Prague (Praha) Overview

Since the Commies got the boot 20 years ago, Prague has worked overtime to shape up its act. And shape up it has: this former crumbling communist puppet has become a prime tourist Metropolis that showcases the history of a former center of the Western world. And we're talking grade-A top choice history here. Take Jan Hus—who kind of invented Protestantism. Jan got into some hot water here back in 1413; it only got hotter on the stake.

Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV ruled one of Europe's largest kingdoms from Prague and built a city of medieval wonders in the process: towers, castles, statues of himself, bridges with his name on it, universities named “Charles,” more Charles statues. Real charmer, that Charles.

And let's not forget Prague's defenestration, that classy tradition of tossing politicians from windows, which happened thrice from Prague's various towers. Thanks to the renovations, these towers now shimmer like new, as if calling you to enact a defenstration of your own—maybe of that irritating chatterbox couple in your hostel. Either way, the city will be sparkling clean and a pleasure for the eye.

However, beautification has come at the price of a general Disney-fication of Prague. But don't let this be an excuse to miss out on its more compelling flavors; it's a small town with tourist districts that rub buns and elbows with the areas containing the real Czech Kahunas. And even if the reality is that in the summer the tourist-to-local ratio reaches nine to one, they've come for a a set of reasons: it's cheap, cheery, and delicious. The only thing Prague won't deliver is disappointment.

Practical Information

Embassies and Consulates: Australia, Klimentská 10, 6th fl. (☎ F 8:30am-2pm), and New Zealand, Dykova 19 (☎ 222 514 672) have consulates, but citizens should contact the UK embassy in an emergency ...more

Orientation

Shouldering the river Vltava, greater Prague is a mess of suburbs and maze-like streets. All sightseeing destinations are in the compact downtown. The Vltava runs south to north through central Prague ...more

History

Prague might not be the “mother of cities,” as one nickname claims, but it certainly has been around long enough. The Celts settled the Vltava River basin as early as 200BCE, but legend has it that ...more

People And Culture

Czech is a West Slavic language, mutually intelligible with Slovak and closely related to Polish. Often baffling for its vowel-free words, travelers will find that English is understood by a majority of ...more

The Arts

While Kafka’s work was in German, it was his experiences as a German-speaking Jew in his native Prague that were indispensable to the magical, complex, obscure character of his writing. After Kafka, ...more