Fairytale Prague
We chose the Hotel Paris which is superbly located in the historical centre, a short walk from two of the cities main attractions, the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square and close to a stop for the tourist bus routes . The magnificent hotel building was built in 1904 and the hotel has been family run ever since, surviving wars and revolutions in the process. It boasts 86 luxury rooms and suites, a Parisian style bar and café, a French/Czech gourmet restaurant and a Spa.
Prague has some magnificent historic buildings and is described in guide books as being a City of 1,000 spires and 4,000 monuments. We didn’t count them all but from what we saw they are probably right!
The City is quite compact and relatively easy to explore. We mainly walked and made occasional use of the tourist buses that cover the main attractions for sightseeing. Trams operate in some parts of the city and there is also an underground rail system.
We began our exploration of the city with a visit to famous Wenceslas Square, a boulevard 750m long and 60m wide makes up the area referred to as Wenceslas Square and was originally laid out over 600 yeas ago. Over the years it has been the scene of political and sporting celebrations as well as anti Communist uprisings and can easily hold up to 400,000 people. Dominating the top of the square is the spectacular National Museum building in front of which is a statue of the Czech National hero good King Wenceslas on his horse. With lots of hotels, restaurants, international shops, bars and night clubs this is a very busy and vibrant area of the city and really lively at night!
Our next area for discovery was the Old Town Square which dates back to the 12th Century and was originally the central market place for Prague. Prominent is the 14th Century Gothic Our Lady of Tyn Church which dominates one side of the square and can be seen all over the city. Also the 14th Century Old Town Hall Tower with Astronomical Clock which draws crowds every hour to see figures representing Jesus and the Twelve Apostles come out as the hour strikes. Pavement cafes surround the square where you can watch the world go by and listen to live music concerts during the day and in the evening.
Next we made our way through the Old Jewish Quarter to Charles Bridge which crosses the river Vltava linking the two sides of Prague and is the main pedestrian route from the Old Town to the Lesser Town and Castle areas on the other side of the river. The bridge is one of the busiest areas of the city with tourists, locals, street vendors, artists and musicians combining to create a fabulous atmosphere. We also took a boat trip for about an hour which allowed us some magnificent views of the cities buildings on both sides of the river.
Then we walked through the charming lesser town area and its Baroque style square and cobbled side streets with shops, traditional Czech pubs and restaurants before making our way uphill to the Castle area.
The Castle area is the largest medieval Castle complex in Europe consisting of St Vitus Cathedral, a monastery, several palaces, museums and many other buildings.Once the ancient seat of Czech kings, it is now the seat of the President of the Republic and is the historical and political centre for the City and the state.
For a different perspective of the city, we took a funicular ride a 1,000 feet up to Petrin Hill and Park. The views from the hill are magnificent and the park area is very peaceful.
Prague is a beautiful city with buildings that would look at home in a romantic fairytale.We visited all the main attractions but there was so much more that we didn’t have time to see in a long weekend. There are hotels and restaurants to suit all budgets and the traditional Czech restaurants recommended to us by the hotel concierge were excellent.
Good King Wenceslas looked out _ _ _ _ _!