Pocket Rough Guide Prague (Rough Guide Pocket Guides)

162 Pages·2010·18.98 MB·English

by  Rob Humphreys

POCKET ROUGH GUIDE
PRAGUE
• PRAGUE’S BEST RESTAURANTS, BARS, SHOPS AND HOTELS
• EXPERT ITINERARIES
Pocket Rough Guide
PRAGUE
written and researched by
ROB HUMPHREYS
1
Contents
INTRODUCTION 4
Prague at a glance ..................... 7 Itineraries ................................. 8
BEST OF PRAGUE 12
Big sights ................................ 14 Museums and galleries ............ 22
Green Prague ........................... 16 Art Nouveau Prague ................. 24
Baroque Prague ....................... 18 Pubs ....................................... 26
Cafés ...................................... 20 Nightlife .................................. 28
PLACES 30
1 Prague Castle .................... 32 7 Národní and southern
2 Hradčany ........................... 40 Nové Město ........................ 96
3 Malá Strana ....................... 46 8 Vyšehrad, Vinohrady
and Žižkov ........................108
4 Staré Město ....................... 60
9 Holešovice ........................118
5 Josefov ............................. 78
6 Wenceslas Square and
northern Nové Město .......... 86
ACCOMMODATION 128
ESSENTIALS 134
Arrival ....................................136 Chronology .............................144
Getting around ........................137 Czech .....................................146
Directory A–Z ..........................139 Index ......................................154
Festivals and events ................142
<< S T A T U E S O N T H E C H A R L E S B R I D G E
< A R T N O U V E A U S C U L P T U R E O N O B E C N Í D Ů M 3
INTRODUCTION TO
PRAGUE
With some six hundred years of architecture virtually
untouched by natural disaster or war, few other
European capitals look quite as beautiful as Prague.
Straddling the winding River Vltava, with a steep
wooded hill to one side, the city retains much of
its medieval layout and its rich mantle of Baroque,
Rococo and Art Nouveau buildings have successfully
escaped the vanities and excesses of modern
redevelopment.
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B U I L D I N G S O N T H E O L D TO W N S Q U A R E
INTRODUCTION TO PRAGUE
Best place for a view over the city
rague is a city of red rooftops and golden spires, of wooded hills and
stupendous views. Every visitor who climbs the steps to the castle is
Prewarded with a fantastic view over the city, but if you want to escape
the crowds, check out some of the capital’s other lofty vantage points.
SEE Letná > p.118, Petřín > p.54, Vyšehrad > p.110.
Physically, Prague may have if nothing else, help to boost
weathered the twentieth the city’s nightlife.
century very well but it Prague is divided into two
sufered in other ways. Te unequal halves by the river,
city that produced the music which meanders through
of Dvořák and Smetana, the the heart of the capital and
literature of Čapek and Kafa provides the city with one of its
and modernist architecture most enduring landmarks, the
to rival Bauhaus, was forced Charles Bridge. Built during
to endure a brutal Nazi the city’s medieval golden
occupation. Prague had age, this stone bridge, with its
always been a multiethnic parade of Baroque statuary, still
city, with a large Jewish and forms the chief link between
German-speaking population the more central old town, or
– in the afermath of the war, Staré Město, on the right bank,
only the Czechs were lef. Ten and Prague’s hilltop castle on
for forty years, during the the lef. Te castle is a vast
Communist period, the city complex, which towers over the
lay hidden behind the Iron rest of the city and supplies the
Curtain, seldom visited by classic picture-postcard image
Westerners. All that changed of Prague. Spread across the
in the 1990s, and nowadays slopes below the castle are the
Prague is one of the most wonderful cobbled streets and
popular European city break secret walled gardens of Malá
destinations, with a highly Strana, little changed in the two
developed tourist industry and hundred years since Mozart
a large expat population who, walked them.
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INTRODUCTION TO PRAGUE
LET N Á
go. It originally developed as
When to visit four separate self-governing
rague is very popular, which towns and a Jewish ghetto,
means that the streets whose individual identities
Paround the main sights are and medieval street plans have
jam-packed with tourists for much been preserved, to a greater
of the year. If you can, it’s best to or lesser extent, to this day.
avoid the summer months, when Ahilsmtoorsict aelv ienrtyetrheisnt gl ioesf awniyth in
temperatures soar above 30ºC, and these compact central districts,
you have to fight your way across and despite the twisting matrix
the Charles Bridge. The best times of streets, it’s easy enough to
to visit, in terms of weather, are fnd your way around between
May and September. The winter the major landmarks. If you
months can be very chilly in Prague, do use public transport,
but if you don’t mind the cold, the you’ll fnd an extensive and
city does look good in the snow picturesque tram network
and the crowds are manageable. and a futuristic Soviet-built
Christmas and New Year are perfect metro system that rivals most
as there are Christmas markets German cities. With the Czech
right across town, and plenty of crown riding high and the
mulled wine and hot punch to keep country hoping to adopt the
you warm. euro in the not too distant
future, Prague is no longer the
budget destination it once was.
With a population of just one However, one thing you can be
and a quarter million, Prague sure of is that the beer is better
(Praha to the Czechs) is and cheaper than anywhere
relatively small as capital cities else in the EU.
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V I E W O F T H E C A S T L E F R O M T H E C H A R L E S B R I D G E
INTRODUCTION TO PRAGUE
PRAGUE AT A GLANCE
>>EATING >>NIGHTLIFE
As in many cities, the main Prague’s ofen excellent theatre
thoroughfares in Prague aren’t and concert venues are all
the best places in which to fnd very centrally located in Staré
somewhere to eat and drink. Město and Nové Město; the
One or two grand Habsburg-era same is true for most small
cafés survive on the main and medium-scale jazz and
junctions of the city centre, rock venues. Žižkov has more
but for the most part the best late-night pubs and bars than
cafés and restaurants are hidden anywhere else, plus a smattering
away in the backstreets. Tere’s of gay and lesbian venues. One
a particularly acute dearth of area that’s up-and-coming
decent places in and around for nightlife is Holešovice, in
Prague Castle and Hradčany, particular the old industrial
while expensive restaurants and market area to the east of
predominate in Malá Strana. the metro line – the warehouse
For a much wider choice of spaces here already house
cafés, and of cuisine, head to several of the city’s newest clubs
Staré Město and the streets and venues. Wenceslas Square
of Nové Město just south of remains the traditional centre of
Národní. Prague’s seedier side.
>>DRINKING >>SHOPPING
Given that the Czechs top Pařížská, in Josefov, is home
the world league table of beer to the city’s swankiest stores,
consumption, it comes as little among them branches of the
surprise to fnd that Prague is international fashion houses.
a drinker’s paradise. Wherever Celetná in Staré Město, and
you are in the city, you’re Na příkopě on the border of
never very far from a pub or Nové Město, also specialize in
bar where you can quench luxury goods. Te city’s most
your thirst. Staré Město has modern department store is
the highest concentration of multistorey My národní on
pubs and bars, but if you’re Národní. Czechs have had
looking for one of the city’s their own malls – known as
new microbreweries or for pasáže – since the 1920s,
a traditional Czech pub and new ones continue to
(pivnice), you’ll need to sprout up. Te mother of
explore the residential streets all malls is Palladium, on
of Nové Město, Vinohrady náměstí Republiky, housed
or Holešovice. Look out, too, in a castellated former army
for the many alfresco drinking barracks. For more of-beat,
spots beside the river, on one independent shops you need to
of the islands, or in one of the explore the cobbled sidestreets
city’s many public parks. of Staré Město and Nové Město.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WHERE TO EAT, DRINK AND
SHOP ARE LISTED AT THE END OF EACH PLACES CHAPTER
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PRAGUE AT A GLANCE
Day One in Prague
1 Prague Castle > p.32. From
Hradčanské naměstí, the square
outside the main castle gates, you get
an incredible view over Prague.
2 Cathedral of sv Vít > p.32.
Occupying centre stage in the castle’s
vast precincts is the city’s Gothic
cathedral.
3 Old Royal Palace > p.35. Visit
the palace’s vast, rib-vaulted Vladislav
Hall.
4 Golden Lane > p.37. Built in the
sixteenth century for the imperial
guards, these tiny little cottages
situated hard against the fortifications
are now one of the most popular sights
in the castle.
Lunch > p.39. Villa Richter,
 situated in the middle of the
castle vineyards, has superb views
across the rooftops and river to Staré
Město.
5 Church of sv Mikuláš > p.47.
This prominent Malá Strana landmark,
below the castle, is Prague’s most
ornate Baroque church.
6 Charles Bridge > p.60. Prague’s
famous medieval stone bridge is
packed with people and peppered with
Baroque statues.
7 Museum Kampa > p.52.This art
gallery houses a permanent collection
of two Czech artists: Kupka, a pioneer
in abstract art, and the cubist sculptor
Gutfreund.
Dinner > p.57. Try the
 intimate French restaurant,
Café de Paris, or for a more grandiose
setting, head for the Savoy (right).
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ITINERARIES