The Czech Republic, specifically Prague, is the final leg of our three-city Central European tour. After four days in Budapest and three days in Vienna, we arrive via train in the prettiest city yet.
Day One in Prague
For the first time since arriving in Europe, we opt for an Uber driver to take us from the train station to our AirBnB in the Little Quarter, or Malá Strana. We settle in and head right back out for the 2.5 hour private tour I booked with Living Prague Tours. It’s about a twenty minute walk out of Malá Strana, over the Charles Bridge, and into Old Town where we meet Jason, our guide. As we cross the bridge, I am already enchanted with Prague.
The tour is reasonably priced at $81 for the four of us, and it is a wonderful introduction to the city. We learn a bit about the medieval history of Prague, when it was a walled city. This church is built against a remnant of that wall – the newer part is on the left, and the old wall is on the right.
While we can’t cover everything in depth during our 2.5 hour tour, we get a helpful orientation to the city so that we can return to sights on our own later on. Jason also points out the art of Czech sculptor David Cerný as we tour; Cerný’s art is provocative, bizarre and fascinating.
Clockwise, starting in upper left corner:
“Horse” – a version of the traditional St. Wenceslas statue outside. This statue is hung upside down (the horse is dead), and is presumably a political statement against a former Czech president
“Piss” – two men pissing a Czech Republic shaped patch of grass. The statues gyrate at the waist and water comes out of you-know-where.
Bronzed Trabant car with legs – Behind the German embassy, we never would have found this on our own!
Statue of Kafka – reflective and rotating, this statue moves around, rearranging Kafka’s face so it does a 360.
“Babies” – giant bronze babies with upc codes as faces. I can’t explain this one.
“Man Hanging Out” – Sigmund Freud is in trouble!
Our tour takes us back over the Charles Bridge, and we take advantage of having a tour guide and get a family photo. The Castle Quarter and Malá Strana are behind us to the left; Old Town and New Town are to our right.
We head towards the castle, and I feel like I’m in Epcot.
We get a preview of the palace area, and it’s lovely to walk through the crowds and see the city below.
Day Two in Prague
I make my family get up early so we can be at the palace when it opens. There are some grumbles, but the early bird gets to explore in relative quiet. While tourists can wander through the area for free, tickets are required for entrance into most buildings. We are second in line, and our first stop is St. Vitus Cathedral, the Roman Catholic and Czech national church where kings were crowned. A church has stood on this spot since 930 C.E.
Construction began on the current church in 1344, and was finally completed in 1929. It holds the tomb of St. Wenceslas, patron saint of the Czech nation.
Our family makes it a point to climb up to the top of any church that will allow us, and St. Vitus obliges. We climb 287 steps up the tower to see the Czech Republic’s biggest bell. It’s nickname is Zikmund, and it’s 16.5 tons and almost 470 years old. I don’t have a photo of Zikmund, but I have a photo of our view from the top.
The large yellow building is the Old Royal Palace, the seat of Bohemian princes since the ninth century. We tour a small part of it, but photos are not permitted. At the top of the tower, we also have an amazing view of the cathedral spires.
Next we visit the Basilica of St. George, founded in 920. St. George’s was where royalty was buried before St. Vitus was built
The interior is simple, in stark contrast to the ornate Gothic style of St. Vitus. We’ve left the crowds behind for a moment, and soak in the quiet beauty of a house of worship over a thousand years old.
We have the mid-morning munchies at this point, so we take a strudel and coffee break. The food is overpriced, but I suppose one pays for the view. We sip lattes while gazing over the red rooftops of Prague.
We leave the Castle Quarter to the growing crowds, and head back over the river to Old Town for our food tour. We walk over a different bridge this time, and at one end stands a metronome. See it in the distance?
The metronome was erected in 1991, on the base left vacant by the demolition in 1962 of an enormous monument to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Our food tour is with Eating Europe tours; we went on a food tour with this company in Rome and loved it. The walking tour is four hours, and we stop six times. We taste traditional fare, modern cuisine, appetizers, main courses, desserts, and drinks. We are stuffed by the end!
See the odd looking liquid in the top right corner? That was sauerkraut soup, which I most definitely did not like. But the restaurant where we ate was lovely. Restaurant Zvonice is in St. Henry’s Bell Tower.
St. Henry’s is the tallest free standing bell tower in Prague; it was built in 1475 and restored in 2001. It is one of the many structures that makes Prague feel like a fairytale city.
Our conversations with our guide are just as enjoyable as the food. He grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, and was 22 years old when Communism fell in 1989. We walk by this monument to the Velvet Revolution, the nonviolent transition of power. Our guide was there, protesting in the streets with hundreds of thousands of other citizens. It is incredible to learn history from someone who lived it, and we have some interesting discussions about the state of our world today.
With full bellies, we head back over the Charles Bridge to what we already think of as “our neighborhood.” The Malá Strana bridge towers welcome us.
We spend the rest of the evening leisurely walking through the district, peeking into alcoves as we explore.
We stop at the Lennon Wall for some terrific photo ops. The wall was covered with memorial graffiti after John Lennon died in 1980, and the police painted over it. Everyday, they covered the “All You Need Is Love” and “Imagine” messages, and every night the graffiti would reappear. It’s a testament to freedom of speech and the power of hope.
Day Three in Prague
We spend the morning touring the Jewish Quarter, hub of the Jewish community of Prague for a thousand years. We purchase tickets that will admit us to all the sights, and begin at Maisel Synagogue. Built as a private house of worship in the late 16th century, the temple now houses exhibits highlighting a millennium of history.
Next is Pinkas Synagogue, which is not only historic but now a memorial to the Czech Jews who died in the Shoah (Holocaust). The temple is simple and striking, because the walls are covered with the handwritten names of the 77,297 Czech Jews who perished in the death camps.
Families are listed together, with the family name in red and the first names and date of death or deportation listed after. The names go on and on, a memorial for so many who don’t even have marked graves.
Standing in the women’s gallery above the main sanctuary, I cannot see the names that cover the walls, but I know they are there, and I bear witness. When World War II began, there were 55,000 Jews in Prague. By the end of the war, only 10,000 remained. Today, only 3,000 registered Jews live in the Czech Republic.
We exit Pinkas and walk through the Old Jewish Cemetery. Jews must be buried in a Jewish cemetery, and this was the only land allowed for 350 years. Graves were piled on top of each other, so while there are 12,000 headstones, there are actually almost 85,000 people buried here.
The Old-New Synagogue is the oldest in Eastern Europe, and it is still in use today.
We end our Jewish Quarter tour at the Spanish Synagogue, which is Moorish in style and absolutely stunning. It was built in the 19th century during the Austro-Hungarian empire, which was a relatively prosperous time for Jews. After a sobering morning, this beautiful temple is the perfect way to end our tour of this vibrant neighborhood.
After lunch at a 50s diner (don’t judge, we are getting tired of meat and potatoes), we head to Old Town to do the Rick Steve’s self-guided walking tour. I am a big fan of Steves’ guide books and walking tours, and though my family groans when I stand on the sidewalk reading from a book, I insist on it rather than wandering around and missing important sights and relevant commentary.
We begin at Old Town Square, a market square for the last thousand years. Tyn Church towers over the square.
Also in the square is the tourist-favorite Astronomical Clock. Apparently visitors flock to the clock and wait for the glockenspiel show at the top of every hour. Alas, the clock is undergoing renovations when we are there, just as the Trevi Fountain was when we were in Rome. I take a photo of the tarp hanging over it, which is conveniently painted with the clock face to satisfy disappointed tourists.
Our next stop proves the Rick Steves’ guidebooks are worthwhile; I would have walked right by the Estates Theater without ever knowing that Mozart directed many of his works here. I’m not a classical music fan, but I still think it’s cool to see where the masters worked.
As we circle back to Old Town Square, Matt and I pose in front of Tyn Church. The square is full of tourists, and I am happy to head back to the quieter side of the river.
We’ve walked over the Charles Bridge many times, but today we decide to paddleboat under it. The views of St. Vitus and the palace are even better from the water.
There is another paddleboat with Americans nearby, and they shout out to ask if we’ll take their photo. We do, and they take ours. Then, through the magic of AirDrop, we trade photos across the water. Notice my kids are in the back doing the paddling!
As our final evening in Prague approaches, we make the long and steep walk up to Petrín Hill. On top is an Eiffel Tower replica, which we also climb.
Because the tower is on top of a hill, it sits at the same elevation as the real Eiffel Tower. It is 200 feet tall, and it’s windy at the top. I manage to hold onto my phone for a final panoramic.
We meander back down to a lovely restaurant called Malý Buddha where we have our final dinner in the city. Afterwards, we stroll through the streets one last time.
Prague’s streets are beautiful, although not recommended for high heels. Even the sidewalks are art.
We have to walk up a small alley to arrive at our AirBnB, and it’s one of my favorite visuals of Prague. I wait until my family turns the corner to get a shot.
Thoughts on Prague
- Like both Budapest and Vienna, the city felt safe and clean.
- Also like Budapest and Vienna, meat is king. There are quite a few international restaurants, however, and we opted for those a few times.
- The tourist attractions were packed. Staying off the beaten path was a smart move, as we were able to experience the quieter side of Prague.
- There is an old European feel to Prague; it has a medieval and fairytale quality. It was the prettiest of the three cities we visited.
Budapest, Vienna and Prague are likely not the first cities one thinks of when planning a trip to Europe. But their proximity to each other and the compactness of each city made this ten-day itinerary a fascinating look into Central Europe. If you are planning your own trip, please feel free to reach out to me if you’d like any more specifics!
Gosh, that was quite the tour, Dana! Prague truly looks like a magical kingdom. Love the Spanish temple and the intricate pavers on the sidewalks. But I tip my hat to you for being able to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower replica! I hate heights, so that would have been quite the struggle for me.
So much to say! The “Piss” statue! The sauerkraut soup! (ick) Only 3,000 registered Jews?! The John Lennon graffiti reappearing!
It was such a cool wall, Tamara. A great photographer’s backdrop too.
Prague would be such a cool city to visit! Looks like you had an awesome trip 🙂
We really did!
These are some of the most beautiful pictures you have taken. I know the venue helped but your compositions were terrific! So enjoyed reading about all that you did in Prague. Think I might have to put it on my bucket list!
You should 🙂
Fantastic write up. The church the started in 1344 is amazing! You’re right, these three cities weren’t on my dream vacation radar, but they’re on my list now!
I’m glad to hear it, Allie!
Wow!!! I’ve always wanted to travel to Prague and someday I will get there! I love how much detail you give and how many tours you take. I definitely need to wait until the boys are older for some of this but my husband would plan a trip solely based on the food tour 🙂 And I really loved that art!! The peeing statues would capture the boys attention for at least 7 minutes…
Gorgeous as usual. Thank you for this great travel guide!
Your boys would have loved all of the Cerny sculptures. We posed with the giant babies, leaning against their butts. We all thought it was hysterical, but I do have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy…
You weren’t kidding as Prague does look like a gorgeous that is truly rich with history. That said the Epcot comment totally made me smile and could see what you meant further though as I continued to scroll down. Was truly happy to enjoy your share of this city and your trip. Thanks Dana 🙂
Thanks for reading, Janine!