Travel tendencies: Prague

In recent years I had the opportunity of doing an Interrail trip across Europe with some of my best friends from the career. We visited some of the most famous and beautiful cities out there in Europe.

From my personal opinion, interrailing is one thing that you should do at least once in your life (and I will explain why in future posts), but this is not the main topic of this post. 

I’m going to talk about one of these cities in particular, that I’ve fallen in love with since my visit and without a doubt I’ll be back there when I have the occasion.

Franz Kafka tribute statue in the Jewish neighbourhood.

I would have loved to make a guessing game around the city but you’ve probably read already which city is in the title… but well I’ll say it anyway... it is the birthplace of Franz Kafka, one of the biggest figures out there regarding literature, and this city also has a very typical sweet pastry that isn’t Czech at all.

I’m talking about Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic. Loved by many in the summer, hated by everyone in the winter!

Why am I saying this? Well, this city has oceanic weather, which means that it has mildly warm summers and extreme winters.

We arrived to Prague in the middle of August, and we did enjoy an average of 25, 26 degrees, maybe 29 in the hottest moments. However, the locals confirmed to us that winters were indeed, extreme and with tons of snow.

Prague is the kind of city that you visit and you can feel those old vibes when entering the old town center, the same vibes that you get in a city that has had a lot of history behind it, but in a different kind of way. 

Luckily, Prague did not suffer much during World War II, so most of the buildings you’ll see, aren’t rebuilt or anything; are originals.

Prague is full of life, and you can check it just entering the old town square. We were greeted to many bars and terraces full of people, the major part of them gathered around the Astronomical Clock in the square.

Sadly, we found the clock in restoration.

The Astronomical Clock in this square dates back to 1410, and it shows figures of some Catholic saints and a representation of death itself. Every hour on the hour, they’ll play a little show, so don’t miss it if you’re close to the square.

Looks small right? Well, it isn't!

Going through the square and past the Astronomical Clock, you’ll get to Charles Bridge, over the Moldava river. Standing in this point looking to the bridge, you’ll get possibly one of the most beautiful and typical photos of the city: The bridge over the river, with the Prague Castle in the background.

The castle itself is considered as a neighbourhood. In the past, that whole area was the residence of the Bohemian kings, solely reserved to noble and rich people, until present times, where it is an archeological site. It is considered the biggest old styled castle in the world, with its width of 130 meters and length of 570 meters. 

Inside the castle area, is the Saint Vito Prague gothic cathedral, which has a pretty funny story behind it. See the rightmost tower?

The original architect behind the cathedral died midway through the construction, and it was almost finished, but not yet. Another architect was hired, which, decided that gothic was outdated, and finished the cathedral imprinting in it his own personal style. And as we can see… there is no doubt on it.

They ran out of blocks? Inspiration? Architects?

The castle is a must for anyone that visits the city. The city also has one of the most relevant Jewish neighbourhoods, which houses one of the oldest Jewish cementeries in all of Europe, as well as numerous synagogues each with their different architectonic style.

In terms of the city itself, that’s what time allowed us to visit, as we stayed just 2 days in Prague. Surely there are many more things to see, that we just couldn’t. But what else can you do in terms of entertainment?

The Spanish synagogue, one of the prettiest in town.

First of all, you cannot leave Prague without doing a proper pub crawl. It is common knowledge by many that the best beers in the world are in Belgium and Germany, but I say to you, the Czechs don’t make bad beers either. For around 9 pounds, in their currency, which are Czech Crowns, you can taste 4 different beers in different bars and hear me not, these beers will be some of the best beers you’ve ever tasted. Even if you aren’t a beer person, trust me, you’ll end up loving the ones in this country.

Also, each bar has their own brew apart from the rest of the beers, so that’s a reason to check on every place.

Prague is also home to supposedly, the best Night Club in the world, Karlovy Lazne. It has 5 floors each devoted to a different music genre. We couldn’t go, but if you love a good party, this is also a must do.

If you’re more into history, at 1 hour from the city you can visit the Terezin concentration camp, which has a very creepy backstory.

Regarding food, the most typical street food is spiced sausages, in many different combinations, and as typical dish you can find the Goulash, which is typical in this area of Europe, along with the pork knuckle and many others.

This is the Trdel... whatever it's called (note: photo is not mine!)

And before I talked about this sweet pastry which isn’t really Czech… the Trdelnik (I dare you to pronounce that right!). It is imported from Hungary, like the Goulash, but the Goulash isn’t sold as a Czech specialty or exclusivity, unlike the Trdelnik, which is famously sold here as a Prague specialty. In terms of flavor, it is accompanied by ice cream or Nutella, and it is nice.

And you know the best part of it all? Compared to the UK, Prague is really cheap. It is one of the most economic places to visit in these years and that’s why is quickly rising in the European destinations ranking. It has been the 9^th most visited city in 2017 in Europe, and I’m sure it won’t stop escalating.

When should you go? Well, it depends on whether you prefer low temperatures, prices and number of persons overall or the opposite.

Travelling in winter will earn you some of the most stunning photos of the old city covered in snow, as well as complete bargains in flights and travel packages, and lower prices overall in the city.

On the other hand, travelling in summer will be more relaxed in terms of weather, but you’ll have to deal with higher prices and hordes of people in the old town square. 

Prices will be higher, that’s true, but still manages to be cheap in comparison to the UK.

Sure winters may be tough, but postcards don't get any more stunning than this!

It’s up to you to decide, this city is worth visiting any time of the year. 

To finish, I'll leave you with a really interesting YouTube channel that I wished I knew when I traveled to Prague. All the tips and tricks about the city, here! 

Here's a video of them talking about some hidden places in Prague's city centre. 

Until the next post, my fellow traveler nerds!