PragueTravel Guide
Prague is the rare European capital that survived the twentieth century with its medieval heart intact. Gothic towers, baroque domes and Art Nouveau facades crowd both banks of the Vltava, stitched together by the fourteenth-century Charles Bridge, and the whole ensemble can be walked end to end in an afternoon. Add serious beer culture, a dense tram network and prices still gentler than Vienna or Munich, and the appeal is obvious.
Is Prague right for you?
April–June, September–October
Mid-range. Comfortable without planning around money, expensive if you stop counting.
We have a full day here planned hour by hour. Longer stays are covered by subject rather than by route.
Our editors pick it for a trip with one other person.
April–June, September–October
Mid-range
Typical cost profile for visitors
- Vienna, Austria250 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in April, May, June
- Salzburg, Austria270 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September
- Berlin, Germany280 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September
- Munich, Germany300 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September
Vienna
BerlinFinding Prague
Reading Prague
- The ListPrague's Most Beautiful Streets and Squares, Ranked2 min
- StaysWhere to Stay in Prague: The Right Bank, the Left Bank and the Grand Old Hotels2 min
- Hidden GemsPrague at Dawn and After Dark: The City Before and After the Tour Groups2 min
- DestinationsPrague on a Budget: How to Do It Well for Less2 min
- DestinationsPrague: The Complete Guide to the City of a Hundred Spires3 min
- The ListPrague for Culture Lovers: Art, Music and History at Their Best2 min
- ItinerariesOne Full Day in Prague, From Sunrise to Midnight2 min
Prague, place by place
Everything below is named in one of our own stories about Prague. The line under each is the sentence that recommended it, and the link goes to the piece it came from.
Where to stay
The areas and addresses our writers put first
Yoav Aziz
Malá Strana
Mornings in Malá Strana, before the bridge crowds arrive, are the best-kept luxury in Prague.
New Town (Nové Město)
PragueAround Wenceslas Square, the New Town trades medieval lanes for grand 19th-century and Art Nouveau architecture, with the widest choice of hotels at every price.
Karlín
PragueOnce industrial, now the city's creative quarter, Karlín offers contemporary hotels, riverside paths and a genuinely local restaurant scene.
Augustine
PragueTwo of the city's most distinctive hotels are converted monasteries here — the Mandarin Oriental, Prague, set in a former Dominican monastery with a spa in a vaulted chapel space, and the Augustine, built around a cen…
Where to eat
Tables worth crossing the city for
Cafe Louvre
PragueFor coffee-house grandeur, Cafe Louvre — open since 1902 and once frequented by Kafka and Einstein — does a fine schnitzel lunch.
Vinohrady
PragueEast of the center, leafy Vinohrady is where Prague actually lives: elegant residential blocks, parks, wine bars and some of the city's best cafes.
What to see
The things that justify the trip
Zdena Hochman
Hradcany and the castle
Prague Castle is often described as the largest ancient castle complex in the world, and it functions as a small town: courtyards, the Golden Lane, and at its heart St Vitus Cathedral, whose Gothic nave took nearly si…
Rocío Perera
Josefov
The former Jewish quarter holds one of Europe's most moving ensembles: the Old-New Synagogue, in use since the thirteenth century, and the layered headstones of the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Frédéric Barriol
Astronomical Clock
The Astronomical Clock, installed in 1410, still draws an hourly crowd; the twin Gothic towers of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn loom behind it.
Stare Mesto (Old Town)
PragueThe medieval core, centred on Old Town Square.
Mala Strana (Lesser Town)
PragueAcross the river, baroque Prague at its most theatrical: embassies in painted palaces, the great green dome of St Nicholas Church, and quiet gardens climbing towards the castle.
Church of Our Lady before Tyn
Prague
Things to do
Walks, tours and days out we would book again
Petrin hill at sunset
PraguePetrin hill at sunset. Ride the funicular or walk up through the orchards, and watch the whole city turn amber below.
What we'd do in Prague
See and do
- Old Town Square
The heavyweight, and deservedly so.
Read: Prague's Most Beautiful Streets and Squares, Ranked - Before the crowds
Charles Bridge at first light.
Read: Prague at Dawn and After Dark: The City Before and After the Tour Groups - Seeing the city for free
Prague's genius is that its headline attraction is simply itself.
Read: Prague on a Budget: How to Do It Well for Less - Stare Mesto (Old Town)
The medieval core, centred on Old Town Square.
Read: Prague: The Complete Guide to the City of a Hundred Spires - Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral
The hilltop complex above the Vltava compresses a millennium of Czech history — Gothic cathedral, royal palace, and the painterly lane of Golden Lane.
Read: Prague for Culture Lovers: Art, Music and History at Their Best
Practical essentials for Czech Republic
Practical essentials for Czech RepublicCzech koruna (CZK) — the country has not adopted the euro and has no target date to
Czech; English is widely spoken in Prague's hotels, restaurants and shops.
Type C/E, 230V 50Hz
Prague's metro, trams and buses share one PID ticket bought from machines or the PID Litacka app, and paper tickets must be validated as the journey begins.
Optional but normal — round the bill up or leave about 10%; service is included in listed prices by law.
Tap water is safe to drink throughout the country.
Right-hand side; a photocard national licence is accepted, though hire companies often ask for an International Driving Permit as well.
112 (unified); 158 police, 155 ambulance, 150 fire
Country-level guidance, checked against official sources. Currency, fares and entry rules change — confirm anything time-critical before you travel.
Poland
Slovenia
Hungary
Croatia