Prague

Prague = Praha

Lidická 291/40, 150 00 Praha 5-Anděl, Česko

Prague April 23-28

Tues April 23  Train   RejioJet 2:39PM arr 6:37 PM

Electronic ticket 7901063908 25.10 EU   Seats 6/41-42

Air BnB Stylish Studio near the river  391 EU  code  HMJPE45DSX

Apr 23 – 28, 2024 · 2 guests Lidická 291/40, 150 00 Praha 5-Anděl, Česko

Prague to Nice Sunday April 28

Sunday  April 28  8:10 AM arr 10:10 AM Eurowings  Booking code  XE6KHV  $133

City map  https://www.introducingprague.com/map/

All you can eat Sushi

Veronika

Paying

The currency is the Czech crown (koruna, roughly 24 Kc = 1 Euro). I would not go to an exchange office (extortionate rates), I’d just withdraw from an ATM  if I need cash or pay with a card wherever I can (a large majority of places, except some public toilets!). There are plenty of them around, you just better choose a bank ATM. Do you use Revolut? They don’t have any foreign currency payment charges (https://www.revolut.com/fr-FR/). We love them, they give us a midmarket rate, I can hold as many currencies in my account as I want and exchange within a second from one to another.

Getting around

Getting around is super easy with the metro and then you can walk from the stations. Use public transport as it’s reliable, very good and cheap, avoid using taxis, they are overpriced and can take you on a longer route just to get more money out of you.

You can get a 3-day public transport ticket at any ticket machine (there are many right in the main train station where you are going to arrive). Just remember to validate it on the first bus/tram/metro you take, there are these small ticket stamping machines everywhere, in the metro usually at the entrance of the station. It will be valid for 72 hours onwards. Absolutely make sure to VALIDATE your tickets as there are very frequent ticket controls and the officers don’t take the excuse of “not knowing”. Police is usually with them and every offender must pay the fine on the spot.

To go to the airport, when you are leaving, take metro line A (green line) to the station Nadrazi Veleslavin and change there to bus 59 (there are signs for the bus to the airport everywhere in the metro station). It’ll take you about 40 minutes from the centre of Prague to the airport.

Use Google Maps or Citymapper app to get the best transport options. Google Maps are perfect for walking around. I prefer Citymapper for public transport, but Google Maps are better for walking directions.

Places to see

1. the Old Town square (Staromestske namesti) with the mechanical clock (it chimes and moves the statues at every full hour, just guard your things as it’s a prime opportunity for pickpockets), there’s also on the same square a beautiful Gothic church of Our Lady before Tyn, it’s when you face the clock directly to the right across the square, just need to walk through an archway as there are houses in front of it.

2.⁠ ⁠Wenceslav Square (Vaclavske namesti). It’s an easy walk from the Old Town, there’s a national museum on the top, and lots of shops and restaurants around it.

3.⁠ ⁠Walk over the Charles Bridge across the Vltava River and all the way to Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad). The part, called Mala Strana, is very charming and it’s a decent hike  when you get to the top, I would recommend visiting the Cathedral of St Vitus as it’s beautiful architecture but I would not go to see inside the castle as it’s a working building where the Czech president lives. So maybe only some parts are open, I have never been inside. There are vast gardens around it, which are free to walk through.

To make your way back easier, there’s a metro station Malostranska which takes you back to the Old Town (Stare Mesto). Just find it on Google Maps

4.⁠ ⁠while you are on the Castle side, you could also walk to Petrinska Rozhledna which is a viewing tower resembling the Eiffel Tower, you can walk up it and get a nice view of the Old Town and the east bank of Prague. around the tower are large gardens – https://maps.app.goo.gl/NsuKMFQ39AXPB7BD9

5.⁠ ⁠Vysehrad – a former fortress, you will need to take either a metro, line C, to a station of the same name. There’s also an old church with a large cemetery where famous people were buried and you get the opposite view of Prague castle – https://maps.app.goo.gl/o5fFkkTRN5PqxuWF7

6.⁠ ⁠Zizkovska televizni vec – TV tower of Zizkov – an unusual destination but it’s open late in the evening so going there when it’s dark will give you a different view of Prague (https://maps.app.goo.gl/YHqF4VJuRJNS2ZLU8) with all the lights. There’s also a coffee shop and a restaurant, mind you, it’s rather pricey

7. National Library – Klementinum – there’s a Mirror Chapel (Zrcadlova Kaple) where they often have classical music concerts

https://www.en.nkp.cz/about-us/about-nl/national-library-s-history/the-mirror-chapel?searchterm=mirror

8. National Museum – it’s a museum of natural sciences, recently renovated. It is on top of Wenceslav square, metro lines A and C, Muzeum station, hence easy to get to.

There are MANY museums so you’d need to tell me what interests you.

Shopping malls – Palladium on Namesti Republiky (close to the Old Town). It’s a modern mall and there is a lovely church of St Joseph right next to it – I used to go there for mass when I lived in Prague. It belongs to the order of Capuchin brothers.

Restaurants – Hostinec U Sadlu (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Li7EZi2p6Rg43Th7A) – a very typical Czech menu, you should try “svickova” if you eat beef. It’s beef marinated and then roasted, served with a cream sauce and bread dumplings. Mark’s favourite Czech dish 🙂

Brasileiro Restaurant – more meat  https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWDeNry2AUqUhNw59. Expensive but we used to take customers there with Cisco and we didn’t walk away hungry (we always took the option of an “all you can eat” buffet). But it might need a reservation.

Kolkovna Celnice – https://maps.app.goo.gl/tivheGCLcdpHZazQ7 another Czech restaurant, that pulls beer from tanks so it’s known for it. In case Rebecca would like to try it.

Beas Dhaba – vegetarian Indian restaurant. If you want a bit of a break from all the meat 🙂 I used to go there for lunch when I worked at Cisco in Prague. The food used to be priced based on its weight, so I could put a bit of everything on my tray to try different dishes. Maybe it’s still the same.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/VaJuuwGQZkateXBDA

There are plenty of cafes around the town, if you get into the small streets of Mala Strana or a bit away from the main tourist zones you’ll find some with a lot of character.

For trips outside of Prague

The Czech national castle, Karlstejn, was built in the 14th century by Karl IV.

https://www.hrad-karlstejn.cz/en

Don’t buy tickets/trips from street sellers who offer a day trip unless you want someone else to organize it for you. In general, they are overpriced.  You can buy a ticket online for about 12 Euros/person for a guided tour around the castle.

There’s a direct train from the main train station (Praha Hlavni Nadrazi) in the direction of Beroun (Karlstejn is the second last stop) and it takes about 40 minutes. One-way ticket is 3 euros/person, the day return will be either 6 euros or less. The trains go every 30 minutes.

You can look up train connection/itinerary on this official website.

My home town – Kutna Hora (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutn%C3%A1_HorA) – is well known for its Ossuary, a Benedictine gothic cathedral from 12th century, a former royal mint of official Bohemian currency (silver grosh), former silver mines and a cathedral of St Barbara which you saw on a painting in our apartment. For a small town of 10,000 people, it has a rich history.

It is about an hour’s train journey from Prague’s main train station and then a leisurely walk to the town center or you could take a train to Kutna Hora Mesto (= town = center) and then walk. The trains are less frequent, about every hour but you’d need to plan this not to miss the last direct train back to Prague.

• marinated camembert (nakladany hermelin)
• potatoes rosti (bramboraky/bramboracky) with goulash (beef or pork)
• roasted duck (variations of what I prepared for our Christmas lunch)
• roasted rabbit with creamed spinach and potato dumplings
• in a bakery typical Czech pastries are made of enriched dough and filled with sweetened quark/ground poppy seeds/ground walnuts – they are called “kolac” (I included links to some pictures, the price should not be over 20 CZK when you buy them).
• Mark loves savoury pastry call “houska” – it is a bread roll which is plaited. It is nice with butter & jam or honey, or with savoury filling like cheese, ham, etc.
• and I MUST mention “chlebicky” which are open-face sandwiches and it’s something that you won’t find easily in another country. The BEST place to buy them is Lahudky Zlaty Kriz near Mustek metro station. You will be spoiled for choice

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