Old Town Square
Old Town Square is a historic square in the Old Town Quarter of Prague. It is a large, open space, with many attractions nearby. If you’re staying in Old Town, then you will walk through this square almost every day. I highly recommend hanging out in the Square throughout the day and early at night. You may sit on the many benches if it isn’t busy. If you decide to drink in public (which can be largely acceptable in Prague), be careful in Old Town Square and other areas where people aren’t drinking. Some police are extremely strict with people (especially tourists) about drinking in public in Old Town Square. Pictured here is one of the most famous, Church of Our Lady before Tyn. I did not go into this church, but I know that you can visit for a voluntary donation of 1.50 euros. The beauty of this church is mostly masked by the buildings closely surrounding it, but take a walk around or a look inside if you’d like. You may find more information about the Church of Our Lady before Tyn here.
Prague Astronomical Clock
The Prague Astronomical Clock is the oldest functioning astronomical clock in the world. There are many moving parts to the Prague Astronomical Clock. One of the main highlights is the four figures pictured above the clock. At the top of the hour, you will find a crowd of people waiting for these figures to move around. It is cool to see, but short-lived. If you are in the square when the clock is about to strike a new hour, feel free to take a look, but this motion is nothing I would go out of my way for. You may find more details of the clock, here.
Prague Castle
The Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, so it makes it quite a tourist destination. If you are visiting Prague Castle, plan on spending almost your entire day there. The best way to get to Prague Castle is by walking. It will probably take around 20 minutes and there is an incline to get up to the castle grounds. Once you get up the ramp, take a look behind you for a nice view of the city. Continue forward to the gate to the castle (pictured above with guards). I recommend planning to arrive at this gate right before 12:00 so you can witness the official changing of the guards ceremony, but a less grand version occurs at every hour as well. Stand where the white and gray bricks overlap because this is exactly where they will split the crowd. To the left of the gate are the entrance and ticket office. Here you will buy your tickets, go through security, and enter the castle. There are several different types of tickets for Prague Castle, but I recommend just buying the Circuit A ticket which costs 350 CZK ($14 USD). This ticket will essentially give you access to everything, I believe the extra few dollars won’t matter much anyways and it’s good to give money to the preservation of this castle.
Guide to Visiting Inside Prague Castle…
The Castle is large, and they will give you a map to navigate the grounds. There are four main parts of Prague Castle: The Old Royal Palace, St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George’s Basilica, and the Golden Lane. The Old Royal Palace is full of grand rooms and some small art exhibitions. St. George’s Basilica is one of my favorite parts of Prague Castle, it has a beautiful red exterior and inside you will find a church that has been in existence for over 1000 years. Vitus Cathedral is THE highlight of Prague Castle. It is the first place that you see during your visit. It has beautiful stained glass and is the burial site of many patron saints. The last part of Prague castle is the Golden Lane. It is fun to explore this medieval neighborhood. Walk throughout all of the houses and see the barracks with old weapons on display. Be careful on the narrow stairwells and low clearance doorways. Once you walk out of the Golden Lane, there’s a lookout of the city. Near this lookout, there is a tunnel that leads downwards which will bring you to an old prison. It is extremely ominous and you can see some real medieval torture devices.
Charles Bridge
The Charles Bridge is one of the highlights of visiting Prague. This bridge is pedestrian-only. Sometimes it’s extremely busy, so I recommend walking over it only a couple of times. Charles Bridge used to be the only connection between town and the castle, so it was very important. The Bridge has a watchtower that you can go up and visit for 100 CZK ($4 USD), but the queue is long most of the time and I didn’t think it was worth it. The best part of the bridge is the vendors lined along the bridge. Some of them are extremely good artists and I recommend buying a piece off of them instead of a touristy mug/keychain. There are also 30 statues lining the sides which depict various saints. Many of these are replicas of the originals which are now held in the Lapidarium. You may find more information about the Charles Bridge in Prague, here.
Lennon Wall
The Lennon Wall is amazing and demonstrates a victory over communism in Prague. It is called the Lennon Wall because one of the first pieces painted on the wall was a portrait of John Lennon. To young people of Prague in the 80’s, Lennon was a symbol of western culture and liberalism. Young people continued to speak out against the communist regime by painting messages on this wall. Every time the police repainted the wall, people would cover it in messages. Since communism fell in late 1989/early 1990 in Prague, this wall has been used for various political messages and art pieces. It is amazing to see the wall and the individual messages expressed by people in Prague. If you’re lucky enough, you will see an artist painting a new addition onto the wall.
Zizkov Television Tower
Zizkov Television Tower in Prague is one of the most unique towers I’ve ever seen. It’s one of the ugliest buildings in the world before because of its design. On the poles of the tower, you can notice the babies crawling on the poles. These were attached after construction in 2000 and were designed by famous Czech artist David Cerny. He has many pieces and I will talk more about him later in this post. You can get to the Zizkov Television Tower using the tram. Use Google Maps as your transit guide. Tickets to visit the tower with a 360-degree view of Prague cost 250 CZK (10 Euro or $11 USD). This is the cheapest price I ever paid to get a panoramic view during my travels. Believe it or not, one of the boxes is actually a 1 of 1 hotel room, and there is also a restaurant you can visit.
Letna Park
If you want to spend a part of your day like a local in Prague, talk a walk across the river to Letna Park. I recommend going to the Metronome and sitting along the wall to admire the view of the city. Bring a few drinks with you to enjoy with the local twenty and thirty somethings hanging out in the area.
David Cerny Statues & Artwork
One of the best recommendations I ever received for Prague was to take a walk to all of David Cerny’s nearby works in one day. I did this on the same day as the Prague Castle since he has several works on that side of the Vltava River. From Prague Castle, walk down towards the bridge to see “Piss”, two statues, in motion, peeing into the water below them. Grab some mulled wine or gingerbread from the stand near this monument as well! Afterward, walk along the river to find the Crawling Babies at Kampa Park. These are the same babies that are crawling up the Zizkov Television Tower. After these, continue your walk along the river to the large park. This is a perfect place to take a break before walking back across the Vltava. The first stop back on the other side of the river will be the Embryo Drain Pipe, followed by the Hanging Sigmund Freud.
Remember if you would like to learn more about any of the places included in my best sights & attractions of Prague, Czech Republic, then you can visit my all-inclusive guide for free here!
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