Even though we did not have an enjoyable time in Prague (Praha) as shared in an earlier article, we still have to nod that the capital of Czech Republic is a city that translates the definition of beauty into perfection. Apart from admiring its architectural grandeur at different spots such as Old Town Square, Winceles Square, Charles Bridge and the list goes on, the city also offer countless photography opportunities that we enjoyed in the midst of negative vibes we experienced here.
Currency in Czech Republic
The official currency in Czech Republic is Czech Koruna, abbreviated as Kc locally and Czk internationally. It is best to get your Euro changed to Czk as most of the outlets accept cash in Czk or credit cards only.
After reading numerous articles and blog posts, we had a feeling that it will be a challenge to get an honest foreign exchange office especially if you are around old town square. Either they charge heavily on commission or give a bad exchange rate. Rule of thumb is - always ask how much Czk you are getting with the amount of money you have, and best if they show you on paper the total amount of Czk you are getting.
Many exchange offices were closed on Sunday during our visit. Luck was on our side as we managed to locate an honest exchange office with good rate slightly out from the Old Town Square. Perhaps it will be better for you to look for exchange office out from the famous tourist hot spot.
Transportation in Prague
It is easy to maneuver around in Plague on foot. Most of the interesting places and attractions are located within walking distance. For instance, it is possible to walk from Old Town to Charles Bridge or Wenceles Square. At the same time, walking around also enables you to explore the beauty of city.
Train / tram tickets are available with below pricing:
- 24 CZK – full ticket: 30 minutes (transfers allowed), children get 50% discount
- 32 CZK – full ticket: 90 minutes (transfers allowed), children get 50% discount
- 110 CZK - 24-hour ticket, children get 50% discount
- 310 CZK - 3-day ticket (72 hours), you can take one child free of charge with you
- 550 CZK - Non-transferable monthly pass, additionally requires obtaining a photo ID (+150
CZK chip card)
- 670 CZK - Transferable monthly pass, no additional ID card needed, can be used by
different people
Tips: There is no need to buy the train tickets if you just plan to visit the attractions around the town. Even if you are planning to stay in Prague for 3 days like us, you can just get a single full ticket for a trip to Prague Castle (Pražský hrad). It can save you a lot of monies.
What to Do in Prague
1) Old Town Square
A visit to Prague, nicknamed "The City of a Hundred Spires" is rendered incomplete if you did not go to the Old Town Square. A stroll there is akin a physical walkthrough at the encyclopedia of European culture and history, thanks to the unscathed medieval structures here even after World War II. Among the prominent building and monuments are Church of Our Lady Before Týn with twin towers reaching 80m high, Jan Hus monument, and the notable Astronomical Clock.
Prague Astronomical Clock, or Prague Orloj is probably the most admired structure here. It was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock and the oldest clock still operating in the world, though I have no idea how it works. The clock will strike the hours from 9am to 11pm daily, and procession of the Twelves Apostles will set in motion.
However, our advice is stay away and watch the motion via a YouTube channels for the clock motion. There will be always a large crowd in front of the clock, holding mobile phones up high and trying to record the clock motion for reasons to keep it in their device storage forever. Another way is to come late in the evening.
Old Town Square is a good spot to take some photograph too, provided you manage to get the space. There are way too many people at the square at the given time, and everybody is trying to get their own perfect picture spot.
In the meantime, give a skip to any Prague Ham hawker stalls you see in the Old Town Square. You may read our article on the reasons why we did not enjoy Prague for further elaborations.
2) Charles Bridge
The 14th century stone Gothic bridge that connects Old Town to Lesser Town is one of the Prague's most beautiful structure. Stretching over 500 meters, the bridge is bustled with activities such as performing musicians, artists selling their works and maybe some pickpockets?
There are a few picturesque spot along Charles Bridge to take Instagram-worthy pictures. Patient is your virtue though.
You can get a rather good view by going up the Old Town Bridge Tower. It is open to public starting 10am everyday and subject to an entrance fees of 100 Czk for adults. Charles Bridge also serves as a good spot to catch the sunset view of Prague.
3) Prague Castle
The 9th century ancient Prague Castle is a Guinness World Record holder as the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying up to 70,000 square meters. Sitting on top of a hill, the castle also provides a great view of the city.
Prague Castle has been furnished with floodlighting and these lights will be activated daily after dusk until midnight, or until 1am during the tourist season. This created a nice view of the castle distance away.
St. Vitus Cathedral, the most important church in the country also sit within the compound of Prague Castle. Apart from religious activities, the coronation of Czech kings and queens also took place here. At the same time, the cathedral also houses the tombs of many Bohemian Kings, Holy Roman Emperors, archbishops and noblemen.
An entrance fee of 350 Czk applies, and an audio guide costs a further 350 Czk.
4) Wencesles Square
Apart of Old Town Square, the new town square, which is better known as Wencesles Square also form part of the historic center of Prague. Howevever, it is a rectangular commercial square with stalls, shops, restaurants, hotels and shopping centre, instead of the majestic looking medieval building.
You can check out the National Museum which is located at the top of the square, and in front of the museum is the iconic statue of Saint Wencesles.
5) Czech National Theater
Looking at this building with impressive design and a range of interesting sculpture, we know it got to do with something with arts. It turned out this building is the National Theater of Czech.
There are 3 different types of shows will be played here - opera, ballet and drama. Actually, these shows will alternate their performances between National Theater, the Theater of the Estates and Kolowrat Theater. Check out their websites for more box offices show time and see what type of show interest you the most.
6) Dancing House
The Dancing House, or known as Fred & Ginger defies the norms of medieval building in the Old Town. It has a non-traditional design, having curved and unusual shapes resembles 2 people in dancing.
Though the building has an artistic design, but it has nothing to do with arts in reality. It is just another office building and shopping lot.
The Dancing House is located a distance away from the Old Town. Walking is plausible, but you may want to consider taking a ride to Karlovo náměstí metro station if you feel tired of walking.
7) Head of Franz Kafka
There is a statue named after the Bohemian German-language writer Franz Kafka located outside of Quadrio shopping centre. It is not a regular statue though, as the kinetic sculpture is made of 42 rotating panels and constantly changing it shape. It is a fun and entertainment to look at.
8) Umbrella Man and Woman
Somewhere at the intersection between Na Zborenci and Odburu (near to Breakfast La Loca) are 2 interesting "statues" - Hanging Man and Women. Not exactly what is the concealed meaning behind these but definitely it is an interesting spot and contrary to the historical statues around Prague.
9) Prague City Hall Paternoster Lift
The 24-hours operating Paternoster Lift in the back of Prague City Hall is an interesting sight, as well as a fun thing to try. It has no door, and would not stop at any floor for people to get in. It is simple - just hop on to the open compartment, then it travels in loop and you get out at the desired floor.
Go till the back of city Prague Hall to have fun with it. Just make sure you do not interrupt any civil servants using the lift.
10) Farmer's Market - Tylovo Náměstí Market
If you have some time to spare, check out this farmer's market located not far away from Old Town Square. You can get some fresh produces, fruits, flowers, food and etc there.
Food We Tried in Prague
Here is a list of food we tried during our 3 days stay in Prague (with a day spared for a day-trip to Dresden, Germany). It represent an insignificant number of delicacies in Prague and not a recommendation, but merely a record of what we had. You may use it as reference though.
1) Restaurace Mincovna
Restaurance Mincovna has topped our list after we read several reviews and articles about the restaurants around Old Town Square. Many mentioned that a lot of restaurants around Old Town Square is a rip-off, serving expensive but substandard Czech food with the exception of Restaurance Mincovna. We agreed the food here is good, but the rip-off by the crew is an unpleasant experience we had here. You can read about the unpleasant experience in other article we have posted earlier.
For starter, we had a Traditional Potato Soup (85 Czk). It came with mushrooms, fresh marjoram, vegetable and truffle oil. The soup is special, though at times it tasted a tad salty. We particularly enjoyed the richness brimming in this soup.
Duck Thigh (325 Czk) |
Knee of Young Piglets (385 Czk) |
Both the main dishes we had here may not look aesthetically appealing, but rest assured their taste is wonderful. Let's start with the Duck Thigh (325 Czk). The duck confit in thyme is served along with red cabbages, homemade bun dumplings (knedliky) and strong duck jus. The duck meat is tender and flavorful, complimented well by the red cabbages. On top of that, the slices of fried stuff on top of the duck is a wonder - crisp in texture and make a sharp contrast to the duck texture. On the other hand, the dumplings definitely did not fit well into our liking.
Knee of Young Piglets (385 Czk) is a slowly roasted pork meat, then served on top of mashed potatoes with chives, complimented with red onion with thyme honey. Everything components of the food work nicely with each other - red onions enhanced the taste and make it less plain, then mushy potatoes served as carbohydrates portion of the meal.
Overall, food here is good and worth the try.
+420 727 955 669
Operation hours: 11am - 12pm Daily
2) Trdelnik
Trdelnik is the Czech version of chimney cakes, or known as Kürtőskalács in Hungary. Apparently it is popular in Prague as we spotted a significant number of shops selling it around Old Town Square.
However, nothing interesting about Trdelnik we had in Prague. The taste is plain and no where close to the one we had in Budapest. Perhaps Trdelink is always never a Czech thing?
If you are going to Hungary, might as well enjoy it in Hungary instead. Save your budget and tummy here. It cost us 90 Czk!
3) Street Food Stall in Wencenles Square
As you walk around Wencesles Square, you will see a few street food selling sausages and various snacks that looked tempting, and appeared to be affordable.
However, the reality is these food are subpar, not to mention some of these stall operators are scammers. The first stall where we had Wencesles Sausage (80 Czk) was alright but nothing impressive, but the second stall where we had fried cheese is a scammer.
Save your money and spend it elsewhere. Totally not worth it to have the food here.
4) Kulajda
When we searched for classic Czech cuisine to try out, the name "Kulajda" came out. It is a classic Czech creamy dill soup with a floury roux acting as the base, though some version came with sour cream, potatoes and eggs.
After scouting several restaurants' menu and could not find this soup (or perhaps we had problems identifying the Czech words), we finally got it from local groceries Delmart. I purposely wake up at 7am in the morning and rushed to Delmart just to get it. Although it sounds expensive at the price tag 89.90 Czk but the taste of Kulajda makes the effort and time worthy!
One of the soup that we we really enjoyed!
After fall in love with Kulajda, we went to Delmart again to purchase another type of soup with the same brand name. This times we tried Bramborova Polevka se Slaninou (Potato Soup with Bacon). Not a bad choice though.
At the same time, we also grabbed some Bohemia chips for our journey continue to Brno, a small town in Czech Republic.
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Check out Shirleen & Ee Pin's Instagram for more beautiful photos we have taken.
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