Travel Tips for Prague, Czech Republic

Hi! I went to Europe last November and I still haven’t gotten over it. So here is my small way of giving back!

Prague is the capital city of Czech Republic and going there should be on anyone’s bucket list, I swear! If you want to know more about its history and specifics, you can surely google it. What I will do here is to to detail what we did during our visit and share a few tips and comments for anyone wanting to do a DIY.

MEANS TO ACCESS:

We came from Basel, Switzerland and used a local airline (Easyjet). This took us an hour and a half.

Not sure about direct flight from Manila, although I heard that KLM is accessible.

You may also use the train which will take you more than 12 hours (from Basel), so we decided against it. But if you do take this option, please be reminded that trains in Europe leave on time. So if it says 21:13, they leave at 21:13. You may buy train tickets online and Prague is accessible to almost any European country.

For us Filipinos, you will need the Schengen Visa for entry.

ACCOMMODATION: (Oooops, forgot to take photos of the hotel. But highly recommended!)

For accommodations, we stayed in Hotel Perla. Booked directly on their website since there was an ongoing promo that if you stay for 3 nights or more, you will get free one way airport pick up. Other benefits also included free sauna entry and free tea and coffee facility (I think this costs 5euros). We also had good wifi access and breakfast. There were free postcards available and you can also buy stamps from the reception. You will need to request weighing scale (for luggages) if you need it. No complimentary bottled water. Airport pick up (private service) costs 29 Euros or 680KC. You will have to pay directly to the driver much like most of taxi services.

WHERE TO GO

CHARLES BRIDGE: It's true what they say, Prague has amazing view whether day or night, but especially at night! Go to Charles Bridge and you will see the difference. It's as if you are truly living in a fairy tale world, with background music (since a lot of musicians play there for money).  Sadly, there were a lot of beggars lining up the streets.

Charles Bridge

OLD TOWN:

Charles Bridge separates the Old Town and Lesser Town. We were at the Old Town section which includes the following:

Astronomical Clock: Go up the tower. You will see the panoramic view of the city. Don't worry, there is a lift available. Also every end of hour, you will see the 12 apostles peep out from the clock tower. Death strikes the time.

Wenceslas Square - There are a lot of shops and hotels here. It's known to have a lot of prostitute but I'm not sure if I saw any. It was quite safe in my opinion.

Watch opera at Strani Opera. This is the oldest opera in Prague. I actually fell asleep mid act 1 but it was fun to attend one. It was actually cheap. 460KC for 2 already. You can also watch orchestras which are available in a lot of churches. Buy the tickets right before the show because you can totally negotiate the price. From 700KC per adult, we were able to bargain for 2 tickets at 500KC.  

LESSER TOWN:

Lesser Town has the St. Nicholas church which closes at 5PM (during winter). It costs 70KC per person. But honestly, no need to go inside and pay. Go to Infant Jesus church instead. It closes at 530PM and it's free. Plus, there is a Filipino store in front of it and there are a lot of Filipinos visiting this place. Buy stop Nino figurines and have them blest by a priest. Go up to their museum. It showcases a lot of Sto. Nino robes and we have one from the Philippines.

There are 2 towers connecting the Charles Bridge. We opted to go up on the Lesser Town tower side. It costs 90KC each and there are 140 steps. There are 2 gold statues there that you may touch along Charles Bridge. Prayed that I will still be able to come back. And just bring wine/beer and just lounge on the corner at night.

You can also go around the Mala Strana area, Kafka museum and Prague castles when you visit the Lesser Town party. Go first to the Castle. It will take you 2-3 hours to go around it. More, if you want to read all the descriptions. To go to the castle from Old Town, just take tram 22. Then just walk downhill to Lesser Town.

If you want to get a guide for the castle, the meeting point is just in the middle at every hour. I don't think there's a private guide. Don't forget to pay for the castle tickets and photo permit. We paid 350 KC each which includes most of the entrances.

OTHER TIPS:

Currency in Prague is Czech Crown (CZK). Euros are hardly accepted. We had our Euros converted in the airport since we were warned against doing so in other areas. 1 CZK = 2 PHP (approximately).

Scribble on the Lennon Wall!

By the way, please check your change after buying something. 2 old ladies(sadly) tricked us when we were buying some street food.

Tips are usually 10-15% everywhere.

We didn’t use cabs because that would have been too expensive. Only tried the tram when we visited lesser town for the Prague Castle. But I believe learning the Tram is fairly easy. Walked almost everywhere because the view is so different, so beautiful! So please wear comfortable shoes because there are cobbled stones everywhere!!!

If you’re from the Philippines, sun sets really early at 430PM during winter. Weather was around 15 degrees Celsius and we were lucky that it didn’t rain the whole time we were there.

There was a church just by the Charles Bridge. We heard mass and they were playing the organ. It was really nice even though we didn't understand the whole thing.

Big services so we just usually ordered one dish to share. Then buy on the go food elsewhere. Have coffee and beer anytime, anywhere. Beer here really tastes good. Try Pilsner Urquell and Gambians!!! Don't forget to try weed as well if you’re feeling adventurous (haha!). There are a lot of chips and chocolates and whatnots available in souvenir shops. I was able to bring home some souvenirs (lollipops and chocolates) with cannabis in them.  I also saw a condom with cannabis, haha!

You can also check out the Jewish quarters. There are different pricing depending on which places you want to go in and check out.

Try these: sausages with the cabbage, chicken skewers, old Prague ham, trdelnik with ice cream in Good Food resto, goulash, absinthe!!! roasted pork, roasted duck (although Paris has better duck), dumpling (but this is actually similar to mashed potatoes), mulled or hot wine (Yuck! But try it for experience!).

If you are a wine lover, buy from the supermarket and see how cheap they all are. We were able to buy 90KC for sparkling wine!!!

Check C&A and Gate stores. They have very cheap clothes and jackets. We were able to buy a leather jacket for 580KC.

Anyway, I think 3 days would be enough. We had a lot of free time because we stayed for 4 days (and our flight was at night during the 4th day).

BUDGET:

DAY	ITEM		AMOUNT	COMMENT
Day 1	Hotdogs	KC	170.00
	Water	KC	16.00
	Hot wine	KC	35.00
	Donut	KC	80.00
	Ice Cream	KC	120.00
	Grocery	KC	120.00	90 for sparkling wine
	Dinner	KC	350.00	Goulash, Dumpling, Roasted Pork, Beer
	Opera	KC	460.00	Total for two.
Day 2	Tip	KC	20.00
	Bell Tower	KC	240.00
	Prague Castle	KC	700.00	350 each Entrance fee
	Post Card	KC	10.00
	Stamps	KC	150.00
	Kebab	KC	150.00
	Hot Choco	KC	35.00
	Ham	KC	240.00
	Tram	KC	48.00
	Resto	KC	510.00
	Palace Photo	KC	50.00
	Ice Cream (Mcdo)	KC	50.00
	Candles	KC	40.00
Day 3	St. Nicholas	KC	140.00	70 each
	Candles	KC	20.00
	Sto Nino Pendants	KC	100.00
	Lesser Town	KC	180.00	90 each
	Coffee	KC	143.00
	Tip	KC	15.00
	Drinks	KC	306.00	Absinthe, Beer
	Tip	KC	30.00
	Concert	KC	500.00	250 each
	Hotdog	KC	60.00
	Chicken Skewers	KC	100.00
	Kebab	KC	285.00
	Lollipop	KC	20.00
	Chocolate	KC	99.00
	Water	KC	49.00
	Ice Cream	KC	120.00
Day 4	Postcards	KC	12.00
	Taxi	KC	680.00
	Kebab	KC	175.00
	Sausage, beer	KC	120.00
	Photo souvenir	KC	120.00
	Water	KC	60.00
	Chocolates	KC	198.00
	Taxi Driver	KC	65.00
TOTAL			7,191.00
Budget per pax			3,595.50