Book nowBook the Prague Spring concert on Friday as soon as the festival opens sales: the Rudolfinum's good seats go first.
Hours, prices and coordinates are from general knowledge; re-check them on the official sites the week before you fly.
The city's great classical festival, three weeks of concerts in the Rudolfinum, the Municipal House and churches, held only from mid-May.
Dates from general knowledge — check the official site
Three days: the Old Town and a festival concert on arrival, the castle and the hills on the full day, Vyšehrad and the river before the flight.
Land at 10:00, bags into storage until the 15:00 check-in. The Jewish Quarter in the afternoon, as its museum is closed on Saturdays, and a Prague Spring concert at 19:30.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →one 90-minute ticket40 min
Trolleybus 59 from outside arrivals to Nádraží Veleslavín, then metro line A to Staroměstská. Buy a 90-minute ticket each in the PID Lítačka app or at the yellow machine at the stop; cards work at both.
100–150 Kč a bagbook online
Bounce and Radical Storage keep bags in shops in the lanes around the square; book for 11:00–15:00.
The town-hall clock from 1410, the oldest still working, whose twelve apostles parade at its windows on the hour.
freepickpockets
Stand at the clock by 11:55; the show lasts under a minute and the crowd is tight, so keep phones and wallets in front. The two spires opposite are the Týn Church.
250–350 Kč each
Lokál on Dlouhá is a long, plain beer hall serving Pilsner Urquell fresh from tanks and Czech classics: svíčková, beef in cream sauce with dumplings, or schnitzel with potato salad. Shared tables, fast service; a mark on your slip is each beer.
The museum of Prague's Jewish Town: six synagogues and a cemetery where about 12,000 headstones stand crowded on top of each other.
about 500–600 Kč eachday's highlightclosed Saturdays
Eight minutes' walk. One ticket covers the Pinkas Synagogue, the cemetery and the other museum synagogues; buy it online or at the Pinkas door. Start at the Pinkas, whose walls carry the names of 78,000 Czech Jews murdered in the Holocaust, then the cemetery path.
End at the Spanish Synagogue, gilded inside in a Moorish style. The Old-New Synagogue, the oldest in Europe still in use, needs a separate ticket and closes early on Fridays before the Sabbath. Allow two hours.
400–600 Kč each
The streets between the square and the river have middle-range restaurants with tablecloths; avoid the ones on the square itself, which charge double. Duck with red cabbage and dumplings is the Czech Sunday dish, on every menu.
The 1885 concert hall of the Czech Philharmonic on the river, the main stage of the Prague Spring festival since 1946.
500–2,500 Kč eachbook aheadsmart casual
Five minutes from dinner. The festival announces its programme in November; the Rudolfinum has a concert listed for May. Book on festival.cz, not resellers. Most people come in a jacket or a dress, not formal wear.
Charles Bridge before the crowds and up to Prague Castle for its 9:00 opening. Lunch at the Strahov monastery brewery, the library, then down Petřín's orchards; beer at Letná at sunset.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →The 14th-century stone bridge over the Vltava, lined with thirty baroque statues of saints.
free
Twelve minutes from the flat. Before nine it is walkable; by eleven it is a crowd. The bronze plaque of St John of Nepomuk, rubbed shiny, is halfway along on the right.
The largest ancient castle complex in the world, seat of Czech kings and presidents, with the Gothic cathedral of St Vitus inside it.
450 Kč eachday's highlightuphill
Up through Malá Strana and the Old Castle Steps, 20 minutes and about 2,500 steps, steep. The grounds open early; the interiors at 9:00. The main circuit ticket, 450 Kč, covers St Vitus, the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane.
In the cathedral, find Alfons Mucha's stained-glass window in the third chapel on the left. The queue for St Vitus is shortest first thing, so go there before the palace. Security checks at the gates. Allow three hours.
350–500 Kč each
Ten minutes up Loretánská from the castle. The brewery in the monastery courtyard brews its own St Norbert amber and dark beers; Czech food at long wooden tables, busy on Saturdays.
The Premonstratensian monastery's library, two baroque halls with painted ceilings and books to the roof.
about 200 Kč each
Next door to the brewery. You look into the Theological and Philosophical Halls from the doorways, not walk through them; thirty minutes is enough.
The wooded hill above Malá Strana, with orchards on its slope and a view over the river and the Old Town.
freedownhill
From Strahov the path runs through the apple and pear orchards, downhill all the way, 30 minutes. The benches halfway look across at the castle and the Old Town spires.
The island under Charles Bridge, and the wall covered in John Lennon graffiti since the 1980s, when it was an act of protest.
free
Kampa's park is the quiet riverbank opposite the Old Town; the wall is two minutes away on Velkopřevorské square. Then back over the bridge to the flat to rest.
300–500 Kč eachcash or card
Fifteen minutes across Čech Bridge and up the steps to Letná Park. The beer garden under the chestnut trees serves beer in plastic cups and sausages at the kiosk; for a proper dinner, eat first at one of the restaurants on Letná's streets. Sunset is about 20:50, over the bridges.
Out of the flat by 10:00, bags into storage, then the metro to Vyšehrad, the fort and the cemetery of Dvořák and Mucha. Back along the river past the Dancing House, the airport at 17:00.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →100–150 Kč a bagbook online
The same storage shop as on Friday, booked until 16:45; the flat has to be empty by 10:00.
The fortress on a rock above the Vltava, said to be Prague's first seat; its cemetery holds Dvořák, Smetana and Mucha.
freeday's highlight
Metro C from Muzeum to Vyšehrad, then ten minutes on foot along the ramparts. The grounds and the cemetery are free.
The cemetery is beside the twin-spired church of Saints Peter and Paul: Dvořák's grave is near the arcade, Mucha's in the Slavín tomb. The ramparts on the river side look down the Vltava to the castle. Allow an hour and a half.
250–400 Kč each
Down the steps to the riverside streets of Podskalí. Neighbourhood pubs and bistros, quieter than the centre; Sunday lunch is the Czech day for roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut.
The 1996 office building by Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić, two towers nicknamed Fred and Ginger.
free outside
Twenty minutes north along the river. The rooftop bar charges entry; the best view of the building is from the opposite corner of Jiráskovo Square.
Prague's 1912 Art Nouveau concert hall and café, decorated by Mucha and the Czech artists of his time.
café free to enter
Tram 17 back to the Old Town, then five minutes. The ground-floor café is the Art Nouveau room open to anyone; coffee and cake under the chandeliers. Guided tours of the halls, including Mucha's Lord Mayor's room, run on set hours; check the times at the desk.
One ticket covers the metro, trams, buses and the airport trolleybus; buy it before you board, in the app or at a machine.
Buy tickets in the PID Lítačka app or at the yellow machines at stops and in metro stations; both take bank cards. A paper ticket must be stamped in the small machine as you enter the metro or the tram. Inspectors in plain clothes fine riders without a valid ticket on the spot.
Prague charges 50 Kč a person a night, added by the host or collected in cash at check-in.
The currency is the Czech crown, Kč; about 25 to the euro. Cards work almost everywhere, including beer halls. Never change money at street booths: their rates are a trap. If a card machine offers to charge you in your own currency, choose crowns.
In a Czech pub the waiter brings a new beer when your glass is nearly empty and marks a line on your slip; lay a beer mat on top of the glass to stop. Tank beer (tankové) is unpasteurised and fresher. Tip by rounding up, about 10%, when you pay at the table.
A flat has nobody to keep the bags before check-in or after check-out. Bounce and Radical Storage keep bags in shops around Old Town Square, booked online, about 100–150 Kč a bag for the day.
For two, 3 days and 2 nights in Prague, staying in the Old Town. Covers the flat, the city tax, transport, bag storage, tickets, the concert, every meal and beer, and a buffer. Flights are not included.
| Item | Economy | Comfort | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat in the Old Town, 2 nights | 7,000 Kč | 11,000 Kč | 3,500–5,500 Kč a night for a one-bedroom flat |
| City tax | 200 Kč | 200 Kč | 50 Kč a person a night |
| Transport | 600 Kč | 2,000 Kč | Comfort takes taxis to and from the airport |
| Bag storage, two days | 400 Kč | 600 Kč | 2 bags × 2 days |
| Prague Spring concert | 1,600 Kč | 4,000 Kč | 800–2,000 Kč a seat |
| Jewish Museum, castle, Strahov Library | 2,500 Kč | 2,500 Kč | About 1,250 Kč each |
| Lunches | 1,500 Kč | 2,500 Kč | 3 lunches for two |
| Dinners | 1,600 Kč | 3,000 Kč | 2 dinners for two |
| Beer, coffee, cake | 1,000 Kč | 1,600 Kč | |
| Buffer | 1,000 Kč | 2,000 Kč | A Mucha print, a second concert |
| Total | 17,400 Kč | 29,400 Kč |
Realistic figure: About 21,000–24,000 Kč for two (€850–950), without flights
Cards work almost everywhere, including beer halls and the Letná kiosks. Keep 500–1,000 Kč in cash for the city tax and small bars; withdraw from a bank's cash machine, not a Euronet one.
All of them: the WayFriend guide library.
