A bit unrelated to anything data, analytics or development but as a favourite holiday destination thought it wouldn’t do any harm to share my map of some of the places I’ve visited or would like to visit.
Top Recommendations
Amazing bar right off the Old Town Square yet on multiple occasions we managed to walk straight in and get a seat. The bar is in the gothic cellar of the hotel with beautiful stone arched ceilings and chandeliers, you just walk past the reception desk and down the stairs. There is a bit of an odd rule about not being able to take photos but it was well worth it.
The cocktail menu wasn’t huge but had some really tasty and interesting cocktails however you do not have to order from the menu. Evertime the bar tender came over he asked what sort of cocktail we fancied, we’d describe what we were feeling and they’d make something amazing. All of the staff were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable.
The drinks for Prague are perhaps a little on the pricy side but still cheaper than anything comparable in London and (in my opinion) well worth it. It’s a great place to grab a few cocktails (or more) in a beautiful intimate venue, even if you can’t take photos of it 😀
Personally I think this is a ‘must do’ and you can do it as a couple or group of upto 4. The beer spa is somewhat as the name suggest, you’re taken down into a warm private room with private shower and toilet facilities, there’s then 2 wooden hot tubs filled with water, hops and yeast. Along with that there’s some ‘beer bread’ and unlimited light and dark beer with a straw bed to relax on after.
The idea is you spend 30 minutes in the hot tub while the yeast and hops help your skin, drinking beer and eating beer bread. After that the hot tub will turn off and you can either continue to sit in it or dry off on the straw bed. The whole experience is about an hour so perhaps not that long but we had such a great time we booked it again a few days later!
Small but excellent spot for breakfast very slightly off one of the one of the more popular main streets but worth the very short walk to. We both really enjoyed our breakfast but I had their ‘degustation’ or ‘tasting’ platter with one half eggs royale and 2 of their breakfast pastry dishes, one a sort of sweet bread in a really light custard and the other pistachio cream pastry all of which were excellent. The staff were really friendly and the venue was really nice and tidy would absolutely recommend.
We wanted to take the opportunity to see Prague by river and when looking at options Prague Boats came up as the top one. We opted for the 3 hour dinner cruise figuring it would be a nice way to spend the evening and we weren’t wrong.
The boat itself was stunning and maybe not what you’d necessarily expect from a boat. Spacious with big glass windows, a custom ceiling with LED lighting and big bathrooms. The cruise itself went through the main lock up to the edge of Prague and back with some lovely nighttime views of Prague, it stopped for a little while at various points so you could look around while eating and not miss things.
We were greeted with a glass of prosecco and got a seat right at the front of the boat, it was a buffet which was nice but fairly standard the main attraction is the boat and views.
Coffee & Waffles
So as the name would suggest they specialise in waffles and well, who doesn’t serve coffee! The venue is small and does get very busy, we managed to walk straight in and get a table but there were a few people who came in shortly after who had to wait though usually only around 10 minutes or so.
The staff were great and the food was pretty good, I had a shakshuka and waffle with some coffee and freshly squeeze juice which definitely hit the spot for breakfast.
Starbucks, Old Town Square
Okay hear me out, whether your a fan of Starbucks or not personally I just always like seeing what’s on offer at UK chains in other countries and there were a few interesting options. The other reason though is the building is spread over three floors overlooking Old Town Square, so if the weather isn’t that nice it’s a great spot to get a hot drink and just sit by the window looking out over the square.
It was a little bit busy when we went so would maybe consider booking but we got a table regardless so equally probably good odds for just walking in. We wanted to find a casual dining place after checking into our hotel and this was great, the trains running around the venue was fun and even better when they delivered our beer sampling board and burgers. Like much of Prague the food was pretty decent and fairly reasonably priced, would happily go back and recommend to anyone 🙂
So firstly the venue is beautiful, huge ceilings with intricate tile-work, it was quite busy when we arrived for breakfast but managed to get seated pretty quickly still.
Food wise the most popular option is the bufet breakfast which is what we went for and to be honest I was a little dissapointed by. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, more it just wasn’t anything special or different to a hotel breakfast buffet. That being said seeing some of the food people ordered from the menu instead looked great so would be inclined to do that next time.
Price wise it was fairly inexpensive, so for the venue and buffet breakfast I was pretty happy with it and would happily go back or recommend.
Cat Cafe, Kavárna Kočičí Praha
So admittedly this is maybe more ‘niche’ if you like cats, maybe less of an attraction if you don’t. Either way though it’s a nice cafe, just through an archway into a courtyard central to Old Town but a bit quieter if you fancy a break or a good way to kill sometime before heading back to the airport. They do take bookings but we had no trouble finding a seat and the drink selection is good. Cat wise, well, they’re cats so don’t be surprised if they’re a bit aloof but we made a few feline friends while we were there.
Old Town Hall and the Astronomical Clock
When we visited Prauge the weather wasn’t great so figured we’d do some of the indoor tourist attractions one of which was the Old Town Hall and Clock Tower. If you’re really into history it might take you a little longer to get around but we found while we had some interest we made it through the large town hall rooms fairly quickly.
The clock tower itself has clearly been updated inside (thankfully) so if you’re expecting a ton of small cramped stairs don’t worry, not only is the walk a gentle ramp up to the top (with a short spiral staircase at the very top) there is also a really cool lift you can take for a few extra CZK. At the top the views are, as expected great and give a really nice high vantage point to see Prauge for miles.
Other Tourist Attractions
Like most major cities you’ll find a few museums that are more of a general tourist attraction than anything. Having visted the; Sex Museum, Museum of Torture, Madame Tussauds, Lego Museum and the Illusion Art Museum if the weather isn’t great they can be a good way to kill some time however we got around most of them pretty quickly.
A special shoutout does go to the Lego museum as it’s got a nice background story as one man’s passion which has become one of the largest collections of lego sets in the world. If you’ve got kids (or adults) who are really into Lego they’ll probably really enjoy and there’s even a number of rare lego kits you can buy in the shop.
We also tried the Ekoexpres a sort of train style tour thing as it ran directly from Old Town Square every half hour and did a decent hour long loop around Prague Old Town, up to the castle and back. Reviews are a bit mixed, we’re fairly laid back and the weather was a bit rubbish so figured it might be a good way to see the castle without the long walk up. I’d say we enjoyed it but they only take cash, it’s very loud and not particularly comfortable but if you’re not to uptight about it and can have a laugh about bouncing around the cobbled streets you might like it!
