Effiel Tower like tower at the very top. This is the Petrin Hill Observation Tower. It's a 60 metre tower which is much smaller than the Eiffel Tower, however as it's on the top of Petrin Hill it does have almost the same altitude as it's French lookalike. It was built in 1891 and was used as not only an observation tower, but also as a transmission tower. Today though this tower is a good tourist attraction as it offers spectacular views of Prague as despite it only being 60m high, it's setting on the top of the hill does give it extra dizzying height. On a clear day it is possible to see the highest peak in the Czech Republic, Snezka, which is 150km from
the tower.
Petrin Hill Observation Tower
To get to this tower you can either climb up Petrin Hill, or take the Funicular Railway. Now I should point out climbing Petrin Hill is so easy task, indeed we walked back down it and it's quite steep in parts, and it was tiring enough walking back down it nevermind up! The Funicular railway is easy to use, linking the Mala Strana district to the top of the hill. It has 3 stops, Ujezd (bottom of the hill), Nebozízek (the middle station) and Petrin (top of the hill). You can board at Ujezd and you need to get off at Petrín to get to the tower.
Nearby the tower there is a lovely rose garden and other gardens to walk through. It's a very pretty place, and as we visited on a wet and miserable day, there was barely any other people around and it made for a very nice relaxing walk. I can imagine it being rather busy on a hot summer's day, as it makes for a nice day out.
At the base of the tower there is a small gift shop and cafe, as well as the payment booth. I do believe there is a lift for disabled customers to go up the tower, otherwise it's a case of walking up the winding wooden stairs. This isn't for the lighthearted as there are 299 steps to reach the viewing platform going round and round the tower...
The dizzying climb...
The day I visited Prague it was a wet and windy day. The stairs are on the outside of the tower and to be honest I did start to feel quite sick as I was climbing, constantly going round and round this narrow staircase... Thankfully every now and then there was a wooden bench to sit and rest on, and catch your breath... but dont look down if you're not one for heights until you reach the platform!As you climb you come to the first level viewing platform. The tower offers impressive 360'c views of Prague, you can clearly make out the castle, Charles Bridge and the Church of Our Lady before Týn (my favourite building in Prague located in the Old Towen Square). Despite it being a miserable grey and cloudy day, we had a good view and could see buildings for miles. This platform was sort of outside the tower, and with it being a very windy and cold day we decided after having a good rest it was time to continue our climb up the tower.
I should point out now that there is a staircase to go down, and a staircase to go up. You should make sure you choose the correct staircase as they are quite narrow and you don't want to have to squeeze past disgruntled visitors if you choose the wrong one. We did encounter people using the wrong staircase so it was annoying having to squeeze past people using the wrong one, depsite them being marked out at the start of them which way to go!
It's not long before I reached the top of the tower, however after all that climbing on this wet and windy day I was feeling quite sick! The top platform is indoors with windows that open so you can take photo's. I really did feel as high as I was on the Eiffel Tower... but this didn't feel as 'study' a building with it's wooden winding staircase, making me feel rather queasy. It's certainly not something anyone who is scared of heights should visit!
After enjoying the amazing views and taking the obligatory photo's, it was time to climb all the way back down again. Looking down and going round and round and round... yes I was very glad to reach the bottom of this tower!
I would recommend giving this one a go, whether you climb up Petrin Hill (tiring!) or cheat and ride the Funicular Railway, you do get some amazing views of Prague. However if heights arent for you, then you can still enjoy some nice views of Prague from Petrin Hill without the dizzying staircase.
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