Hi everyone, today I’d like to take you to a city I recently visited with one of my best friends. In early September, we went to Prague in Czechia*. It was a very spontaneous trip since we found really cheap bus tickets at the Flixbus website. We stayed in an Airbnb very close to the city center and the old part of the town. I love booking Airbnbs over normal hotels since it’s mostly a bit cheaper, you get to know the locals and they are probably going to give you some insider tips for exploring their home towns.

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On our first day we got up bright and early in the morning and at 9 we already got off the bus, ready to explore Prague. First things first, we decided to get some much-needed coffee and breakfast in a cute little café in the historic old town. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures, since caffeine and food were more important than the pretty Instagram shot #sorrynotsorry.
After enjoying the coffee and some delicious pastries, we took our bags to the Airbnb and made our way to the city center again. The first day was pretty much filled with wandering around, getting a drink or coffee here and there and just enjoying the feeling of travelling and being a tourist in a city we hadn’t been to before. Some sights we stopped at: The amazing Charles’ Bridge that crosses the river Vltava. This historic bridge dates back to the 1300s and connects the city’s old town and the Prague Castle. Almost ten meters wide and decorated by an alley of 30 statues and monuments, the bride is a beautiful and interesting part of Prague’s old town. Walking along it was a truly amazing feeling, with the large statues on the sides, the cobble stones beneath your feet and a mesmerizing view of the river, the city and the castle. I’d recommend you check it out a little earlier than we did, as while it was a beautiful sight, there were hundreds of other tourists that also wanted to enjoy the view. After walking over the bridge to the castle side of Prague, we decided to walk up the Petrin Hill to get a look at the city from above. It didn’t take too long to walk up there, but the gardens at the top were pretty it we enjoyed a really beautiful view. We ended up watching the sunset on top of the hill and later walked down in the twilight, and back to our Airbnb since we were too tired to explore Prague’s night life that day.

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On our second day we decided to join a free walking tour. I’d never done one of those before, but they seemed to be a really, really big thing in Prague. When we went to the starting point of ours, we discovered numerous different walking tour groups in many different languages. The tours are done by locals, and are technically free of charge. The only thing they ask in return for the 2 hours of their time is a tip at the end of the tour if you enjoyed it. Since our tour guide was really nice, funny and actually told us so so much about the history, lifestyle and other things in Prague, we definitely wanted to give him a big tip. Some stops we took on the walking tour included the most interesting sights in the old town and the Jewish Quarter as well as some smaller areas like the market square. I really enjoyed the walking tour since he took us to many different places all around the old part of the city, answered all our curious questions about living in Prague and even gave us some insider tips on where to get the best dinner and drinks in town. One thing that annoyed me were some of the other tourists: While we were taking a little break from the tour and enjoyed a drink at a bar, about 1/3 of our group simply left! They were not only leaving our tour guide with no tip but also had him looking for them for 10 minutes since he thought they had gotten lost exploring the area around the bar. I guess there’s always people taking advantage of others but in this case, it really annoyed me and I felt bad for the guy. Luckily, most of the other people in our group stayed and tipped at the end.

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After our walking tour we needed a break and decided to treat ourselves to some lunch in the amazing restaurant Kafka Snob Food. The menu includes vegetarian and vegan meals too, which was nice. The restaurant’s interior was really pretty and we even managed to get a table out on the patio. After our lunch we wanted some dessert and decided to get a Trdelnik with ice cream. The famous, traditional dessert was created in Slovakia and made it’s way over to Czechia a while ago, where the little shop owners soon discovered that filling the delicious doughy rolls with ice cream or fruits is a best-seller among the many tourists. We got ours with vanilla ice cream and it was delicious! After we finished the dessert we decided to do a little shopping in the huge shopping mall called Palladium. To end the day we decided to check out AnonymouS Bar, which a friend of ours recommended. The cocktail bar is kind of a secret tip hidden in the streets of the old town. The interior is inspired by the movie V for Vendetta and all bartenders are wearing the famous masks. The inside is not very big but cozy and you get a good look at the bar where the mixologists show their talent of making drinks like works of art. And I even got an insider tip for you: ask for the secret menu and you’ll get handed a little ultraviolet light that allows you to discover the hidden drinks on the menu. We loved being at that bar and I’d definitely go there again (if I can find the entrance again, wow did we have troubles entering that bar!)

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On our third and last day, we decided to check out the Prague castle. The ancient palace is huge and very pretty and we even caught a glance at the uniformed guards that were preparing for what seemed like an official visit from a foreign state representative. The little alleys and streets near the castle are very pretty and we enjoyed walking along, having coffee there and slowly making our way back to the bus station.

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I loved our time in Prague and really can’t wait to go back some time. Have you been to Prague or any other part of Czechia? Or is it still on your travel wish list? Let me know by writing a comment! All the best, Stefanie

*I’m using Czechia instead of Czech Republic since it was officially registered the country’s short name in 2016 by the UN. Find more information here.

Find more travel tips for Czechia here: https://m.facebook.com/visitczechia/
https://m.facebook.com/CzechiaCZ