A traveler's guide to Prague
Mornings are the whole trick. Prague after 11 a.m. in July is a different, louder place than the one in the photographs.
Prague earns the fairy-tale talk if you are awake for it. The bridges and the castle hill are real. So are the tour groups. Stay in the old streets for the morning, then eat and drink where the menus are in Czech first.
When to go
Late spring and early fall are ideal. Summer is warm and very visited. Winter is cold, lit, and lovely if you like atmosphere more than long terrace lunches. Christmas and Easter are busy.
Neighborhoods
Old Town at dawn. Malá Strana and the castle as a paired walk. Vinohrady and Letná for dinner and a park. The river path when you need a break from stone. Stay inside the transit system. The outskirts are not the point of a first visit.
Eating
Beer is cheaper than water and taken seriously. Dumplings, a proper roast, and a market snack. The restaurants with costumed servers on the square are theater. Walk ten minutes.
If you only remember this
- Buy transit tickets and validate them.
- Castle interiors need a reservation in season.
- Crowns still matter in smaller rooms. Cards work in most.
- Pickpockets work the bridge. So does every tour guide with a flag.