Old Town Square - Prague Tourist Information and Cheap Hotels

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Old town square Prague cheap hotels and flights make this European city a very popular place indeed.

How popular can be seen around mid-day when you are fighting the swarms of people on the famous Charles Bridge.

The city is ideal for back-packers and families alike.

A marvellous place for just wandering about.

It is an ideal tourist attraction and world heritage site.

We have just returned from a five-day visit to Prague.

We had made vague noises about going for quite a long time and never gotten around to it.

The thing that made me a bit wary was the reputation Prague has for being a popular venue for stag and hen parties.

However we decided to risk it.

We thought the best plan would be to stay outside the centre of town and we found the hotel Inos, which was 10 minutes by tram, or 30/40 minutes walk by the river into the centre. We paid around £130 for the room and breakfast was 4 euros per person extra. There are many hotels to choose from.

It was a basic hotel, clean and efficient with very pleasant and helpful staff on reception. There was no air conditioning, which would have been appreciated as the temperature was up around the 30’c mark. I would stay there again though and the breakfast was worth paying for.

We arrived in Prague mid day Sunday and our pre-booked taxi was waiting for us. It is possible to find your way from the airport to the centre by Metro and tram, they are both good cheap services but would obviously take time to work them out.

The arrival time gave us the rest of Sunday to wander around the centre, visit Prague tourist information centre and have a leisurely dinner.

We took a guidebook and divided our stay into three areas - the castle, the old town and the new town.

We decided to make the castle area our first visit as, according to the guidebook it needed a full day and the book was correct. It is a huge area and it reminded me of the Alhambra, not because it looked like it but because it seems to have been a small town, which encompassed the King’s living quarters and St Vitus cathedral.

We rented the audio guide, which helps you find your way around, but I would not say that it is essential.

There are plenty of cafes and you do need to stop a few times especially when it is hot. We were a little put out that some parts were closed off for renovation but no mention was made of it until you got to the area, and also there were extra admission fees for various museums etc. This was a little annoying, as the main entrance fee and audio guide was quite expensive, so be aware.

You must see the castle if you go to Prague though, it is very impressive as is the Cathedral. I must mention Charles Bridge. This is a very impressive structure and is one of the main attractions so it gets very busy but there is no traffic on it and there are good photo opportunities.

On our second day we took a Vienna vacations day break, which I will tell you about on another page.

We were a little tired on Wednesday so we had a leisurely breakfast and took the tram into the centre. We had walked in on the Monday, the day of our castle visit but with the soaring temperatures we opted for the tram. Trams are very easy; you buy a few tickets (our hotel reception had them) and stamp them in a machine on the tram.

Today was for the Old Town so we went up the clock tower first as we were at our freshest. It is worth going up and there are lifts for any who find the steps too much. You get super views over Prague and if you are there on the hour you can get a close-up of the trumpeter. Of course everyone knows about the clock and there are huge crowds as it approaches the hour.

I like the fact that all the squares and small streets around are still cobbled and in spite of the crowds Prague has maintained its character. We followed the walks in our guidebook and they are not taxing, you can see everything within a short distance from the old town square.

On Thursday we had almost a full day as we didn’t have to leave for Prague airport until 5.30. We left this day for the new town, which included Wenceslas Square which is just a huge rectangle bordered by hotels, shops and cafés.

We walked to the top to have a peep in the foyer of the National Museum. I understand that the square dates back to 1348 when Charles 1V was king and was used as a horse fair.

It is very modern now and used mostly for demonstrations or National gatherings. It is a good place to shop and the hotel Europa is a good place for a coffee.

There are plenty of classical concerts performed in Churches. They all seem to have similar programmes so we went to one near the Charles Bridge. They last just about an hour and it was ok but we thought it wasn’t particularly good value for money.

My tips: whenever possible eat or have coffees away from main squares this goes for buying your water too. We never saw any trouble from the ever-present groups but there was usually police around. Take a guidebook it will save you time, especially if you get one with suggested walking routes. We used DK Eyewitness Travel.

Prague is very busy and quite expensive but most capital cities are. There is a wide choice of hotels from ultra cheap to very expensive. The choice is yours.

I would recommend a visit to Prague.

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