Berlitz Pocket Guide Prague (Travel Guide eBook)

By Berlitz Publishing

Berlitz Pocket Guide Prague: iconic style, a bestselling brand, this is the quintessential pocket-sized travel guide to Prague.
Compact, concise, and packed with essential information about Where to Go and What to Do, this is an ideal on-the-move companion when you're exploring Bulgaria
Covers Top Ten Attractions, including St Vitus Cathedral, Wenceslas Square, the Jewish Quarter and the Old Royal Palace, plus suggestions for a Perfect Day in Prague, including a castle tour, formal gardens and where to go for dinner
Includes an insightful overview of landscape, history and culture
Handy colour maps on the inside cover flaps will help you find your way around
Essential practical information on everything from Eating Out to Getting Around
Inspirational colour photography throughout
Sharp design and colour-coded sections make for an engaging reading experience

About Berlitz: Berlitz draws on years of travel and language expertise to bring you a wide range of travel and language products, including travel maps, phrase books, language-learning courses, dictionaries and kids' language products.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Apr 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781785731020

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

Getting Around the e-Book

This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Prague, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Prague, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Prague are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Prague. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Berlitz Pocket Guides

The Berlitz story began in 1877 when Maximilian Berlitz devised his revolutionary method of language learning. More than 130 years later, Berlitz is a household name, famed not only for language schools but also as a provider of best-selling language and travel guides.

Our wide-ranging travel products – printed travel guides and phrase books, as well as apps and ebooks – offer all the information you need for a perfect trip, and are regularly updated by our team of expert local authors. Their practical emphasis means they are perfect for use on the ground. Wherever you’re going – whether it’s on a short break, the trip of a lifetime, a cruise or a business trip – we offer the ideal guide for your needs.

Our Berlitz Pocket Guides are the perfect choice if you need reliable, concise information in a handy format. We provide amazing value for money – these guides may be small, but they are packed with information. No wonder they have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.

© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Prague’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

Top Attraction #2

Top Attraction #3

Top Attraction #4

Top Attraction #5

Top Attraction #6

Top Attraction #7

Top Attraction #8

Top Attraction #9

Top Attraction #10

A Perfect Day in Prague

Introduction

City of one hundred spires

Art, culture and leisure

The modern city

A Brief History

Beginnings

A saintly pioneer

The Wenceslas dynasty

Charles the Great

Religious strife

The first defenestration

Arrival of the Habsburgs

National awakening

The 20th century

World War II and after

The Czech Republic

Historical Landmarks

Where To Go

Hradčany (The Castle District)

Hradčany Square

Prague Castle

St Vitus Cathedral

The Royal Palace

St George’s Basilica

The Eastern Sector of the Castle

The Loreto

Strahov Monastery

Malá Strana

Lesser Quarter Square

Kampa Island and Petfiín Hill

Charles Bridge

Staré Město (Old Town)

Old Town Square

Around Old Town Square

The Jewish Quarter

On the banks of the Vltava

East of Old Town Square

Nové Město (The New Town)

Wenceslas Square

The National Theatre and vicinity

Architecture old and new

Outlying areas

Vyšehrad

National Technical Museum

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

The Exhibition Ground and Stromovka Park

Mozart Museum

Letná Park

Troja Palace

Bubeneč and Střešovice

Vinohrady and Žižkov

Excursions

Karlštejn

Křívoklát

Lidice

Nelahozeves

Mělník

Terezín and Litoměřice

Kolín

Kutná Hora

Průhonice

Konopiště

Český Šternberk

What To Do

Entertainment

Music and theatre

Nightlife

Shopping

Where to shop

What to buy

Sports and activities

Children’s Prague

Calendar of events

Eating Out

Where to eat

Breakfast

Czech cuisine

Vegetarian cooking

Snacks

Drinks

Reading the Menu

To help you order

menu reader

Restaurants

Old Town and New Town

Castle and Lesser Quarter

A–Z Travel Tips

A

Accommodation

Airport

B

Bicycle rental

Budgeting for your trip

C

Camping

Car hire

Climate

Clothing

Crime and safety

D

Driving

E

Electricity

Embassies and consulates

Emergencies

G

Getting there

Guides and tours

H

Health and medical care

L

Language

LGBTQ travellers

M

Maps

Media

Money

O

Opening times

P

Police

Post offices

Public Holidays

R

Religion

T

Telephones

Time zones

Tipping

Toilets

Tourist information

Transport

V

Visas and entry requirements

W

Websites and Internet access

Y

Youth hostels

Recommended Hotels

Old Town and New Town

Castle district and Lesser Quarter

further afield

Dictionary

English–Czech

Czech–English Dictionary

Prague’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

iStock

Astronomical Clock.

Its fascinating rituals celebrate the passing of time. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #2

iStock

Wenceslas Square.

Dominated by the iconic statue of the saint. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #3

Shutterstock

St Vitus Cathedral.

Prepare to be dazzled by its awe-inspiring facade. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #4

Getty Images

Sternberg Palace.

Houses a fine collection of European Masters. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #5

Národní divadlo

National Theatre.

The home of the National Opera and Ballet. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #6

Apa Publications

Loreto.

Fine frescoes adorn one of Bohemia’s most important centres of pilgrimage. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #7

Apa Publications

Jewish Quarter.

Monuments remember a vanished community. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #8

iStock

Charles Bridge.

A Gothic masterpiece, lined with beautiful sculptures, atmospheric at any time of day. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #9

iStock

Our Lady before Ty´n.

The church’s Gothic spires soar into the sky. For more information, click here.

Top Attraction #10

iStock

Old Royal Palace.

The spectacular dimensions of Vladislav Hall seem out of this world. For more information, click here.

A Perfect Day in Prague

9.00am

Breakfast

If you have skipped breakfast at your hotel grab some coffee and something to eat at the charming Cukrkávalimonáda café (Lázeňská 7) in the Lesser Quarter.

10.00am

St Nicholas

Just around the corner, on Malostranské Square, is the Church of St Nicholas, a Lesser Quarter landmark. This has one of the finest Baroque interiors in the city, glittering with gold leaf after renovation.

11.00am

Viewpoint

From Malostranské Square make your way up the steep street of Nerudova, lined with historic buildings, and climb up the steep ramp of Ke Hradu to Hradčany Square. From here there is a wonderful view across the city’s domes and spires.

12 noon

Nový Svět and lunch

Close to Hradčany Square is the delightful street of Nový Svět (‘New World’). In one of the beautiful old houses is the restaurant U Zlaté Hrušky (‘The Golden Pear’), a good place to try classic Czech cuisine.

2.00pm

Castle tour

After lunch head back to Hradčany Square and enter the castle gate. Spend the afternoon visiting St Vitus Cathedral, peeping into the beautifully-decorated Wenceslas Chapel, and the historic rooms of the Old Palace and the splendid medieval Vladislav Hall.

4.00pm

Formal gardens

After visiting the palace continue on through the castle to the formal Baroque gardens that cascade down the hill below Prague Castle. These are a delightful way of returning to the Lesser Quarter and they will bring you out onto Valdštejnské Square.

5.00pm

Charles Bridge

Walk along Tomašská back to Malostranské Square where Mostecká will take you down to the Charles Bridge. Enjoy the late afternoon views along the river and of the castle hill. Back in the Lesser Quarter you can have a pre-dinner drink with more riverside views at Hergetova Cihelná (Cihelná 2b).

7.00pm

Dinner options

When it comes to dinner there are a number of excellent options close by. The romantic Pálffy Palác (Valdštejnská 14) is lovely for a dinner for two, or if you are in search of good local dishes try either U Patrona (Dražického náměstí 4) or U Modré kachničky (Nebovidská 6).

9.30pm

On the town

Experience the magic of the Old Town at night by crossing the illuminated Charles Bridge and continuing along Karlova to the Old Town Square. Round off the evening with a cocktail – along Pařížská you will find the Cloud 9 (Pobřežní 1), Bugsy’s (Pařížská 10), Ocean Drive (V Kolkovně 7) and Tretter’s (V Kolkovně 3).

Introduction

Located in the heart of Europe – perhaps a little further north and west than most people think – Prague (Praha in Czech) is set on the banks of the Vltava River (a tributary of the Elbe). The site was chosen both for its strategic advantages and for its beauty, and the heart of the old city nestles in a bowl formed by rolling hills.

‘Five towns’

Prague used to be known as the ‘five towns’, after the five historic districts at its heart. These are: Hradčany (the Castle District), the Old Town (Staré Město), the Lesser Quarter (Malá Strana), the New Town (Nové Město) and Josefov (the Jewish Quarter).

Some destinations still have the capacity to give even the most cynical tourist pause for thought, refusing to be reduced to a mere list of museums or galleries. Prague is one such. Never destroyed by war, the city’s 1,000-year history is etched into its very fabric, its sublime beauty and unique character forged through its development as a major European Capital. It has been the capital of Bohemia for centuries. During the Middle Ages it rose to prominence as the capital of Charles IV (1316–78), the Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of much of Western Europe. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries the city was the seat of the Habsburg Court and it became the capital of the newly independent country of Czechoslovakia in 1918. The Communists took over in 1948 and ruled from the city, but they were overthrown in the Prague-based ‘Velvet Revolution’ of 1989. And when the Czechs and Slovaks parted company in 1992, Prague became capital of the new Czech Republic.

Prague always was and still remains a city of contrasts. It is famous for its illustrious artistic past and present – in painting, sculpture, music, literature, architecture and design – yet is equally renowned for its beer, hearty food and sometimes boisterous tourist scene. Prague is also a city of protest and revolution, asserting its own identity, from the 15th century Hussites who fought against the hegemony of the Catholic Church, to the struggle against Communist domination in 1968 and, more successfully, 1989. Yet, this is also a city that has gleefully embraced consumerism, seen in the flash new shopping malls that are springing up, and sometimes seems to be trying to subsume its identity into the global shopping culture exemplified by London and New York. But these are all part of Prague’s attraction; there probably is just about something for everyone, especially if you look just a bit beyond the standard tourist circuit of the Castle and Old Town Square.

City of one hundred spires

Prague’s architectural tapestry spans almost every major European style,