I%26#39;ll be going to Prague on Honeymoon starting end of may and staying 11 nights. Staying at the golden wheel, based on reviews it seems it should be a nice stay in mala strana. I%26#39;ve never been to prague, much less europe before. Been reading %26amp; doing research a bit the last several days. Here are some ideas I%26#39;ve come up with.
The must see is:
prague castle, charles bridge, jewish cemetery, kampa island, petin hill, state opera house
Worth missing is:
black light theater, resturants with menu in english, salvador dali exhibit in old town, river cruise, Old/New Synagogue in jewish quarter, wenceslas square resturants
I still haven%26#39;t figured out if wenceslas square is worth spending much time in...everything I read about it seems to be bad. Maybe it%26#39;s ok to walk around and see, but not so good to spend any money there.
Good day trips are:
Dresden, plzen for brewery tour, kunta hora.
I thought at first maybe a train day trip would work for Vienna, but it%26#39;s sounding like it%26#39;s a 5-hour train ride...longer than I thought. Can someone confirm? Also any other day trip ideas? Or other things we might like?
To help with recommendations, we like:
*historical sites
*friendly people
*hiking
*great views
*classical music
*my fiancee wants to see an opera because we%26#39;ve never seen one
*wine tasting
*sampling beers
*seeing %26amp; doing things that are unique to prague (ex: I don%26#39;t know why I would go to a jazz club while in prague...seems more like something suited to a trip to new orleans)
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Old/New Synagogue in jewish quarter is worth missing? the oldest european synagogue which is still used? are you kidding? well I also didn%26#39;t get the restaurants with english menu, man, you stay in the most touristy area, where will you eat then??????all the pubs have english menu of course. if you don%26#39;t want english menu, you will have to take metro and longer tram journey to greater centre. English menu doesn%26#39;t mean high price of course.
Vienna is too far for one day trip.
I would also skip Dresden. Rather visit Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy vary or Karlstejn castle.
go to www.czechtourism.com for more
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Wow - 11 nights is a long time and you will definitely want to get out and check out something different. There is so much more to see in the country.
For Cesky Krumlov it is best to stay at least overnight, otherwise a) you will spend most of the day getting there and back and b) during the daytime is can get a bit swamped, thereby spoiling the experience somewhat - the best time to see it is first thing in the morning and late at night before the crowds arrive. Kutna Hora is a similar experience (in my person opinion it is better - others may disagree) but is only 1 hour away from Prague and it has got the unmissable bone church.
BUT if you like hiking, wine-tasting, friendly people, opera and Viennese style - in fact all the above and more, then Brno http://www.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en and South Moravia is the place for you and you should check it out at least for a couple of days. It is the wine-growing region of the country and is packed with UNESCO world heritage sites (including a %26#39;Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage of Humanity%26#39; in the form of the %26#39;Verbunk%26#39; dance) and the functionalist Tugendhat Villa which is Mies van der Rohe%26#39;s finest work and was the blueprint for all open-plan buildings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Tugendhat . For hiking there is the fabulous Moravsky kras region www.moravskykras.net/en/moravian-karst.html , 15 minutes by train from Brno, with its underground river system and 400-foot abyss, or there is the picturesque Brno Dam overlooked by Veveri Castle. The city itself is like a mini Vienna, as it was built and designed by the same architects, and is dominated by the spiky Petrov Cathedral (like something out of Gotham city!) and the infamous Spilberk Castle. The medieval streets are filled with baroque churches, street cafes and some of the best beer in the country is served in the Pegas microbrewery and Blahovka pub. It is also much cheaper than Prague and much less crowded - it is a normal, living city which has not been subjected to %26#39;death by tourism%26#39; :) wikihost.org/wikis/…death_by_tourism and as such it is a very friendly place. The world-famous Janacek Opera House puts on world-class performances http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/programme/opera/ for a few dollars a throw and there is always something on show for free around the city - visiting street theatre shows, folk music, dance, etc. Or there is the Reduta Theatre where the boy Mozart gave one of his very first public performances...
I lived there for 15 years and still haven%26#39;t seen it all!
Otherwise, Dresden is a nice day trip - the train journey goes along the picturesque Elbe valley, and it is amazing to see how the city has risen again from the rubble - it is just impossible to imagine how they rebuilt the centre from a pile of smouldering stones.
Another day trip to consider is Telč (perfect for honeymoon) http://www.telc-etc.cz/telc/?lang=EN which is 2.5 hours from Prague by bus, but is well worth the journey.
And as for Wenceslas Square - well - you will see for yourself. In itself it is nothing much to write home about, and is decidedly seedy in places, but you have to remember its history - where Jan Palach set himself on fire as a political protest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach or stand under the Melantrich building and imagine Havel, Dubcek and other speakers denouncing the old regime in 1989 with the square below (it is actually a sort of boulevard) filled with a quarter of a million people all shaking their keys to ring out the old - if you have seen the film Kolja then you will be familiar with this. However, there is much more to Prague than that.
Anyway - that is enough of my (admittedly South Moravian biased) recommendations :)
Have fun!
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Gcek
%26gt;Pegas microbrewery and Blahovka .....
You`ve brought tears to my eyes.
Pegas - Blahovka - Lucerny - Koliba... I have to go to Brno soon :D
Pegas and Blahovka to Brno is what Karluv most is to Prague .. At least to me :D :D Excelent beer and truly original atmosfaire. I wouldn`t call honeymoon-ish ;D but there you feel like a local.
ifyousayso vienna is pretty far for a day trip. And there are too many things to see in one day.
It would be better to go and stay overnight in other czech towns like Cesky Krumlov, Brno, Ceske Budejovice and Karlovy Vary. In every one of them you`ll meet an interesting site. Terezin is near Brno , Krumlov and Budejovice are pretected by UNESCO , Kutna Hora also.BTW relatively close to Brno (1.5h) is Mikulov where are many winemakers.
Although i can see your point about jazz clubs i would recommend an evening in one. You`ll see a club in almost every corner. I`ve been to prague quite a few times and only the last one i visited a jazz club and i had great time.
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Go for the Four Saeson Hotel Allegro restaurant for wonderful wine testing. And Hotel Gloden well, U studane zaltne Terrace restaurant for stunning view of prague.
Enjoyx
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ifyousayso I would check the flickr site and search the different cities you are interested in. Might help you pick which ones best suit your interests.
www.flickr.com
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