10 Best Travel Tips for Prague

When preparing for a trip to Prague, we tend to focus on researching what to see and do in Prague. This is undoubtedly the most important aspect, especially in places that offer enough attractions to spend several days exploring every corner of the city.

However, we forget some practical details that can make or break your trip. For this reason, in this article I'll give you some tips to make sure nothing goes wrong, such as how to buy public transport tickets or the advantages of buying a tourist card to save a little money.

The two most visited sights in Prague are the city's castle and Charles Bridge. This means that both monuments are almost always full of people, to the point where visiting them can become overwhelming.

To try to avoid the crowds, especially in high season, it is important to know the opening hours (in the case of the castle) and to take advantage of the less crowded hours (if we are talking about the bridge).

• Charles Bridge: the most convenient time to visit is early in the morning or in the evening, when there are not so many people in the area. It is also a good idea to take advantage of the time when most tourists are eating.
• Prague Castle: my advice is to visit early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Another tip that can help you avoid the crowds is to enter through the east gate, even if this means having to climb a lot of stairs. If this is not possible, the entrance to the Deer Moat (Jelení příkop) is another good option.

Prague is a capital city with a rich history and you will enjoy it twice as much if you know about it. The best way to get these explanations is to take one of the guided tours offered in the Czech capital. On the one hand, there are the most typical ones:

• Tour of the castle and surrounding area: where you will learn all about Prague Castle and visit other nearby places such as St. Nicholas Church and the Royal Gardens with an expert guide.
• Tour of communism: in addition to learning about this era and visiting key points such as the Old Town Square, Vaclavske Square or Narodni Street, you will enter a nuclear shelter.
• Tour of the Jewish Quarter: you will have the opportunity to visit the old cemetery and the many synagogues in the city.

But there are also other more special tours that I recommend you to book:

• Pub tour: you will visit 4 different pubs in the city without queuing and with an open bar at your disposal.
• Ghost tour: you will hear the darkest legends as you walk through the darkest streets of the city at night.
• Tour with cruise: lasts a full day and is the most complete, as it not only includes a tour of the city, but also a cruise and lunch.

Like other major cities, the Czech capital has made some tourist cards available to its visitors that can save you a lot of money when you visit, such as:

• Prague Card: you are going to be able to enter many tourist attractions for free, as well as take public transport as many times as you want.
• Prague City Card: its main advantage is the discounts on several of the most common tours, as well as admission to public museums and several restaurants. Like the previous one, it also includes a pass for public transport.
• Prague CoolPass: includes entry to the river cruise and the city sightseeing bus, as well as the enjoyment of more than 60 attractions in the city.

Before purchasing any of them, I advise you to do the maths to see if it's worth it. Compare the price of the card with the discounts and free tickets it offers and decide if it's worth it. All cards can be purchased with different validity periods, usually for 2, 3, 4 or 6 days.

A trip to Prague should not be complete without discovering a gastronomy that is largely unknown outside the country's borders. To get you started, it might be a good idea to book a gastronomic tour of the city.

Although in my article on what to eat in Prague you will be able to see more options, on your trip it is almost obligatory to try dishes such as:

• Koleno (pork knuckle)
• Schnitzel (breaded fillet steak)
• Or goulash in its Czech version
• The trdelnik

Tips for eating in Prague

Finally, it is always a good idea to be aware of the tipping customs in the city. In the case of Prague, it is customary to leave between 10 and 15% of the total bill.

As well as its food, the Czech Republic prides itself on the sheer variety and quality of its beer. In fact, it is the world's leading country in terms of per capita beer consumption, and there are many good beer bars in Prague's capital city where you can sample beer.

If you want to delve deeper into the subject, you can sign up for an organised beer tour and try them in style.

Save by exploring less central restaurants

Avoiding restaurants in the historic centre so as not to overpay is one of the tips that obviously doesn't only apply to Prague. There is nothing to stop you from having a coffee in front of the astronomical clock, for example, but you should be aware that the price will be much higher than if you go just a few streets away.

In general, the restaurants whose prices are well above the city average are those located in the Old Town Square. Fortunately, as you can see in this article on restaurants in Prague, you don't have to go far to find great value for money.

One of the most interesting areas of Prague is the Jewish Quarter. To visit it, you can book one of the tours that take you around the area and learn about its importance to the life of the city from your guide. However, there is one thing you should bear in mind, especially if you go on your own: don't go on a Saturday.

Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, is the day of rest in that religion, so synagogues are closed, as are many shops in the neighbourhood. So, if you go on that day, you will miss out on seeing, for example, everything the Jewish cemetery has to offer.

Although Prague' s City Hall is right in the centre of the city, many people don't get to visit it and focus only on the castle, Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter. However, one of my tips is to enter this monument to discover one of the city's secrets.

Numerous tunnels, rooms and dungeons were excavated beneath the ancient medieval city and today you can visit them by entering from the Prague Town Hall. The underground tour is almost always accompanied by a guide and provides access to a world invisible to the naked eye.

One of the challenges for Spaniards when travelling to other European countries is adapting to eating and shopping hours. In Prague, although there are differences, this adaptation is easier, since being a very touristy city, you can find places open almost at any time.

Although Czechs usually eat at the latest around 13:00, many restaurants in Prague keep their kitchens open until later. In fact, it is not uncommon to be very late and want to eat something around 16:00 and find that locals are already starting to dine.

This ease at lunchtime does not correspond to dinnertime. In that case, the best time is no later than 20:30 and after 21: 30 you may find many kitchens closed. However, the opening hours of restaurants in the old town are later.

What about eating out in Prague?

If you decide to go on one of these excursions around Prague, especially if you do it on your own and want to stay overnight. Outside the capital, the timetables are even more restricted.

The best way to get around Prague, at least in the areas where the main attractions are concentrated, is on foot. However, you may need public transport to get to your hotel or to visit a more distant location.

Prague has a good public transport network (including buses, trams and the metro) at very affordable prices. In addition to single journey tickets, you can choose from day, two-day or three-day passes.

Tickets and passes can be purchased at Relay shops, tobacconists or from machines at almost every stop and are valid on all forms of public transport in the city, including the boat from Náplavka Smichov.

Tips to make your experience the best it can be

• One thing to remember if you're buying your ticket from the machines is that they only accept coins, so keep a few in case you need them.
• To see the timetables for each line, just look at the signs at the stops and at the entrance to the metro stations.
• Don't forget to validate your ticket. When you enter any of the transport gates, you must validate your ticket at the ticket validator inside the gates. There are usually a lot of ticket inspectors and they often seem to focus on tourists and give them a hefty fine that can ruin your holiday.

Although the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union, the country has never been part of the Eurozone. Its currency is the Czech koruna, so you will have to change money during your trip.

My first tip is to do it already at your destination, but never at Prague airport. There are many bureaux de change in the city centre and I recommend that you compare what each one offers and choose the one that suits you best. If you can get there, the best rates are in the Jewish quarter.

Card or cash?

Another way to get cash is to use one of the many ATMs in the city. However, the fees for withdrawing money are usually high (unless you have a typical travel card), so it's better to pay with your card than to withdraw money with it.

In the tourist areas of Prague you won't have any problems paying with a card, whether in restaurants, bars or shops. In more remote areas I advise you to ask first to make sure.

If you want to take a souvenir from Prague or give a gift to someone else, you won't find a better place than Prague's markets. These places are also very interesting to visit and give you a (brief) insight into how the locals live and what they buy. The most outstanding ones are the following:

• Havelská THR market: there is a wide variety of goods, from vegetables and other foodstuffs to handicrafts made of wood and other materials. Here you can find the best wooden puppets in the city. Moreover, the market is the oldest in Prague and is worth a visit just to see it.
• River Town Market: one of the most popular markets in the whole city. Here you won't find too many things to give as gifts, as the most common products are food and clothes, most of the time imitations.
• Flea market: This market is located in Kolbenova, in a large old courtyard. In addition to food, you will find antiques, clothes and some exotic objects, mostly second-hand. To enter you have to pay a small entrance fee of less than one euro per person.