My first trip to Prague. What to photograph

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lukewoodford

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Im going on my first ever trip by myself..... to Prague. I leave Monday arriving there at 9:30pm and I leave Thursday evening. Im going there because its obviously a beautiful place but where do I start? One thing id like to do it particular is get some shots from high up overlooking the city. Any advice on anything would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers :)
 
You can get plenty of shots from up near the castle (get the tram up, and walk back down through the big park, that I've forgotten the name of!) I'm sure somebody on here took some interesting shots of trams/street scenes not so long back. The other place for big city shots would be the top of the TV tower in Zizkov, though I haven't been to the top myself!! :)
 
lots and lots of places to visit and take pics of, defiantly recommend getting a public travel pass for the trip which you can get from the airport everything is close to tram or metro stops.

Charles Bridge, Jewish Quarter, all the Cathedrals, the astronomical clock, Wencylsis Square, the castle ... the list does actually go on and it did suprise me how beautiful the city is. Id recommend getting a decent travel guide book and mark up all the locations that are mentioned as it will help work out how to attack the city with the camera!

lots of the residental buildings have brilliant architectual details so keep an eye out for them too!

Be warned there are a lot of pick pockets around and Wencylisis square at night can be interesting with the seedier side of the city *** trying to drag you into their clubs. The square is the most expensive place in the city to drink and eat so try to eat and drink further out.

Hope that helps :)
 
one of our members is from Czech (even prague but not sure) and maybe he could give you some advice where to go...and where not to go ;)
 
'We have midgets' seemed to be a popular phrase with the local strip joint owners around Wenceslas Square last time I was there - nice to see equal opportunities is taken seriously in the Czech Republic!! :D
 
candlestick said:
'We have midgets' seemed to be a popular phrase with the local strip joint owners around Wenceslas Square last time I was there - nice to see equal opportunities is taken seriously in the Czech Republic!! :D
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HAHAHAHAHA!:lol: I missed that when I was there!

Anyway,


Walking is the best thing, the Czechs have an amazing sense of humor, so there are tonnes of funny statues and things hidden around town. As I say for most people asking this kind of thing, is WALK! I walked tonnes! all over the place. there is the Zikov tower to photograph out of, but the glass is usually really smudged! Its better to photograph the tower from the base (its really funny!) There is a park on the other side of the river, it would be a long(ish) walk from the castle, but its further up stream, at the top is an observatory, AND! a mini eiffel tower, its much better to take snaps out of because there are small open windows that are easyer to take pics from.

There is a monument to the victims of communism at the bottom of the hill too, thats quite a good one to photograph.

Just walk really! OH! and! there is the giant metronome! its further downstream from the castle, its a strange tramride away.! BUT! it used to be the worlds biggest statue and monument to stalin. then they exploded it with dynamite and replaced it with a giant metronome (czech humor again, a metaphor for changing times...).

AND! theres a shopping center with an upside-down man on a horse inside.....

oh, and watchout particularily at night, the moment pickpockets see someone with a camera, you are like a magnet to them (well, thats what I found) so be away!

and non-photography related-

Make sure to visit the Cafe Imperial! its a 10/15 min walk from the center of town, and its the most amazing Hapsburg-era deccorated cafe! FREE DONUGHTS too! its brilliant!

Try avoiding crowds, I found that the best places where the ones without the tourists!
 
Excellent advice so far and all so appreciated. The weather forecast isn't good so maybe alot of B&W landscapes, won't matter too much for street stuff. I also have a mig chance of snow which would be cool.

Thanks AleksanderLoesch for the non photography related advice, if anyone else has any non photography advice let me know. The aim of my trip is to really give my head a rest, I want to meet lots of interesting people and be involved in the nightlife at least one or two nights.
 
your welcome! there are tonnes of amazing places, mostly art-decco/ art noveau cafes all worth visiting. as for nightlife there are more pubs than anywhere else! when i was there, the cheapest was 20p for .5L tankards! it would brobably be around 50p now...

theres also a museum of sex toys just around the corner from the old town square, i didn't visit, the idea of pleasurable midgets freightened me!

theres an amazing open air cinema on an island in the middle of the river, i saw north by northwest there, best cinema (and film) ever! dunno if its open this time of year though :-(

hmm, what else... there are some amazing museums, the museum of communism is quite fun, and theres a brilliant museum of decorative arts if thats your thing. oh! and the museum of cubism thats cool. -good stuff for when it rains.

there are some churches with great statues inside that for a (very) small fee you can photograph, or you ca just contemplate.

Actually, the best thing to do is buy/borrow from a library is the "Rough Guide" to prage, thats usefull. AND if you fancy a day trip, theres a church made entierly of bones, theres more about it here, but it spoils the surprise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary

hope it all helps!
 
lol, i learned that the hard way :-(
 
bastic said:
one of our members is from Czech (even prague but not sure) and maybe he could give you some advice where to go...and where not to go ;)
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:wave:

You've got a good few days so you'll be able to see a fair bit of the city.

There have been some good suggestions already really, the best thing to do is to wander around the old town, Jewish quarter, Mala Strana and down the west bank of the river to Andel and the Staropramen brewery in Smichov. Then you have the castle and St. Vitus on the top of the hill from Mala Strana. Also halfway between Malostranska and Andel is the Ujezd (sounds like Oo-yezd) tram stop, there's there's a funicular railway there that will take you to Petrin tower where you can get an amazing view of Prague.

The good thing is that Prague's centre is quite compact it's not difficult to walk to all these places but the trams and metro will take the load of your feet and if you get a 5 day ticket you'll be able to hop on and off to your heart's content.

The zoo is also really good was voted one of the top 10 zoos in the world by Forbes. You can get there from Nadrazi Holesovice metro station, just hop on the zoo bus :)

The best thing to do is just explore, it's such an old city that you'll find little narrow streets everywhere that are just off the main tourist areas but are quiet.
 
one last thing! make sure you look for the sculpture of a pig on a diving board...... very strange

oh! and take a look at puppetry, the czechs are masters of it and there are puppet theatres! Don Giovani is the main one they show (and the best/funnyest) there are a few other shows but not as good apparently. its worth going for the hillarious japanese tourists!
 
I am sure that Col M will be able to help me failing memory - there was a restaurant I think called 'The Old Soldier Svrenk' - they serve huge plates of meat, with a brass band wandering around and serving large glasses of amber nectar that helps soften the pain when you fall. I am sure a tourist trap (although no one seemed to be English there - I was taken there whilst on Business) but great fun.

Enjoy - I have been twice and have enjoyed the humour, food and picture opportunities. Loads of each.

Chris
 
Tulipone said:
I am sure that Col M will be able to help me failing memory - there was a restaurant I think called 'The Old Soldier Svrenk' - they serve huge plates of meat, with a brass band wandering around and serving large glasses of amber nectar that helps soften the pain when you fall. I am sure a tourist trap (although no one seemed to be English there - I was taken there whilst on Business) but great fun.

Enjoy - I have been twice and have enjoyed the humour, food and picture opportunities. Loads of each.

Chris
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That restaurant would be U Švejků and you might also want to visit U Flejků which is another well known Prague pub that serves its distinctive dark beer.
 
Tulipone said:
I am sure that Col M will be able to help me failing memory - there was a restaurant I think called 'The Old Soldier Svrenk' - they serve huge plates of meat, with a brass band wandering around and serving large glasses of amber nectar that helps soften the pain when you fall. I am sure a tourist trap (although no one seemed to be English there - I was taken there whilst on Business) but great fun.
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I think you may be talking about U Kalicka "The Good Soldier Švejk" www.ukalicha.cz :)

Also transport from the airport, you have the option of getting a taxi which will be about 600Kc to the centre, my flat is closer to the airport than the centre but that amount should be about right. You can also get a ticket from the yellow ticket machines in the airport (there are instructions in English) that will cost you 26Kc and give you 70 minutes to get the 119 bus to Dejvicka, there you can jump on the metro to the central stations (Staromestka or Mustek) on the green line, that will take you about 45mins.

The public transport site is http://www.dpp.cz/en/ a good idea would be to print off a metro map that you can stuff in your camera bag. Your hotel should be able to sell you a multi day metro ticket or they can direct you to somewhere that does sell them. A 72 hour ticket is 330Kc and a 120 hour ticket is 500Kc, you can use that on all trams, buses and metro within the city, you just need to get it "stamped" the first time you use it by one of the little yellow machines (about the size of a thick book) on the tram, bus or entrance to a metro station, your ticket will then be valid from that time.

Also, here is a map website that also has all the public transport stops on it, if you want to find an address just put it in the search bar and it'll show you where it is, e.g. to find the restaurant I mentioned above just type in "Na Bojišti 12-14, Praha 2" and it'll take you there :D
http://www.mapy.cz/#x=133063936@y=135945600@z=13@mm=ZP
 
There was a great place we ate at the 1st time we went called Pravek.http://www.pravek.cz/. It a 'prehistoric restaurant' and serves some of the biggest bits of meat I've ever seen!! I think there's more than 1 in the city, but we went to the one in Vinohrady (which is one of my favourite areas of the city), nr Nameri Mistu station
 
yeah! thats the place, worth visiting. the local old town is beautiful too with a gothic monastery. the ossuary is strange, just round the corner is the marlborough cigarette factory and thats built in an old monastery. the local beer is one of the best ive tried.
 
Isn't it weird how monks are generally really good at beer and wine, but preach against it? Hahahahaha

I may be going to Prague this winter, so I'm book-marking this thread for later!
 
Melnik is worth a visit during the summer - they have bones sculptures and what have you too, plus there's a famous vineyard by the castle.
 
bastic said:
Luke, there is a chance for you to organize TP meet in Prague :D
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=119124
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Introducing the 2009 Prague Street Tag Team Challenge :D, joking aside though I have spoken to COL M and we are meeting on the tuesday for a days photography which I really appreciate because ive never been there before and its my first trip away by myself.

On another note iv'e just watched "Taken" and im now scared im going to be kidknapped and sold for prostitution:shake:
 
Don't be so worried! Ive been to all the towns and places in Slovakia where HOSTEL is set, and they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. no blonde women asking me to go to a strange hostel at all! good food though.....
 
candlestick said:
'We have midgets' seemed to be a popular phrase with the local strip joint owners around Wenceslas Square last time I was there - nice to see equal opportunities is taken seriously in the Czech Republic!! :D
Click to expand...

did nearly make me and my mates wet our selfs when we encountered the guy, he is on youtube somewhere too. :lol:
 
On a grimmer and more obscure note, Pankraz prison might be worth seeking out. I think the death chamber there has been preserved as a memorial to the thousands of Czech resisters who were beheaded by the Nazis on a guillotine during WW2.
 
frostbear said:
On a grimmer and more obscure note, Pankraz prison might be worth seeking out. I think the death chamber there has been preserved as a memorial to the thousands of Czech resisters who were beheaded by the Nazis on a guillotine during WW2.
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Cool well I have nearly 3 days to photograph so I should get alot in. I really excited and it will definatly be an experience going by myself.
 
We were there a couple of years ago & loved it but please be careful. On the last morning we were walking to the local shops when a guy came up to us & asked for directions. Suddenly 2 very big, suited & booted men came up & accused us of buying drugs from the guy & saying that they were police. They then demanded we empty our pockets & hand over our passports & wallets. At this point my significant other half jumped into action- swore very loudly & aggressively at them & told them that in no circumstances would we hand over anything & for them to come back to our hotel & we would phone the police from there. At this point they told us that we could go & melted away. We walked off quickly as you would expect. A tourist is an easy money maker for certain groups of people.

However go, be careful & enjoy it- it is a wonderful place.
 
johnb said:
We were there a couple of years ago & loved it but please be careful. On the last morning we were walking to the local shops when a guy came up to us & asked for directions. Suddenly 2 very big, suited & booted men came up & accused us of buying drugs from the guy & saying that they were police. They then demanded we empty our pockets & hand over our passports & wallets. At this point my significant other half jumped into action- swore very loudly & aggressively at them & told them that in no circumstances would we hand over anything & for them to come back to our hotel & we would phone the police from there. At this point they told us that we could go & melted away. We walked off quickly as you would expect. A tourist is an easy money maker for certain groups of people.

However go, be careful & enjoy it- it is a wonderful place.
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Well these fools have never met Luke Woodford :wave::bat::boxer: Seriouslythough ill be super careful. If I havn't posted anything in this thread though by Friday Midday call the police!
 
lukewoodford said:
Cool well I have nearly 3 days to photograph so I should get alot in. I really excited and it will definatly be an experience going by myself.
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If your interest is WW2 you may want to try and fit a visit to Kostel sv. Cyrila a Metoděje where the parachutists who assassinated Heydrich met there end. The crypt has a well documented account of the assassination with photographs. If there are not many visitors and you have a kindly guide you may be lucky enough to be allowed into the upper areas of the church where many bullet holes are openly visible.

There is also to Koblisy where, the execution ground, where many of the Pankrac prisoners met there fate.
 
johnb said:
We were there a couple of years ago & loved it but please be careful. On the last morning we were walking to the local shops when a guy came up to us & asked for directions. Suddenly 2 very big, suited & booted men came up & accused us of buying drugs from the guy & saying that they were police. They then demanded we empty our pockets & hand over our passports & wallets. At this point my significant other half jumped into action- swore very loudly & aggressively at them & told them that in no circumstances would we hand over anything & for them to come back to our hotel & we would phone the police from there. At this point they told us that we could go & melted away. We walked off quickly as you would expect. A tourist is an easy money maker for certain groups of people.

However go, be careful & enjoy it- it is a wonderful place.
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Although I don't doubt that for a second, after living here 2 years I've never come across anything like that. I've never had a problem with pickpockets either which quite a few people who have been to Prague have mentioned :) I guess it's because living here I'm usually walking somewhere with purpose and don't give off touristy body language.

But for the benefit of others there are 2 types of police you'll usually run into in Prague, Policie České Republiky (State Police) who deal with crimes and usually have "POLICIE" in yellow on their back. Then you have the Městská Policie (Municipal Police) who deal with less serious things like traffic violations and stuff but will help you get in contact with the state police if approached, they have "Městská Policie" written in white on their back. They can all show you ID if asked and are usually friendly. There is also the Vojenská Policie but you hardly ever see them as they are the military police. Anyone else is security and have no powers although they like to walk around like they are the terminator :p

If you need emergency services call 112 and you should be able to talk to someone who speaks English although I've thankfully never had to try :)
 
Col_M said:
Although I don't doubt that for a second, after living here 2 years I've never come across anything like that. I've never had a problem with pickpockets either which quite a few people who have been to Prague have mentioned :) I guess it's because living here I'm usually walking somewhere with purpose and don't give off touristy body language.

But for the benefit of others there are 2 types of police you'll usually run into in Prague, Policie České Republiky (State Police) who deal with crimes and usually have "POLICIE" in yellow on their back. Then you have the Městská Policie (Municipal Police) who deal with less serious things like traffic violations and stuff but will help you get in contact with the state police if approached, they have "Městská Policie" written in white on their back. They can all show you ID if asked and are usually friendly. There is also the Vojenská Policie but you hardly ever see them as they are the military police. Anyone else is security and have no powers although they like to walk around like they are the terminator :p

If you need emergency services call 112 and you should be able to talk to someone who speaks English although I've thankfully never had to try :)
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Im going to keep my mean face on :suspect:. I do understand that I will be a prime target as I will be by myself (apart from Tuesday) and I have a big camera so ill just have to be extra wary, it can't be any worse than london!
 
I got followed by pickpockets last time we were there - if you're streetwise enough you can spot them a mile off!! I turned and walked towards them!! :D
 
These guys were seriously big & dressed in suits. It is obviously a scam to roll tourists in quieter areas however they had not seen the ferocious side of Mrs B! We were both shook up by the incident but obviously stood out like a sore thumb as being tourists
 
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