I've been fortunate enough to manage a visit to Prague at the end of March. It's a place I've wanted to explore since I was about 9 years old.

If any of you have visited or lived there, I'd appreciate tips, must-sees, etc. Děkuji!

It's a beautiful city. You'll love walking around old town, no doubt. And absinthe is sold in every corner shop. But I've read the Czech drink their absinthe wrong, haha.

My absolute number one destination when I visited though was the Alphonse Mucha museum. He's my favorite artist so seeing much of his work for real was an incredible experience for me. I subsequently spent hundreds of euros in the museum's gift shop on among other things, many reproductions which now hang elegantly framed in my home. If you have any interest in art nouveau then I recommend you go there.

sexton said:

It's a beautiful city. You'll love walking around old town, no doubt. And absinthe is sold in every corner shop. But I've read the Czech drink their absinthe wrong, haha.

My absolute number one destination when I visited though was the Alphonse Mucha museum. He's my favorite artist so seeing much of his work for real was an incredible experience for me. I subsequently spent hundreds of euros in the museum's gift shop on among other things, many reproductions which now hang elegantly framed in my home. If you have any interest in art nouveau then I recommend you go there.

Thanks for this. I also am a Mucha fan, and I definitely will be visiting this museum.

Incidentally, I was THRILLED to find that the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum in Glasgow was hosting a visiting exhibit of Mucha's work during my trip there in October. (The exhibit is on through February.) Stunning stuff. I can't wait to see a much larger collection in March.

sexton said:

It's a beautiful city. You'll love walking around old town, no doubt. And absinthe is sold in every corner shop. But I've read the Czech drink their absinthe wrong, haha.

My absolute number one destination when I visited though was the Alphonse Mucha museum. He's my favorite artist so seeing much of his work for real was an incredible experience for me. I subsequently spent hundreds of euros in the museum's gift shop on among other things, many reproductions which now hang elegantly framed in my home. If you have any interest in art nouveau then I recommend you go there.

You sure did! The museum was nice indeed even for somebody like me who is not that much into museums. Prague Castle was nice too IMO

[Edited 12/29/16 13:25pm]

Serious said:

sexton said:

It's a beautiful city. You'll love walking around old town, no doubt. And absinthe is sold in every corner shop. But I've read the Czech drink their absinthe wrong, haha.

My absolute number one destination when I visited though was the Alphonse Mucha museum. He's my favorite artist so seeing much of his work for real was an incredible experience for me. I subsequently spent hundreds of euros in the museum's gift shop on among other things, many reproductions which now hang elegantly framed in my home. If you have any interest in art nouveau then I recommend you go there.

You sure did! The museum was nice indeed even for somebody like me who is not that much into museums. Prague Castle was nice too IMO

[Edited 12/29/16 13:25pm]

Any restaurants you'd recommend?

Lammastide said:

Serious said:

You sure did! The museum was nice indeed even for somebody like me who is not that much into museums. Prague Castle was nice too IMO

[Edited 12/29/16 13:25pm]

Any restaurants you'd recommend?

There was a nice one that we went to more than once if I remember right but I forgot the name sorry . Maybe Sextonseven remembers it?

Serious said:

sexton said:

Serious said:

There was a nice one that we went to more than once if I remember right but I forgot the name sorry . Maybe Sextonseven remembers it?

A big reason why we enjoyed that restaurant was because it was conveniently close to our Airbnb apartment. Was this it? http://www.phalbertov.cz/en/

You two seemed to stay a bit farther south from Old Town than I plan. (I'll be right in the Jewish Quarter.) How'd you get around? Was public transit decent?

sexton said:

Serious said:

There was a nice one that we went to more than once if I remember right but I forgot the name sorry . Maybe Sextonseven remembers it?

A big reason why we enjoyed that restaurant was because it was conveniently close to our Airbnb apartment. Was this it? http://www.phalbertov.cz/en/

Could be
I was wondering myself before posting about it here if we only chose it as ist was kinda near-by - but I think it was okay as well.

[Edited 1/2/17 10:31am]

Lammastide said:

sexton said:

Serious said: A big reason why we enjoyed that restaurant was because it was conveniently close to our Airbnb apartment. Was this it? http://www.phalbertov.cz/en/

You two seemed to stay a bit farther south from Old Town than I plan. (I'll be right in the Jewish Quarter.) How'd you get around? Was public transit decent?

We were travelling to Prague by train from my hometown Vienna/Austria and only walked (a lot from what I remember ) and used public transport while in Prague. They have trams, underground, buses. Like in every big European city I'v ever been to the public trainsport system is okay. We were struggling a bit in the beginning with finding the right stations and lines to use, but we got along fine with just using public transport. The only other time before that visit we are talking about here I was in Prague by car and we too walked and used public transport only while being there. No idea how good the connection by public transport is from the airport though - but I guess it should be okay as well.

Lammastide said:

sexton said:

Serious said: A big reason why we enjoyed that restaurant was because it was conveniently close to our Airbnb apartment. Was this it? http://www.phalbertov.cz/en/

You two seemed to stay a bit farther south from Old Town than I plan. (I'll be right in the Jewish Quarter.) How'd you get around? Was public transit decent?

The tram ran along the street on which we were staying so we used it a few times other than going to and from the train station, but the weather was warm enough (we went in early June) that we walked everywhere most of the time. It's not like Prague is that big anyway.

Nice city, good food, relatively cheap, nice people.

Good food, too.

By the way....I tried a double- cheeseburger at McDonalds and even though they say McD tastes the same all over the world that cheeseburger tasted different, in a good way. The pickle and the mustard, basically everything about it tasted much better than in any other country where I´d eaten McD´s cheeseburgers.

.

Ok, that was some unnecessary info .

-

I didn´t go to the Alphonse Mucha museum even though I´m a big fan of his earlier work when he was still doing advertisements. I simply forgot to go there.

But I went to the Kafka museum which was also very interesting, but then again, I like Kafka a lot.

They had some good coffee and food and souvenirs outside the Kafka museum, too.

.

Another unnecessary tidbit....you can buy all kinds of non-firing, non-projectile assault weapons there...knives, brass knuckles, teargas, you name it. And extremely cheap and of very high quality, too. But make sure you don´t buy something that´s illegal in your country.

If you want to buy , say, a big knife or brass knuckles and you find that the item is overpriced, just walk away from the vendor and I´m sure he´ll go down with the price at least 50%.

But , needless to say, I didn´t buy anything from those guys selling them because I hate weapons and fights. But who knows, maybe you are looking for something special or have a brass knuckle collection?

.

Also try some typical Czech food such as roast duck with dumplings and red cabbage and gravy. Sounds a bit bland but tasted great.

They have great beer, too.

Definitely czech out the beers they have. Also czech out the cakes and pies.

I didn't get to see a picture from your last trip.

sexton said:

Lammastide said:

You two seemed to stay a bit farther south from Old Town than I plan. (I'll be right in the Jewish Quarter.) How'd you get around? Was public transit decent?

The tram ran along the street on which we were staying so we used it a few times other than going to and from the train station, but the weather was warm enough (we went in early June) that we walked everywhere most of the time. It's not like Prague is that big anyway.

Cool. I've rented uh... hired a car as I'm considering driving to Bratislava and Budapest at some point. But if Prague itself is largely walkable, I'd prefer hoofing it while I'm in the city.

Lammastide said:

sexton said:

The tram ran along the street on which we were staying so we used it a few times other than going to and from the train station, but the weather was warm enough (we went in early June) that we walked everywhere most of the time. It's not like Prague is that big anyway.

Cool. I've rented uh... hired a car as I'm considering driving to Bratislava and Budapest at some point. But if Prague itself is largely walkable, I'd prefer hoofing it while I'm in the city.

Sooooo......have you bought some brass knuckles from the Vietnamese market?

KoolEaze said:

Nice city, good food, relatively cheap, nice people.

Good food, too.

By the way....I tried a double- cheeseburger at McDonalds and even though they say McD tastes the same all over the world that cheeseburger tasted different, in a good way. The pickle and the mustard, basically everything about it tasted much better than in any other country where I´d eaten McD´s cheeseburgers.

.

Ok, that was some unnecessary info .

-

I didn´t go to the Alphonse Mucha museum even though I´m a big fan of his earlier work when he was still doing advertisements. I simply forgot to go there.

But I went to the Kafka museum which was also very interesting, but then again, I like Kafka a lot.

They had some good coffee and food and souvenirs outside the Kafka museum, too.

.

Another unnecessary tidbit....you can buy all kinds of non-firing, non-projectile assault weapons there...knives, brass knuckles, teargas, you name it. And extremely cheap and of very high quality, too. But make sure you don´t buy something that´s illegal in your country.

If you want to buy , say, a big knife or brass knuckles and you find that the item is overpriced, just walk away from the vendor and I´m sure he´ll go down with the price at least 50%.

But , needless to say, I didn´t buy anything from those guys selling them because I hate weapons and fights. But who knows, maybe you are looking for something special or have a brass knuckle collection?

.

Also try some typical Czech food such as roast duck with dumplings and red cabbage and gravy. Sounds a bit bland but tasted great.

They have great beer, too.

Definitely czech out the beers they have. Also czech out the cakes and pies.

Awesome tips!

My daughter has forced me to boycott McDonalds for 10 years+, so I'm afraid I'll have to take your word on its Bohemian exceptionalism. I've heard about the duck, dumplings, cabbage and gravy, though, and I absolutely have them on my to-do list. I don't think they sound bland at all! Swimming in Pilsner is a given, and I'll czech out the sweets you mention.

The Kafka Museum's on my radar. I'll probably catch it when I hit the castle nearby. I'm honestly more excited about seeing the staute of Kafka's head near City Hall, though.

And weapons, eh? Canadians are a gentle sort most days, but who doesn't have a good nunchuck asswhippin' coming at some point?

morningsong said:

I didn't get to see a picture from your last trip.

I'll post a few from Ireland/Scotland, but I'd rather we all post some of our best travel shots. Maybe I'll start a thread soon.

KoolEaze said:

Lammastide said:

Cool. I've rented uh... hired a car as I'm considering driving to Bratislava and Budapest at some point. But if Prague itself is largely walkable, I'd prefer hoofing it while I'm in the city.

Sooooo......have you bought some brass knuckles from the Vietnamese market?

The worst weapon I own at present is harsh language.

Elvie said:

I love Prague. I've been about 5-6 times and it never fails to impress. It will be cold in March so wrap up warm. Take a stroll to the Cathedral and visit the little bar cellars on the way back down in the evening. There are some nice ones as you approach the start your decent back down towards Charles bridge on the right before all of the shops (arch ways with steps leading down). Go to the Jewish quarter one afternoon and walk around the tiny grave yard. It has a different feel to that area. See the Lennon wall too. During the evening go sit upstairs on the roof top of the Hotel U Prince (yes really). It's opposite the attonomical clock in the old town square. Beautiful scenery of the whole of Prague. Oh, take a boat trip called Little Venice. Sailor boys meet you at the side of Charles Bridge and take you on a tour not to be forgotten with hot wine & ice cream. Talking of food, try the street doughnuts rolls called Tridelnik! There's also a bar called Hemmingways.. it serves the best cocktails.. don't miss it.. a great experience! Enjoy! Such a romantic place. Did you know Prince has been there too. He loved Charles Bridge. <3

All great tips. Thanks!

The Jewish cemetery you mentioned as well as Altneuschul, the "Old New Synagogue," have always been my primary reasons for wanting to visit Prague. I booked a flat right in the heart of the Jewish Quarter so that I could be near them. I cannot wait.

I did also know that Prince had a thing for the city and for Charles Bridge. I didn't know, however, about these sailor boys and their wine and ice cream. Gonna have to add them to my to-do list.

my wife is a big Mucha fan and yes, the Mucha museum is cool, but it's not not that big

and plan enough time for the Jewish Cemetary, last time in Prague we wanted to see it on the last day of our visit, but there were roughly 2 milion people in line waiting to get in, so we had had to skip this

wonderful city, I agree, and the Hradschin area (castle) being the highlight for me

Greatest looking city in the world. Old school. Heard it is a bit boring. They don't party like other cities.

Avoid retaurants in the city centre - very expensive.

If you like parks and meadows, go to the parks in Barrandov or Letná, they are beautiful (and there's a big pendulum in the latter).

Charles Bridge is overrated.

Trdelník is not Czech traditional food. Try fried cheese instead.

Don't take selfies at every corner because it's annoying to non-tourists that want to make it through the crowds.

Don't put shoes on seats in trams or buses. So many Westerners do that in their countries and it's disgusting.

Dancelot said:

my wife is a big Mucha fan and yes, the Mucha museum is cool, but it's not not that big

and plan enough time for the Jewish Cemetary, last time in Prague we wanted to see it on the last day of our visit, but there were roughly 2 milion people in line waiting to get in, so we had had to skip this

wonderful city, I agree, and the Hradschin area (castle) being the highlight for me

Assuming you didn't want to see a particular grave -- like Rabbi Loew ben Bezalel's -- in the historic Jewish cemetery in Prague 1, did you know there is a similar one in Prague 5? And apparently it doesn't get nearly the same number of tourists. I hope to check them both out.

2freaky4church1 said:

Greatest looking city in the world. Old school. Heard it is a bit boring. They don't party like other cities.

Really? I keep hearing about how all the young folk come from around Europe to party there. There's the famous 6-floor Karlovy Lazne club, the girls are supposed to be gorgeous, and the marijuana laws are quite mild relative to the rest of central/eastern Europe. Pity that I'm interested in none of the above.

FullLipsDotNose said:

Avoid retaurants in the city centre - very expensive.

If you like parks and meadows, go to the parks in Barrandov or Letná, they are beautiful (and there's a big pendulum in the latter).

Charles Bridge is overrated.

Trdelník is not Czech traditional food. Try fried cheese instead.

Don't take selfies at every corner because it's annoying to non-tourists that want to make it through the crowds.

Don't put shoes on seats in trams or buses. So many Westerners do that in their countries and it's disgusting.

Thanks for these tips. I'll definitely take note.

Selfie takers.

[Edited 1/17/17 17:06pm]