This is going to be a long one! There is so much to say about this fabulous city! I'd heard of it but didn't even know what country it was in. Decided to visit and really want to go back again!
A FEW FACTS Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is in the centre of Europe. Prague is in the centre of the Czech republic. Prague is 496km squared in size and has a population of 1.2million people. The time zone is an hour ahead of England and they use the two pin plugs. The Currency is Kc, these are available in from a 1Kc coin up to a 5000kc note. The Kc is divided into 100h, these come in 10,20 and 50h coins. I only ever saw a 50h coin but as they are worth very little are rare. Sometimes places don't have small change so round up and give you more than you are owed. One thing I would recommend is to take a currency converter, it gets so confusing to be consatantly working out how much things cost. I printed out a wallet size currency conversion table from www.oanda.com.
It is hard to comment on the temperature - in guide books I've read the average summer temparatue is between 24 and 26 celcius. We went in June and it was 33 celcius one day. The winters are said to be very cold.
Important telephone numbers are fire - 150, Ambulance - 155, Police - 158 and city police are 156.
HOW TO GET THERE The way we got to Prague was a flight from Manchester. We flew with BMI baby. This airline flies from Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Nottingham to Prague. Easyjet airline flys from Bristol, all London airports, Newcastle
and East Midlands to Prague. Jet2 airline flys from Belfast and Leeds to Prague.
If flying isn't your thing there are a few places who also do coach trips to Prague. One of these is Leger holidays who also do a holiday which coach tours aroun Prague, Budapest and Vieanna in 9 days which sounds like a good one.
GETTING AROUND
The way most people travel around Prague is on the Metro, this is cheap, easy and efficient. There are 3 Lines in Prague Metros. There are 38 stations and the metro starts at 5am and goes right up to 00:00 . The lines are red, yellow and green. The Red Line goes from 'LADVI' to 'HAJE' and you can change over onto the green line at station 'MUZEUM' and change onto the yellow line on station 'FLORENC'. The yellow line goes from 'ZUCIN' to 'CERNY MOST' and you can change onto the green line at station 'MUSTEK'. The green line goes from 'DEJVICKA' to 'SKALKA'.
When using the machine to get your ticket for the metro be carfeul which button you press, the green row is for child fares.
It costs about £6 for a 1 week pass which will get you on all forms of transport for the week, obviously excluding taxis.
A 24 hour pass is about £2 and a 60 minute one about 25p. Once you have bought your ticket you must go to a small yellow box and insert your ticket. This validates it.
Under 6's travel free, so do the Czech over 70's, disabled, prams, animals if in boxes, luggage up to a certain size, skis, and a bike.
Unlike the UK buses, you do not show a ticket to a driver, only if an inspector comes around do you show a ticket.
Make sure you do get a ticket and make sure you validate it, we were lucky because never vaildated ours not really understanding the system. Until one night at the hotel another visitor said they got an on the spot fine of 400kc (£9) for not having a valid ticket.
Taxis are only really safe to use if you phone up for them using well known operators. Hailing one isn't really a good idea as a lot of the rip you off. AAA Taxi has english speaking operators and is cheap. The number is 14014.
There is a railway network in the Czech republic, but is very slow, so other forms of transport are better unless you aren't in a rush.
The buses and coaches are cheaper and faster than the train. At the metro stops there is also bus stops so it should be easy to change between the two if needed.
In the summer, a boat ride is a great idea. Not only do you get to take in the views, but you get to do it in the good weather on a much more relaxing and less crammed for of transport. There are not expensive. Your can also get a boat to the zoo and on boat dinner and lunch is available.
Bike There are a lot of beautiful things to see in Prague, a lot of these are a long walk so hiring a bike would be a good idea. I would take the bike on the Metro to wherever you want to start your bike tour. The drivers are not that careful so I would avoid main roads. Also, if cycling downhill just take it easy as there are some very steep drops, then suddenly a corner or you may fly off the edge and end up god knows where! There aren't many warnings.
Another interesting way to get around is by going on a Segway tour. These are like stand up scooters that you ride around between the main attractions. They are a good idea for people who don't feel they could walk far, as the attractions are quite far apart.
WHERE TO STAY WE stayed in the Hotel Duo, this was good value for money (for more details see review).
For something a little closer to the centre my parents stayed in the Crowne Plaza last year and highly reccomend this hotel. Their website is www.crowneplaza.com
If it's a luxury hotel you're looking for the 5* Renaissance looks stunning, as does the Hotel Pariz (5*), but expect to pay for it. Prices vary but on average I'd say nearly £300 per double room for two nights.
Other end of the scale? For budget accomodation there are plenty of places - not all miles out of the centre either. The Hotel Exel City (2*), in high season in only 34 euro for a double room per night which works out £12 per person per night. The hotel looks nice and clean and is not too far out.
There are also hostels where you can get a double room from 19 euro per double room per night!
WHAT TO SEE Prague Castle This is situated at the top of a hill and is probably the most popular attraction in Prague, if not for the fantastic architecture and the building itself, it's worth a trip up there for the views alone! The castle is a main feature in the organised tours, if not it is on every map you get and is easy to find. There is an information centre, where you can read information about all of the work done on the castle, through damage in wars, and general reperations. It is currently the seat of the Czech Republic president.
Charles Bridge The views of the castle and the water from Charles bridge are fab. There are two towers at each end of the bridge, these and the parts of the bridge are beautiful. It is now only for pedestrians. Apparently a while ago buses, cars and trams used to go over it. There are people selling their paintings and models who line the bridge as you walk over it. There are some beautiful paintings of it - these aren't expensive so it would be worth getting one. This is definitely another must see.
Astronomical clock Whilst in Prague, we heard a lot of people talk about this so went to see it, it was nice but we didn't really understand what it was all about. I have read up on it since and it shows the revolutions of the sun, moon and stars. There are little statues each side of the clock which represent vanity, greed, death, and lust. There have been additions and repairs to the clock since it was first constructed in 1410. I suppose if I'd known how old it was, what it was actually showing and what it meant it would've been a bit more interesting at the time.
The Petrin Tower is amazing. It's like Prague's own little version of the Eiffel Tower. It took us ages and ages of uphill countryside walking to get there but I'm sure there are much easier ways to do it! It was a nice walk though as the views were so breath taking. If you thought Prague Castle was high go up and take a look at this. When we got up to it we didn't dare go up it because it was massive and we're both wimps and afraid of heights. If you're Not go up I can't imagine how amazing it would be. There's a few stalls selling refreshments and there was a man sat there who takes photos of it to sell, you can also have you're photo taken and he puts it on a postcard with the Prague attractions around you - these are cheesy but cute. You have to pay to go up the tower but I'm sure it was only about £1. It is 60m high and you have to climb 299 steps to get to the top!
There is a zoo which is easily accesible by boats, which would be a good place to take children, or just a nice day out. We never visited this, I've been told it's a good day out and not expensive.
SHOPPING There were so many shopping centres in Prague I couldn't believe it. It was not the sort of place I expected would be big on shopping. A lot of it is tax free which is great., The best place I found for shopping was by getting on the yellow line metro and getting off at the stop named Andel. As soon as you exit the metro you are on a really long main street full of shops. There is a huge shopping centre down here, but you enter it by a pretty small door, it's not well advertised and it's fab so don't miss it. There is also a shop called Terranova, there are branches all over the world - just none in the UK yet. From this shop I got a pair of trousers, some short trousers and 3 skirts for about £9. New Yorker is also a good place to shop. Both of these stores sell both men and womens clothing.
There is a shopping centre near tesco which is further out of Prague than the rest of the shopping centres. There is a free bus which runs to this which is handy and regular. The Tesco is really big and open 24 hours. There are also cafes and lots of shops. It's definitely worth a visit.
OTHER THINGS The food and drink is cheap - in the hotel it was about £3 for a pizza and £1 for a pint of lager, which is about a third of hotel prices here. We found a little Italianrestaurant near the metro station LADVI which was just called Pizzerie. It looked like a doorway to a betting shop but if you go up some stairs through a dark dingy corridor you get to it and it is really nice! For two pasta dishes, one pint of beer, a bottle of coke, and a bottle of water it worked out at £4! There are plenty of little bars and restaurants in the main centre. There is also a big red light district in Prague, we managed to avoid this. The nightlife in the centre is said to be great butas our hotel had so much in it we usually stayed there on a night. There are plenty of Casino's and Strip clubs, it is well known for Boozy weekends and Stag weekends. Don't be put off by this though, it is easy to still go out and have a nice meal and a few drinks without having to see these things. They can be easily avoided.
WHO SHOULD GO THERE? I would say this is a place for either couples of any age who like sightseeing and walking trips, or for groups of men or women who want to somewhere cheap to eat and drink and have a drinking holiday. There isn't much for kids really. I don't think they would enjoy it as much as adults.
As soon as I have a working scanner again I will add photos to this ( hopefully in next couple of days). Thanks for reading!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Sounds lovely, I will look out for the photo's, I'd love to go one day but agree it's probably not for children so will have wait a while until mine grow up. Helen
LeeroyBrown 13.07.2005 01:05
A good review. I have heard so much about Prague but haven't been. It is on my list of places to visit. Leeroy ~Onwards and Upwards~
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (87%):
helpful by (7%):
