What to see and do in Prague: the complete and definitive guide

What to see and do in Prague: the complete and definitive guide

Hello everyone! Today, we are changing country and moving onto the Czech Republic, my neighbour country at the moment. The truth is that the Czech Republic is not a country that has caught my eye for quite a few years, but now that I live in Bratislava it is an obligatory and a 100 per cent recommended visit. Thanks to it bordering with Slovakia, I have had the opportunity to visit it numerous times and I have discovered beautiful places and scenery, such as the Bohemian Switzerland National Park or Adrspach, as well as not as popular cities such as Olomouc or Hradec Kralove, for example. It is a place that has surprised me for the better, since when you practically have no expectations and then the moment you visit it you come across marvels like these, so you are left with an incredible opinion.

So, even though I have visited lots of places in the Czech Republic which are not as well known or touristy, I visited its big capital: Prague. I had the opportunity to go there twice. The first time was an express day and a half visit, and the second time I spent three full days there, more than enough time to see the essential things in the city. Therefore, today I am going to tell you about all the things that you can do and visit in one of the capitals which is really in fashion right now. Let's go!

Charles Bridge

This is definitely the most famous monument in Prague. Being pedestrianised, there are lots of people on it. Seeing it from a distance it seems like the bridge is going to collapse at any moment due to the enormous amount of people going across it. We only went across it once. The rest of the times we had to cross the river, we decided to go across the bridges that were at the side because it takes at least 10 minutes to cross the Charles bridge. For me, the best thing about the bridge are the painters who are drawing portraits or showing their pieces of art of scenery, usually of the city of Prague.

One of the most famous things about this bridge are the statues which are situated around it. The majority of them have a religious theme and represent various saints. What a lot of people don't know is that these statues are replicas, since the real ones and the originals are being shown in the National Museum. The most popular statue is of John of Nepomuk, which is touched hundreds of times a day by tourists to ask for a wish.

Without a doubt, the best thing about this bridge is the views that there are of the river and the two parts of Prague which are separated by the Moldova river. The towers which you can see from it also stand out: the Powder Tower and the Lesser Town Bridge Tower.

Old Town square

This is one of the most popular places in the Czech capital. Completely swamped with tourists, it is a marvellous place, full of architecture, culture and also great food. One of the most characteristic buildings is the Tyn Church since it is one of the main features in this place, as it stands out due to its size in comparison to the rest of the buildings there. These two pointed towers stand out from the buildings that are in front, which by the way, cover the lower part, making it harder to see it. Thus, to be able to see it completely, you need to go round the square and go to one of the alleyways there to view the entrance.

Prague Astronomical Clock

Drawing in everyone's eye, the Astronomical Clock is located on the town hall building. It is always surrounded by lots of tourists, who come to the place to see the parade of figures that make it up. 15 minutes before it starts, everyone gathers there and waits for the start of the show of these kinds of puppets. We went here and made the most of a boy who was doing a free tour to learn all of the strange things about this clock. We eavesdropped and this local explained bit by bit how the clock worked, which is so original and elaborate. One of the things he said and which definitely caught my attention, is that due to the time change which takes place in lots of European countries, the time that the clock says is wrong for 7 months of the year.

In addition to this, the four figures which are represented in the clock show greed, death, vanity and lust. Greed, not by chance, is represented by a Jewish shopkeeper. Vanity is represented by a man who is looking in the mirror. Lust is represented by a Turkish prince. Finally, death, my favourite figure, is represented by a skeleton who is holding an hourglass, and in the show, he moves his head affirmatively, whilst the others straight out refuse to. So, death, being the last one to move, shows that he always has the last word. The show barely lasts a couple of minutes but it is beautiful and really worth seeing. Here is a photo that I took that day, with a splendid time.

Walking through the streets

Obviously, walking around aimlessly is something that you have to do in almost any European Capital city. In Prague, I think that the perfect place to go for a stroll is the Old Town, which is on this part of the river. In addition to all of the little souvenir shops, the little food stalls which are on the streets also catch your attention. I really liked them because they sold Czech food, not just burgers, chips and kebabs. A really famous dessert is trdelník, which has a bit of controversy around it because no one can agree on its origin. I had already tried it in Bratislava and it seemed to have a really similar taste to the Spanish Twelfth Night Bread. The interesting thing is that when we went to Prague, they were celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, so they were offering these desserts with a bright green coloured cream inside. Here, I will leave you some pictures that I took of the streets in Prague.

Prague Castle

We went through the other area of Prague, crossing the bridge, and thank god it wasn't too busy with tourists. The castle stands out the most, visible from practically any point of the city. The last time that we went to Prague, we were feeling lazy, so we decided to take a Taxify to go up to the castle, which is located at the top of the hill, with a strategic position.

The first time that I visited Prague, you could walk through the alleys that surrounded the castle without having to pay. However, this time, years later, I had to queue and pay to see certain parts. For example, a very famous alley known as the Golden Lane where the famous writer Franz Kafka lived. Despite being one of the areas with the most charm in this area, I had already visited it so I didn't want to pay to see it again. The truth is that it is a bit sad to see how everything has become so privatised due to this huge wave of tourists visiting.

Despite the fact that Prague castle is beautiful and has a big historical importance, it isn't one of my favourite areas in Prague so we really didn't spend much time here. We saw the essential stuff and then we left.

Walk by the river

Despite the fact that it is done accidentally and is downplayed a little, it is one of the best parts of the city. You can go over the bridges, go by the riverbank, see Prague from the distance, stop at the cafes... It is one of the most relaxing areas in Prague. There are lots of places to stop at, relax, go on a boat and also there are lots of green spaces where you can lay down. In one of them, we came across such a weird sculpture, they were enormous babies whose heads were shaped just by a rectangular, vertically shaped hole. It is a sculpture by David Cerny and apparently, his sculptures are all over the city.

Danzante House

We weren't very interested in this building, but we were going along the river bank and we came across it. It is called Danzante house and you can already imagine why it stands out. Without a doubt, it is a building which stands out with the rest of the buildings in Prague, most of them in a late Gothic style. This building, however, is completely modern and doesn't fit in with the city's aesthetic. If you are lovers of architecture, I'd imagine this would be a must-see place.

Kampa Island

Situated in the centre of Prague, this island is connected with the Charles Bridge. In it, you will come across several windmills, some restaurants and also boats which offer trips through the canal, as if it were Venice. Nearby to there, we took this photo, for a laugh.

For me, this is the most romantic place in Prague and how can it not be, for, at the fences that protect you from the waterfall, there are hundreds of padlocks attached to the railings.

Also, the John Lennon mural is very nearby to here. It is a work of street art, with portraits of John Lennon everywhere and famous quotes from the Beatles. In several spaces on the mural, the word "laska" has been written, which means "love" in Czech and Slovakian. It is a very colourful mural which catches your attention. It is not out of this world but as we had already been there, we decided to visit it.

Petřín

This place was recommended to us by a Slovakian friend. It is situated on a mountain from which you can see the entire city of Prague with panoramic views. You can go up this mountain by cable-car, although we were a bit behind schedule so we decided to get another Taxify. I didn't have any idea what would be in this area, I think that we all went a bit out of our way, but honestly, it really surprised me in a good way. There were gardens and everything was surrounded by trees and banks that you could sit down on, read or have a coffee, as I did. It isn't a really touristy place since you can see lots of locals jogging in the morning, for example. The interesting thing about this place is that the tower that is there, is definitely related to the Eiffel tower due to the resemblance. It is practically identical to the last part of the Parisian tower, but it is clear that this one is a lot smaller. You can go up it to see Prague from the top.

When we went back down, we didn't go back down by cable car, but by walking. On the way back, we walked through beautiful streets, with small houses and buildings whose architecture is typical of the Central European capitals. I really like this area, which I didn't expect, and I recommend that you go there no matter what. Here I took this photo of where the tram goes.

Kafka statue

I have already mentioned Kafka before, and this city has various points where this writer has left his mark. We knew that there was a sculpture in Prague where the head and body of Kafka moves. It was not our plan to visit it but we suddenly came across it when leaving a supermarket. A metal structure, it is strange to see how it moves in a circular shape, sometimes some parts, sometimes all at the same time, and finally ending up in its original position. There are several places across the whole city which have literary interest. For example, the Petrin Mountain which I mentioned earlier was featured in one of Kafka's novels. You can also visit the cafes where the writer spent some of his time. And of course, you can visit the museum which is entirely dedicated to the writer, I've only read The Metamorphosis, which is probably his most famous book, but honestly, after visiting Prague, I could imagine the writer living here and how this could have influenced his literary style.

The truth is that when I read The Metamorphosis, I thought that Kafka was German, and I didn't know the extent of the relationship that he had with Czechoslovakia, which is a great one. It was then, the first time that I visited Prague, that I discovered that Czech and German were his native languages.

National Monument on Vítkov

This place was also recommended to us by our Slovakian friend, who has visited Prague numerous times. It is nothing touristy, in fact, there we only saw local people who were running in the morning. The truth is that it was very close to our apartment so we went there by foot. It is not super central, but we went because it was on our way.

This building is built on a mountain that once, as it was explained there, was just used to grow grapes, that is to say, that is was full of vineyards. After, the building was built during the Nazi period. The purpose of the building was to hold arms for the Nazi army troops in 1928. Years later, after the peak of Communism, this place was used to bury the most important political and military figures from the communist regime. Inside the building, there is a museum which is free to access which tells the history of Czechoslovakia and the communist period. Without a doubt, in architectural terms, this monument perfectly reflects the communist style, recognisable for its grey colour, straight lines, simple and functional. Presiding over the building is the equestrian statue of Jan Zija, Czech general and great military strategist. And by the way, this bronze statue is the third biggest one in the world, that's pretty big.

Wenceslao square

Finally, this big square that was on our way to the train station, at the time of going back to Bratislava. In a rectangular shape with The Czech National Museum presiding over it from behind, it contains various important buildings like the Palác Koruna. Also, even though in the olden days major events such as protests have taken place there, now, it is an area full of modern shops, restaurants, and all kinds of establishments.

And this is everything that I want to tell you. The truth is that Prague is a beautiful city, which completely gives the impression of a European Capital. I hope that you have enjoyed these places and my recommendations, for as well as the typical places I have tried to include others which aren't so touristy. Anyway, I'm going now and I'll see you for the next post, in which I'll tell you about the restaurants and cafes that I know in Prague. Bye.

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