Prague was the place I was the most excited to visit on this whole itinerary, partially because of all the history behind it and and also because everyone I know who has been to Prague came back absolutely loving it- no middle of the road or dislikes!

Czech Republic today is currently undergoing a name change to Czechia, and while it has undergone a lot of changes in the past 100 years, you can see hundreds of years of history traveling around Prague. The official language is Czech, but a majority of people speak English and Russian as well. Every menu we stumbled across had a English translation and we never had to ask for the English menu! The currency is korunas but some places will also take Euro and we were able to use a credit card (chip and pin) practically everywhere.

Day One: Old Town and Wenceslas Square area

We spent the first day walking around Old Town and the Wenceslas Square area! This was a super popular area but also very walkable. On the hour the astronomical clock goes off and does a little show which is worth viewing once although it gets pretty crowded mid-day.

Jan Hus Memorial: Martyr Jan Hus was burned at the stake as a heretic for speaking out against the Catholic Church in favor of reformation

Powder Tower: Entrance to Old Prague

Right outside and around Old Town there were many shops selling swords, marionettes, matrioshka dolls, leather goods and miniature towns! It was definitely a heaven for hobbyists and thankfully we traveled too light for me to buy half the store.

One cute shop

We then made our way to Wenceslas Square area- where the folklore is that the Wenceslas statue will come to life in time of the Czech’s darkest time and save them.

Somehow we didn’t take a picture of the actual Wenceslas Statue….too busy having fun?

Picture from www.czechtourism.com

We also toured the Museum of Communism (which was hard to find as it is not directly off the street it is off the main road of Wenceslas Square- GPS had wrong address for this!)

It was fascinating, sobering, and a good museum for modern history. I would recommend at least 1 hour to 90 minutes in there for the exhibits and also to watch the video they show of the days leading up to the Velvet Revolution.

Not the winner of many popularity contests

Just one of many exhibits showcasing a history of 20th century Prague

After the Communism Museum we hit up the Beer Museum- Prague. We were intending to find the pub with 30 beers on tap- “Prague Beer Museum” which is a completely different place but decided to do this little tour anyways. This was a cool little museum with different exhibits on beer, an underground tour of an old brewery, and ends with 4-5 tastings of very generous pours.

During the evening we met up with some internet marketers who showed us around and we went to a hookah bar for a night capper. All in all it was a great and busy first day!

Day Two: Prague Beer Festival and Letenske Sady (Ledna Park) 

I was super-duper excited to learn that we would be in Prague for their huge beer festival and wanted to see how it stacked up in comparison to Oktoberfest and festivals in Portland!

Overall I found a few differences:

• the Czech Beer Festival allowed for cashing tickets out that are unused
• they didn’t have small “taster” pours
• with the sizes they did have we learned it was way more cost effective to get a half liter
• Instead of giving a souvenir cup each brewery had their own cups that they gave and service came around to collect glasses
• There were optional free workshops (ex: homebrewing, learning about hops) and speakers throughout the day
• The festival was two weeks long, possibly contributing to hardly any lines and being wayy less crowded
• The majority of Czech beers are 4-5% although the percentage isn’t posted it is given in degrees. We stuck to 10° (4%) to 12° (5%) which are the light and dark lagers. A higher degree equals higher percentage of alcoholic content and although they do not post IBUs you can assume it has the potential to be more hoppy.

The view from Letna Park

We decided to walk back to our hotel rather than take a cab to explore the park and venture along the Vltava River. Prague has quite a few parks and Letna Park was super large with lots of locals going on runs, a beer garden, a skatepark, and people walking their dogs!

We had a great walk back!

Prague Jewish Synagogue

Charles Bridge view

Day Three: Prague Castle and Hradčany

Charles Bridge is really really busy with tourists (see above pic) but late at night and early morning (before 8 AM) it is less busy and definitely worth the stroll for us to get up early. Built in the late 1300s, Charles Bridge is named after Kingdom of Bohemia/Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. The bridge has undergone reconstruction of parts of it and the statues have been reconstructed (originals are in the Czech National Museum).

We could have spent a whole full day here, and we were slightly rushed for time since most of the attractions closed at 4-5 PM. Don’t go to Prague without seeing Hradčany (castle district)! It is so cool and showcases Czech Republic history.

Front of St Vitus Cathedral

In between the pillars there are rooms, stained glass windows, and separate chapels with different saints, including the local celebrity St Wenceslas.

On the side of St Vitus: The Last Judgment Mosaic

We also entered the Prague Castle Museum, which spanned years of Czech history. We didn’t take pictures due to the request of the museum but it was part of the Castle ticket which we purchased that also included the castle grounds, gardens (you can tour the gardens for free and enter the front of St Vitus), St Vitus Cathedral, Golden Lane (a medieval neighborhood with walk in homes and shops preserved). For more pictures check out my facebook page!

After the castle we went to the Loreta museum– a baroque place of pilgrimage. It is a mix of paintings, cloisters, treasury, chapels and…a bearded lady.

Duplicate of the Santa Casa (said to be original house of the virgin Mary)

“Prague Sun”

The Bearded Lady

Overall I could have spent a good week in Prague and hope to make it back someday!