Travel Guide PRAGUE.
 

Population: 1.2 million

Currency
1 Koruna (crown) =
100 haliru (pennies)

Opening hours
Businesses/Shops are open Monday to Friday 0900h – 1800h/1900h. Saturdays between 0900h – 1200h. Most shops remain closed on Sundays. Around the tourist areas the opening hours are more generous.

Internet
www.praha.cz
www.praha.cz
www.praguepost.com

Publications
The biggest daily newspapers are Mladá Fronta Dnes and Lidové Noviny. The Enligh-language Prague Post comes out every fourteen days and contains a cultural guide.

Emergency number
112
Police 158 (Policie)
Ambulance 155 (Sanitka)
Fire Brigade 150 (Hasici)

Tourist office
Prague Information Service
Address: Betlemske namesti 2, 116 98 Prague 1
Tel: +420 12 444
e-mail: tourinfo@pis.cz
Tom De Bruyne©
Welcome to PRAGUe
”Mother Prague has clutches” wrote Franz Kafka nearly one hundred years ago. And it is just as true today. Anyone who has once wandered around the cobbled streets and Gothic alleyways and seen the moon hovering behind the towers and pinnacles of Europe’s most beautiful capital will come back.
do & see

The city
Sixteen years after the ’velvet revolution’ Prague is now an international metropolis with all the usual trappings – but it has at the same time managed successfully to retain its unspoiled local character; hospody (beerhouses) offering the world’s best beers are still to be found on every street corner.

The Czech capital is small and compact. The most important areas are the central districts of the city: Staré Mesto (Old Town), Josefov, Nové Mesto (New Town) and Malá Strana (Lesser Town). These are best explored on foot. In recent years the district of Vinohrady (Vineyards) has established itself as the district favoured by Pražani; here the restaurants and cafés lie closely packed.

When you visit Prague it is worth remembering that not only does the city boast an impressive history stretching back many hundreds of years, but it has also fostered exciting architects, artists and designers the 20th century too. Prague was once the centre of Central European modernism, a fact which today, after a long period of dictatorship, has almost faded into oblivion. During recent years, modernist Czech architecture and interior design have experienced a recovery and there is nearly always a good exhibition to see somewhere

do & see
Staromestské námesti (Old Town Market Square)
The Old Town market place with its pastel-coloured baroque houses and cathedral is one of Europe’s most beautiful squares. In the centre stands a large statue of the religious leader from the 1400’s, Jan Hus.
Address: Staromestské námesti 1, Prague 1
Underground: Staromestské námesti

Obecní Dum (Municipal Hall)
This art nouveau palace was erected after the right-wing revolution which during the second half of the 19th century came to transform Prague into a modern capitalist city. Before the inauguration in 1911 all of the Czech artist elite of the time helped to create what is today one of Europe’s finest art nouveau monuments. The building was renovated 1994-97 and houses a gallery, a beer cellar and a bar.
Address: Namesti Republiky, Prague 1
Underground: Namesti Republiky

Staronová synagoga (Old-New Synanogogue)
Europe’s oldest synagogue. This is where Rabbi Löw preached, who created Golem, the clay figure which was to protect Prague’s Jewish population from persecution.
Address: Cervená, Prague 1
Undergound: Staromestské námesti
Tel: +420 222317191,
www.kehila.cz
Prague Castle and St. Vitus’ Cathedral
The whole of Prague Castle, the area which lies on a hill overlooking the city, is a must for the visitor. The castle’s history goes back to the 11th century and it is said today to be Europe’s largest castle. The gothic St.Vitus’ Cathedral, which took more than 600 yhears to build, is most significant.
Address: Nádvorí 3, Prague 1Stop: Pražský hrad

Charles Bridge
It was built in the 1300’s by Charles IV and up to the 19th century it remained the only bridge connecting both sides of Prague. Take a stroll over the bridge and learn the names of the 30 saints whose statues stand sentinel there.
Address: Karluv Most, Prague 1
Underground: Staromestské námesti

Veletržní Palác (Great Exhibition Palace)
This handsome functional building from the 1920’s houses the National Gallery collections of modern international and Czech art.
Price: 100 kc, Address: Dukelských hrdinu 47, Prague 7
Stop: Veletržní. , www.ngprague.cz
iStockphoto©
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS | EATING
Event highlights
APRIL
Prague Accordion Festival
20-23 April
Why not take part in the Prague International competition of accordion.
www.accordion.cz

Witches’ Night
30 April
This ancient folk festival is an mix of Halloween and May Day which marks the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.
Email: tourinfo@pis.cz

MAY
International Music Festival
12 May – 3 June
This Festival showcases performing artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles of the world.
www.festival.cz

Prague Marathon
13 May
Starting from the Old Town Square (Staroměstské námestí) the course winds through the city to end back in the same location.
www.praguemarathon.com

JUNE
Dance Prague
2-28 June
Enjoy Prague’s dance festival. Plenty of great performances!
www.tanecpha.cz

United Islands of Prague
16-25 June
Multi genre festival featuring rock, folk, folklor, jazz and blues music.
www.unitedislands.cz
EatingIn recent years many international cuisines have been introduced, but the Central European cuisine still dominates. Classic Czech homely fare includes Svícková (roast beef with cream sauce) and the national dish Vepro-knedlo-zelo (pork with sauerkraut and Knödel). These can be had at any hospoda – beerhouse – along with a cold pilsner

Alchymist
The luxury restaurant Alchymist provides a kitsch variant on Prague’s history. Blood-red curtains, Louis XIV chairs and candelabras characterise the furnishings. The cuisine is original Italian and the service is excellent. 500kc and upwards.
Address: Hellichova 4, Prague 1
Stop: Malá Strana
Tel: +420 257 312 518
www.alchymist.cz

Kolkovna
The best Czech food in Old Town. Thick soups, grilled meat and fish (between 100-350kc) are topped with unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell.
Address: V kolkovne 8, Prague 1
Underground: Staromestské námesti
Tel: +420 224 819 701
www.kolkovna.cz

Cantina
Cantina serves very good Mexican food at reasonable prices (chicken fajita for 210kc) and stocks a decent selection tequila. Always full, so if you want a table in the evening it is best to book.
Address: Ujezd 38, Prague 1
Stop: Ujezd, Tel: +420 257 317 173

U Básnika Pánve
Example of a cuisine that is a little more ”nouveau czeque”. Classic dishes with a twist – such as extra-spicy goulash for 140kc – which are inexpensive and phenomenally good.
Address: Mánesova 62, Prague 2
Underground: Karlovo Námešti
Tel: +420 222 250 072
www.ubasnikapanve.cz

La Lavande
A chef from the Sarah Bernhardt restaurant at Hotel Paris opens his own restaurant in Vinohrady. And the result? Possibly the best and cheapest French food in Prague. Main courses 300-500kc.
Address: Záhrebská 24, Prague 2
Stop: Námešti Míru
Tel: +420 225 174 06

Malý buddha (”Little Buddha”)
Area of city: Hradcany
”Little Buddha” is Prague’s best value restaurant, particularly bearing in mind its situation just a stone’s throw from Prague Castle. Chinese and Vietnamese specialities for 100-200kc and a large selection good teas. Non-smoking.
Address: Úvoz 46, Prague 1
Stop: Pohorelec, Tel: +420 205 138 94

Café
Prague has always been a good town for cafés. Around the turn of the last century this meant large middle class premises – which re-opened during the 1990’s – and after the ’velvet revolution’ of 1989 a lot of small, cosy cafés opened with bric-ŕ-brac décor.

Café Slavia
Of all Prague’s old, traditional cafés Slavia is the most well-known. This is where members of the Czech avant-garde would sit in the early 1900’s, and during the Communist era dissidents used to gather here, with the secret police only a couple of tables away. The view towards Prague Castle is simply stunning, but if get tired of it you can always while away the time looking at the fine painting ’the Absinthe Drinker’.
Address: Smetanovo nábreží 2, Prague 1
Stop: Narodní divadlo

Café Louvre
Franz Kafka’s and Albert Einstein’s favourite café also housed Prague’s first billiard hall.
Address: Národní 20 (1tr), Prague 1
Underground: Narodní trida
Medúza
On the heavily tree-lined Prague Street stands the city’s cosiest café – a Prague café with a typically young atmosphere, with upholstered chairs and occasional tables and sofas.
Address: Belgická 17, Prague 2
Underground: Námešti Míru

Bars and Nightlife
Prague has a lively nightlife and anyone who wants to can dance at night clubs until dawn. Most Pražani start the evening at one of the city’s many bars, cafés or beerhouses.

Radost FX
The night club, restaurant and cocktail bar known as Radost (”joy”) FX flies in internationally famous DJ’s from around the world, wins prizes for its drinks and the night club was chosen by the British Ministry as one of the world’s best a couple of years ago. Don’t miss the vegetarian restaurant which is open till late every night.
Address: Belehradská 120, Prague 2
Underground: I P Pavlova
www.radostfx.cz

Palác Akropolis
A Prague institution in Žižkov, the part of town known as Prague’s Bronx. The brightly coloured building was erected in the 1920’s as a cultural meeting place. It houses a restaurant on the ground floor and a stage in the basement. Excellent live music club for alternative music and world music.
Address: Kubelíková 27, Prague 2
Underground: Jirího z Podebrad
www.palacakropolis.cz

U staré pani (the Old Lady’s Place)
Prague is rightly famous for its jazz, and offers bands which play everything from bebop to big band jazz and avant-garde music. The ’Old Lady’ is the best club to to start your tour.
Address: Michalská 9, Prague 2
Underground: Staromestské námesti
www.jazzlounge.cz

Barácnická Rychta
A cosy Czech beer hall with a history going back to the 1800’s when it served as a meeting place for people who wanted to revive ancient Czech traditions. Today, on a stage below the pub, you can see everything from Czech folk music to Ukrainian punk bands.
Address: Tržište 23
Stop: Malostranské Námesti
www.baracnickarychta.cz

Bugsy´s
In an elegant, traditional basement lies this bar which has been picked as one of the world’s best by international trade bodies. The majority of drinks cost around 120kc.
Address: Parížská 10, Prague 1
Underground: Staromestské námesti
www.bugsysbar.cz

Cafés | Bars & nightlife

iStockphoto©
Shopping | sleeping

SHOPPING
If you want to shop for uniquely Czech products in Prague you should visit the small boutiques selling domestic designer clothes and look for reproductions of the utility designs created by Czech modernists in the 1920’s and 30’s. Both sectors have grown considerably in recent years. Another traditional item to shop for is Bohemian cut glass.

Prague’s main shopping areas are situated in New Town: on Václavské Námesti (Wenceslaus Square) and immediately below on the pedestrian mall Na Príkopech. There are large individual shops and chain stores such as H&M, Zara and Marks & Spencers, as well as several large department stores.

There are however no specific shopping areas for smaller shops with clothign designer clothes, but you will encounter a small concentration of these on Karoliny Svetlé and Bartolomejská streets in New Town. Here boutiques such as Leeda, Toalette and Alice Abraham offer a good starting point. If you take a stroll from the Market Square in Old Town across Michalská street you will find several antique shops and shops displaying typical Prague artwork on the way.

The Czech Republic is deservedly well-known for its cut glass and a wide range is on offer at the shops around Staromestské Námesti (Old Town Market Square). The work of young Czech designers can be found at Qubus at Rámova 3, around the corner from the Market Square. If you are looking for modernist design in the form of cubism or functionalism, visit the shop Kubista at Celetná 19, also just a stone’s throw from the Market Square in Old Town. In addition, the shop Modernista, at Konviktská 5, towards the Charles Bridge, is well worth a visit – everything from cubist ties and ash-trays to billiard tables in functional style is sold here.

Essential informationAirport
Ruzyne Airport lies 20 kilometres to the northwest of the centre of Prague.
Taxis charge a fixed price of 650kc. There are also minibuses with shared fares. These cost around 100 kc and will take you to Námešti Republiky in Central Prague.
The cheapest solution is to get bus number 119 which will drop you at the underground station Dejvická. It takes about 20 minutes. From there it is only 2 to 4 stations to the city centre. In that case you wil have to buy an ordinary ticket in the flight terminal or at the ticket vending machine at the bus stop. The bus runs between the hours of 0400h – 2400h.
www.csl.cz/en/frames.htm

Local Transport
The underground operates between the hours of 0500h – 2400h. The railways run all day long. Tickets can be purchased in tobacco shops and ticket vending machines. A transfer ticket costs 20kc (1 hour) and 14kc for a single journey (15 minutes). It is mose economical to buy an extended travel pass – 3 days cost 220kc and 7 days cost 280kc. It is the same ticket for all modes of transport – just don’t forget to stamp the ticket first.

Taxi
For foreigners a taxi journey in Prag often turns out to be an expensive treat. If you want to travel by taxi then call a reliable taxi firm, such as AAA. They can be reached on telephone number 140 14.



Post
The Head Post Office on Jindrišká 14, Prague 2 is open every day from 0700h –2000h.

Pharmacy
A pharmacy which is available around the clock can be found by ringing: +420 224 94 69 82.

Dentists
If you a need dentist in an emergency, call +420 224 94 69 81

Telephone
Country code +420, Prague area code is 2, which is now included even when making a local call.

Electricity
220 V