Balling
Premium Member
Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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Thinking of taking a trip there for four nights in March.
Seem to recall a few people have been, and I basically have all the usual questions.
Where to stay, what to see and where to eat?
We've also been considering Edinburgh, so if anyone can compare the two (from a tourist point of view) feel free to do so. 
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Robbo
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Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
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Neither are ideal for March tbh... I went to Edinburgh in April and was still wet and cold, Prague in the Sun will be much nicer, otherwise Edinburgh offers more tourist wise. Prague has basically the old town, the bridge and the castle and that literally (literally) is it. I went in May 2012 and it was 28o so was nice ambling around by the river and the touristy bits, obvs the beer is great too but assume youre goign with your bird.
Edinburgh a better option for coupley tourists if you really must go in March
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dan_m1les
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Registered: 8th May 06
Location: Burnham, Buckinghamshire
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Prague is very nice! Dad lived there for around 10 years so been many times.
Have a look at the Savic hotel, its incredibly central and its really nice. its a convereted monastory and the main square is 200m away along with the hard rock cafe. When I took the mrs to Prague and dad had moved back to the uk, that's where we stayed.
We also went to Edinburgh earlier this year and was very nice, we did 5 days and had a car for 3 of them, I think you would get bored if you were purely in the centre. We went to a couple of whiskey places and Caithness glass where you can Amelia paperweight which was much for fun than it sounds.
[Edited on 06-01-2014 by dan_m1les]
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Matt L
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Registered: 17th Apr 06
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Been to Prague back in 09, hotel wise we stopped in a hostel so cant really advise.
Things to do though from what I remember the old town was the better place to go and see things... also go and find the clock its amazing  
Edinburgh - I have been a fair few times feel like theres loads to do there, zoo/castle/whiskey museum/shopping/bus tour etc etc, hotel wise Iv stayed in the Novotel/Premier Inn oh and a Travelodge (which I would never ever ever go in again).
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Hammer
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Registered: 11th Feb 04
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Both are lovely cities from a tourist perspective, Prague especially when it's warm. Edinburgh does have a lot more to do though.
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Jules S
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Registered: 24th Dec 03
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Not been to Edinburgh, but spent 4 days in Prague last May
Its the nicest City I've visited to date. The Architecture and culture is simply stunning, the food/bier is stupidly cheap and if you are there for three days there are ample things to do/look at
We are going back next May to see the bits we missed.
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Balling
Premium Member
Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
User status: Offline
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Cheers for the comments so far.
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craig8
Premium Member
Registered: 31st Dec 04
Location: Glasgow
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If your going to edinburgh I would recommend the Apex international in the grass market area, rooms are great and the restaurant on the roof is brilliant with a view of the castle. If you want to be more central rhen the Apex Waterloo place is also good, restaurant is also very good and mostly modern takes on Scottish food and game
E36 328
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andy1868
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Registered: 22nd Jun 06
Location: Burscough, Lancashire
User status: Offline
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Warning: Essay Alert
I went at the end of October, it's a fantastic place that i'll definitely be visiting again. Despite October being one of the "quiet" periods there was still an awful lot of people about so i'm not sure i would fancy it in summer ie peak season (only because i hate crowds and October was about right for me!)
Weather wise i was expecting baltic, but was pleasantly surprised as most days we were walking round in t-shirts, having said that the last day was chilly so i would expect March to be something similar. The key word in that sentence was walking, there's an awful lot to be done so wear good footwear. Certainly round the Old Town its alot of twisty cobbled side streets that are pedestrianised, we never used any public transport for the entire time we were there.
Hotel wise we just went for a reasonably priced place called Residence Leon D'oro based in the Old Town, we were actually moved to the sister hotel (Residence Bologna) on arrival due to "water problems" but despite the fucking about was actually in a better location. Wasn't anything to write home about but we spent very little time there so a very good sized clean hotel room was all we needed, and that is what we got Location wise, i would say anywhere not too far from the Old Town Square would be a good shout as everything touristy isn't that far away.
Food and drink as said was really well priced, it had been recommended to us to stay away from the Old Town Square which we did some days but we did actually treat ourselves on 2 days and ate right on the square and it wasn't dear in the slightest (from a UK point of view) Beer is superb too, around £1 a pint in most places and most of it is locally brewed, Pilsner Urquell is brewed down the road in Pilsen, Straropramen is brewed in the city itself. Some places are Tankovna Pubs that brew their own and have giant copper containers in the pubs that they store it in, because it's so fresh it doesn't need to be pasteurised so maintains a really nice flavour. If you are going with the missus and want to get in her good books, i would recommend a little cocktail bar called Hemingway Bar in the Old Town, its a small intimate place with strict rules but is a brilliant place to be. Not cheap at around £5 a drink but well worth it, you don't need many anyway! It was also the only place i've ever had to make reservations for a drink. A good cafe for a coffee and some strudel was one called the Grand Cafe Orient in the Old Town, a definite recommendation, the only place we went twice!
Tour wise, there are loads going on, some specific to certain bits of history and some general ones. The specific ones are paid but the general ones tend to be free, you'll find loads of people with umbrellas in the Old Town Square that give walking tours. Despite being free the done thing is to tip them at the end if they are any good.
If you're into history you're in for a treat as the place is full of it, i'd recommend reading up a little bit if you don't know much about the Czech history. The castle is a good visit but be careful of which tickets you buy as there are different ones that allow entry into different things, some things are extra again that aren't included in any ticket  You can walk into the castle for free but then are charged to go into each building so if you only want to see certain bits you don't need a full ticket. The views from up there are excellent too, as you can see over most of the city (or the touristy bits at least).
If you're into views i would recommend Petrin tower too, abit of a trek but not too far if you're already up the hill at the castle, it's quite a nice walk up through the woods, and i believe there is a tram type thing on the other side of the hill that take you up for a fee.
Other things are the Charles Bridge, that links the Old Town to the Castle district so you'd be hard pushed not to see it, there are plenty of towers to go up which give brilliant views over the city for a small fee for each one. There is one at Charles Bridge, you can go up the Old Town Hall tower to give a view over the square and the Powder tower that is over towards Wenceslas Square if i remember correctly. There is another one but i can't remember where it was now
If you're going with the missus she might like Wenceslas Square for the shopping but we weren't that bothered about it and spent very little time there, the National Museum is the large building at the end but is closed to 2015 for renovations, there was another one to the side of it but that was closed when we were there too :/ Wenceslas Square has some history behind it because of the Velvet Revolution etc, there is a small museum of communism just off it next to McDonalds too if you're into that. There is also a (very) small KGB museum over next to the Castle that was about £10 to get in, it consisted of around 3 small rooms of artefacts but a guided tour by an insane russian guy made it worth it
We went to the Jewish Museum (actually made up of several old synagogues) which was an okay visit but i probably wouldn't recommend it if you were tight on time. Of the ones we saw i would recommend were the Pinkas Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue but photography isn't allowed in them.
I could type all day about the place as it was brilliant but i won't bore you with our trip any more
If you want to have a look through my pictures i've got them in a set on my flickr HERE I know you're into photography so you'll probably love the place, i know i did.
[Edited on 07-01-2014 by andy1868]
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