Things to do in Czech Republic
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Charles Bridge
Strolling across Charles Bridge is everybody’s favourite Prague activity. However, by 9am it’s a 500m-long fairground, with an army of tourists squeezing through a gauntlet of hawkers and buskers beneath the impassive gaze of the baroque statues that line the parapets. If you want to experience the bridge at its most atmospheric try to visit it at dawn.
In 1357 Charles IV commissioned Peter Parler (the architect of St Vitus Cathedral) to replace the 12th-century Judith Bridge, which had been washed away by floods in 1342. (You can see the only surviving arch of the Judith Bridge by taking a boat trip with Prague Venice)
The new bridge was completed in 1390, and took…
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Jáma
Jáma (‘the Hollow’) is a popular American expat bar plastered with old rock gig posters ranging from Led Zep and REM to Kiss and Shania Twain. There’s a little beer garden out the back shaded by lime and walnut trees, smiling staff serving up a rotating selection of regional beers and microbrews, and a menu that includes good burgers, steaks, ribs and chicken wings.
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Astronomical Clock
Ironically, if you wish to tell the time in the Old Town Square, it's easier to look at the clock above this, because this 1490 mechanical marvel is tricky to decipher. The clock's creator, Master Hanuš, was allegedly blinded so he could not duplicate the clock elsewhere, although this is undoubtedly a myth.
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Cross Club
An industrial club in every sense of the word: the setting in an industrial zone; the thumping music (both DJs and live acts); and the interior, an absolute must-see jumble of gadgets, shafts, cranks and pipes, many of which move and pulsate with light to the music. The programme includes occasional live music, theatre performances and art happenings.
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Cantina
This homely hacienda, decked out in bleached pine and Brazilian coffee sacks, serves up the most authentic margaritas in Prague – perhaps a little light on the tequila, but nicely iced and with a good zing of fresh lime. The menu is as good as Tex-Mex gets in this town, with big portions of burrito, chimichanga, quesadilla and fajitas with both meat and vegetarian fillings; if the salsa isn’t hot enough for you, there are bottles of chilli sauce on the table to add a bit of bite. This place is popular, so get there early, book a table, or be prepared to wait.
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Mucha Museum
This fascinating (and busy) museum features the sensuous art nouveau posters, paintings and decorative panels of Alfons Mucha (1860–1939), as well as many sketches, photographs and other memorabilia. The exhibits include countless artworks showing Mucha’s trademark Slavic maidens with flowing hair and piercing blue eyes, bearing symbolic garlands and linden boughs.
There are also photos of the artist’s Paris studio, one of which shows a trouserless Gaugin playing the harmonium; a powerful canvas entitled Old Woman in Winter; and the original of the 1894 poster of actress Sarah Bernhardt as Giselda, which shot him to international fame. The fascinating 30-minute…
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Cathedral of St Barbara
Kutná Hora’s greatest monument is the Gothic Cathedral of St Barbara. Rivalling Prague’s St Vitus in size and magnificence, its soaring nave culminates in elegant, six-petalled ribbed vaulting. Work was started in 1380, interrupted during the Hussite Wars and abandoned in 1558 when the silver began to run out. It was finally completed in neogothic style at the end of the 19th century. The ambulatory chapels preserve some original 15th-century frescoes, some of them showing miners at work. Take a walk around the outside of the church, too; the terrace at the east end enjoys the finest view in town.
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Riegrovy Sady Beer Garden
There’s a good-natured rivalry between this beer garden and the one across the river at Letná as to which one is best. We're not sure, but this one is pretty good. Order beers at the bar and carry them to your table. To find it, go to Polská, turn up Chopínova, and enter the park across from Na Švíhance.
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Reduta Jazz Club
The Reduta is Prague’s oldest jazz club, founded in 1958 during the communist era – it was here in 1994 that former US president Bill Clinton famously jammed on a new saxophone presented to him by Václav Havel. It has an intimate setting, with smartly dressed patrons squeezing into tiered seats and lounges to soak up the big-band, swing and Dixieland atmosphere.
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Vyšehrad Citadel
The Vyšehrad Citadel refers to the complex of buildings and structures atop Vyšehrad Hill and that have played a role in Czech history for over 1,000 years. While most structures date from the 18th century, the citadel is still viewed as the city’s spiritual home. The sights are spread out over a wide area, with commanding views.
reviewed
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Golden Lane
This picturesque alley runs along the northern wall of the castle. Its tiny, colourful cottages were built in the 16th century for the sharpshooters of the castle guard, but were later used by goldsmiths. In the 19th and early 20th centuries they were occupied by artists, including the writer Franz Kafka (who stayed at his sister’s house at No 22 from 1916 to 1917).
The cottages have been restored to show a variety of former uses. One is a goldsmith's workshop, another a tavern, and one the home of celebrated Prague fortune teller Matylda Průšová who died at the hands of the Gestapo during WWII; Kafka's cottage is now a book and souvenir shop. The most evocative is No…
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Letná Gardens & Terrace
Letná is a vast open space between Milady Horáková and the river, with a parade ground to the north and a peaceful park, the Letná Gardens (Letenské sady), in the south, offering picture-postcard views over the city and its bridges. In summer you’ll find an open-air beer garden. In 1261 Přemysl Otakar II held his coronation celebrations here, and during communist times, Letná was the site of Moscow-style May Day military parades. In 1989 around 750,000 people gathered here in support of the Velvet Revolution. In 2008, the far northwestern corner of the park was torn up to build the enormous Blanka Tunnel, part of Prague’s future ring-road system. When completed…
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Suterén
‘The Basement’ is a beautiful cellar space, where modern detailing complements the old red-brick and wooden beams perfectly. Cream linen chairs, set at gleaming black tables surround a circular glass bar with a colourful aquarium along one wall. The menu leans towards seafood, beef and game, ranging from Thai fishcakes to beef Madagascar (with brandy and cracked pepper sauce).
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Cesky Krumlov Day Trip from Prague
10 hours (Departs Prague, Czech Republic)
by Viator
If you love castles, you won't want to miss Cesky Krumlov's World Heritage-listed castle! Known as 'the Pearl of the Renaissance', the State Castle of Cesky…Not LP reviewed
from USD$87.15 -
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New Jewish Cemetery
Franz Kafka is buried in this cemetery, which opened around 1890 when the older Jewish cemetery – now at the foot of the TV Tower – was closed. To find Kafka’s grave, follow the main avenue east (signposted), turn right at row 21, then left at the wall; it’s at the end of the ‘block’. Fans make a pilgrimage on 3 June, the anniversary of his death.
The entrance is beside Želivského metro station; men should cover their heads (yarmulkes are available at the gate). Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
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Pizzeria Kmotra
One of Prague’s oldest and best pizzerias, ‘the Godmother’ can rustle up more than two dozen varieties of pizza, from margherita to marinara, cooked in a genuine wood-fired pizza oven. Sit beside the bar upstairs, or head down to the basement where you can watch the chef slinging pizza dough in the open kitchen.
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Country Life
Prague’s first-ever health-food shop opened in 1991, and is an all-vegan cafeteria and sandwich bar offering inexpensive salads, sandwiches, pizzas, vegetarian goulash, sunflower-seed burgers and soy drinks (food is sold by weight, around 30Kč per 100g). There is plenty of seating in the rear courtyard but it can still get crowded at lunchtime, so go early or buy sandwiches to go.
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Prague Segway Tour
by Viator
Riding a Segway offers you the extraordinary experience of walking through Prague without walking - but gliding on board a Segway Human Transporter! On this…Not LP reviewed
from USD$108.60 -
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Reduta Theatre
The Reduta Theatre is home to the Black Theatre of Jiří Srnec, who was a founding member of Prague’s original black-light theatre back in the early 1960s. Today the company’s productions include versions of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, and a compilation of the best of black theatre from the early days.
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Hanavský Pavilón
Perched on a terrace high above the river, this ornate, neo-baroque pavilion dating from 1891 houses a smart restaurant with a postcard-perfect view of the Vltava bridges. From April to September you can dine on the outdoor terrace. There’s a three-course set menu of Czech classics.
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Café FX
For more than two decades Café FX has been a vegetarian beacon in the gritty neighbourhood surrounding the IP Pavlova metro stop. The food – mostly salads, stir-fries and veggie burgers – is reliably good, though the menu has changed little since opening day and it’s hard not to get the feeling the place is coasting.
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Ariana
Ariana is a welcoming little place decked out with Persian rugs and photos of Kabul, with Asian music wailing in the background. It serves a range of unusual Afghani dishes, including ashak (a sort of ravioli containing chopped leeks, with a rich sauce of minced lamb and yogurt), various lamb and chicken kebabs and tasty vegetarian specialities, served with light, fluffy nan-i-dashi (hot bread) on the side.
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Horní Náměstí
The splendid, polymorphous town hall (radnice) in the middle of Horní Náměstí was built in 1378, though its present architectural style and needlelike tower date from 1607. Note the oriel window of the 15th-century chapel on the south side and don't miss the astronomical clock on the north side, remodelled in communist style so that each hour is announced by ideologically pure workers instead of pious saints. The best display is at midday.
The square is surrounded by a jaw-dropping roll call of historic façades and contains two of the city's six baroque fountains. The Hercules fountain (Herkulova kašna) dates from 1688 and features the muscular Greek hero standing…
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Vyšehrad Cemetery
Vyšehrad Cemetery is a main attraction for many visitors, being the final resting place for dozens of Czech luminaries, including Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana and Alfons Mucha. Many tombs and headstones are works of art – Dvořák’s is a sculpture by Ladislav Šaloun, the art nouveau sculptor who created the Jan Hus monument in Old Town Square.
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Church of Our Lady Before Týn
Its distinctive twin Gothic spires make the Týn Church an unmistakable Old Town landmark. Like something out of a 15th-century - and probably slightly cruel - fairy tale, they loom over the Old Town Square, decorated with a golden image of the Virigin Mary made in the 1620s from the melted down Hussite chalice that previously adorned the church.
It takes some imagination to visualise the original church in its entirety because it’s partly hidden behind the four-storey Týn School (not a Habsburg plot to obscure this former Hussite stronghold, but almost contemporaneous with it). The church’s name originates from the Týn Courtyard behind the church.
Though…
reviewed