Anybody been to Prague?

andy1868

andy1868

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So me and my better half are off there next friday, i've done quite abit of research into what to do etc but if anybodies got first hand experiences of good places to go/eat etc or even any advice then that'd be grand.

A short list of things i've found to do are visit the castle, Charles Bridge, Petrin Hill, the Lennon wall, the jewish quarter, need to find some Tankovna pubs , i'm trying to convince the missus to go to the KGB museum, might also have a day down in Benesov to see the castle.

We're staying right in between the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square so i think we're quite well situated :)
 
No:D
 
Prague is great. It was one of the stops along my Eurotrip this year, though unfortunately we could only stay for a day! The Castle is definitely worth a visit, especially if you appreciate good architecture. Charles Bridge also. You can't go wrong with many of the pubs. Their beer is brewed and sold on site (they never buy it in as they don't need to - they sell that much of it, they just make it themselves!). Make sure you check out the main cathedral on the hour, as it puts on a bit of show... It may be worth you joining one of the tours. You can find them in the Old Town Square - any number of tour guides will be willing to take you around the town. You tip at the end. Prague is a very interesting city and the people even more so. You'd do well to visit the museums. The Jewish quarter is certainly very interesting.
 
We visited Prague many years ago in November - boy was it cold!!. but as one of our friends pointed out, not so busy.

"Where are all the people" she exclaimed when looking at my pictures, that didn't have a foreground of a sea of heads.

Things that most impressed me.

The walk across the Charles Bridge and up to the Castle (watch out for the marching guards!)

The Jewish Quarter. There is a Synagogue there that has the names of all(?) of the people lost in the Holocaust written on the walls. Very moving. I also remember a Synagogue decorated in a very elaborate Moorish - North African -Moroccan style - worth seeking out.

Make sure you go and have tea and cakes in what I think was the Town Hall, an enormous art deco coloured glass fronted building, can't miss it.

I hope you don't mind eating meat as that was pretty much what was on all the menus, we struggled to find a Pizza restaurant to get a bit of salad.

I hope you see some sun, we had 3 days of low clouds and grey drizzle.

David
 
All gold :D I'll be writing this information down to take with me, I'll never remember it all then feel annoying when I can't remember where you recommended!

I don't need any encouragement to have tea and cakes, or large amounts of meat so i think I'll be fine, I found one place that was famous for its strudel too which I might have to try!

I'll check the cathedral on the hour as you say, it's information like that that'll be invaluable!
 
I am envious - we went with another couple and loved it - very rich in all things cultural - look out for men in overcoats...and dark glasses....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwYHty-jaRo

Full of mystery and the architecture is amazing and the food was great - the beer was better:beer:
 
I went with my wife for a long weekend a couple of years ago. We stayed up the hill from the Castle near the Monastery.

It can be a bit of a city of two halves, over near Wenceslas Square and the station it is very lively with stag parties. It seems, or it did do to us, to get more sedate (but still busy) the further west you go.

Your short list looks like a good starting point. I would also recommend visiting Bohemia Bagel for breakfast, I think there are two or three of them.

(There is a set of photo's from our visit on my flickr)
 
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Me and the wife went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, one tip would be to visit the castle area at night, all the buildings are lit and the crowds of the day have long since left so you'll have it almost to yourself.

If you're on the trams just be a little careful with your bag etc as pickpockets are notorious, as they are on Wencelas Bridge but a few basic precautions and you'll be fine, just the same as anywhere really.

Food and drink you can't really go wrong, we tried a few places just on passing and all were good.. I think it's only this country where eating out can be a real lottery.

If the weather is nice and you want to get away from the busier areas have a walk up to Petrin Tower. a mini Eiffel Tower with great views over the city

Have fun, I'm sure you will :thumbs:

Simon
 
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thanks guys for the info, i had read to visit the castle first thing in the morning to avoid the rush, but i suppose the same applies for later on. We had found a nice restaurant on that side of the water that we would like to visit so perhaps we could head up there then too for a gander providing the weather is okay.

The long range weather forecast is giving mixed reviews for the end of October but i suppose wee'll just have to go with the flow, if it rains it rains, skin is waterproof :D Besides, rain doesn't seem so bad after a few scoops :)

Petrin tower is somewhere i'm definitely going, i'm praying for a clear day that day but we'll see :lol:
 
Another quick one, photographically speaking what sorts of lenses should i be looking at taking? I've got a 17-50 and 18-105, i prefer the 17-50 but would be annoyed if i wanted something longer. I'm not sure my 70-200 2.8 is worth the weight disadvantage on the off chance :/
 
The family and I went to Prague in August this year for a 5 day break and we loved it. The weather helped (it nudged 35 degrees on a couple of days) but I think it's one of those places that looks good in the sun or more autumnal weather. Half the fun of these trips is making your own discoveries, particular when it comes to little bars and restaurants but there were a few things that were highlights of our trip:

The first highlight was a Segway tour. We were staying at the Intercontinental on the edge of the Jewish Quarter and the Segway company was based in the square outside. I would thoroughly recommend this as a). great fun and b). a good way to get a feel for the layout of Prague and finding places that you can revisit later (especially as it is quite hilly in places). We went on a 2 hour tour and our guide Stan(islav) was fantastic. Some reviews here.

Second highlight was a boat trip on the river. We hired a small boat with guide for about £30 (little Venetian style wooden boats with a white tarp roof) but I guess this might be weather or season dependent.

A couple of food highlights were a restaurant called Krčmě - website here. This was like some old medieaval dungeon type place but big on traditional Czech food in huge portions. I had a 1kg lump of roasted pork with pickles and bread and excellent beer. Cheap too (about a tenner I think). And it turns out the small tomatoes were in fact chillies as I found to my kid's amusement :gag:


SAM_1319 by R Stornoway, on Flickr

On the opposite side of the (modern) square to the Intercontinental hotel was a very good Pizza place (as demanded by the kids) - Pepe Nero here - run by Italians.

There were a few rip-off bars but in general if you ventured away from the main squares and into the side streets there were some excellent and very cheap restaurants and bars!

Here are a few people that have spotted something interesting:


edit_PST_4246 by R Stornoway, on Flickr

And a nice quiet stroll across Charles Bridge ;)


edit_PST_4194 by R Stornoway, on Flickr
 
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Had a look through your flickr Chris, a lovely set. Looking through the exif on some they were shot on your 24-105, would you say that was a good range for Prague? I don't know whether to take my 17-50 for it's 2.8 aperture or my 18-105 for its increased focal range :(

Looks great Paul, i'm hoping it's going to be a little quieter than that in October :eek:
 
I'm sure it will be quieter - they were taken at the busiest times of day too but we ran out of time to see everything we wanted (never made it to Wenceslas Square even!)

I've got a D7000 and most shots were with a f2.8 17-50. But I also took my 11-16 which got used quite a bit for internal and external building shots.

A couple of things I forgot to mention - Euros are accepted in quite a few places so if you've got some of those kicking around they're worth taking. And the trams/public transport seemed pretty cheap and efficient - I think it was about £4 for a 24hr ticket.

Have a great trip :thumbs:
 
Aha splendid, here was me thinking that i had decided i was going to take the 18-105 :lol: I do prefer the images from the tamron if i'm honest, so i may take that and worry about longer shots while there.

I'm thinking i may take an F90 with me too, which i have a 19-35 for which is fairly wide in 35mm (obviously not 11mm wide though :eek:)

I'm not sure though, i have also decided i would take a 6x6 folder i have to shoot some medium format but even i think 3 cameras is too many :lol:

I haven't got any Euros so i think i may just stick with Koruna, i had read something similar for the public transport so i'll keep my eyes open for daily tickets etc. Is it a place that you can walk round if you want to or are some places just too far?

Lastly, did you have any issues with the language barrier, i have a phrasebook and have learnt some of the essentials (dva pivo procim ;) ) but that's it :help:
 
I don't want to be responsible for you taking the wrong lenses :) It's just that having looked back over past city breaks the majority of my snaps were falling into the 17-50 range. But then that might just mean I haven't got the skill and imagination to use a longer lens (which I also took but rarely used).

Where you're situated you won't need to use trams it's just that I'm getting old and the children were getting mutinous when we went up to the castle for a second time where it does get a bit hilly, so we relented (although I think the tower is a fair trek).

Language wise virtually everyone spoke good English (as usual) but any efforts at hello, please, thank you etc. seemed to go down well.
 
andy1868 said:
Had a look through your flickr Chris, a lovely set. Looking through the exif on some they were shot on your 24-105, would you say that was a good range for Prague? I don't know whether to take my 17-50 for it's 2.8 aperture or my 18-105 for its increased focal range :(

Looks great Paul, i'm hoping it's going to be a little quieter than that in October :eek:
Click to expand...

Andy, the 24-105 is a great single lens compromise on full frame for this sort of trip. It's made me really lazy with regards to carrying and changing lenses and I now rarely take anything else on holidays with me.

On crop, the 17-50 provides a similar wide end field of view though it obviously hasn't got the zoom range. You could always just crop in on those occasions or zoom with your feet if possible.

I've been happy with the compromise of 17-55 on crop before for trips like this when I have wanted to travel light.
 
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Best city in europe, Fab Pivo, Staropramen, Krusvice etc... food is fantastic.

Dont eat in the main squares and streets. Pricey. Eat in cafes down back streets.. 12 of us had no end of food and beer and all came in under £100. Less than a £1 a pint. But then my ex wife is Czech and I speak the lingo......

you dont need cabs either..... everything is walking distance.......

God i miss the place.... Miss going 7 times a year......

Used to laugh on the plane with all the Knob head stag parties..... Women are gorgeous and they know how to take the money off the idiot Brit abroad...... and Passport.... and shirts off their backs.....

Great food Great beer. Goulash is to die for and Devils toast..... If you are a veggie you mostly screwed... They eat everything.. That swims, flies and walks........


They specialise in glassware too... you find some fantastic gllassware over there...... Opera was worth going too if something good is on..... Amazing building........

you'll notice lots of places that have been in movies too..... Mission Impossible for one.
 
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Thanks Chris, I think you might be right. I went over to Dublin last year and the tamron was fine, I was just annoyed when I went to the zoo because it wasn't long enough, at the same time the 105 wouldn't have been either. I'm torn because I could take the 18-105 for zoom, and my little 50mm for low light. Hmmmmmmmm we'll see :lol:


Thanks Daryl :D I knew I had seen it in a film before I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I'm not a veggie, meat is all good to me, the missus didn't disagree either *goes to google devils toast*
 
Prague is beautiful.....Enjoy.
 
Yes.
 
Well i got back last wednesday, had an ace time and visited loads of places and took around 1600 photos :| i've been editing them for days :lol:

It was fairly busy, but not too daft, Old Town Square was always busy as was the Charles bridge but that was to be expected. The only time it wasn't was when i went out at 6am for a sunrise over the bridge shot only to be greeted by grey murky skies, i wasn't getting up that early twice :lol:
 
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