Old Town Prague
Even though we’d both been to Prague before, we had been wanting to go back for a while, so Becca’s work trip gave us the perfect opportunity. Becca arrived on Wednesday and Josh joined on Thursday after work. Prague is especially lovely in December with the Christmas markets and lights, but apparently, the whole of Europe also thought it was a good time to visit and it was extremely crowded. Despite the crowds, we really enjoyed wandering the streets of the old city, drinking glühwein (hot mulled wine), and eating way too much apple strudel.
Day-by-Day
Thursday 8 December
The airport is about a 30 minute ride from the center of Old Town Prague. There’s a public bus that costs around $0.50, or Uber costs around $15.
Haštalská 752/14, 110 00 Praha 1-Staré Město, Czech Republic
Our hotel was conveniently located in the center of Old Town Prague. A delicious breakfast was included, and they had happy hour and snacks daily at 4pm. The best part about it, was that they had complimentary goldfish that you could request for your room, in case you’re feeling lonely. We of course opted in for this.
Friday 9 December
Daily 9:00am-4:00pm
Maiselova 38/15, 110 00 Praha 1-Josefov, Czech Republic
The Jewish Museum’s website was a bit confusing, and we weren’t sure whether there were guided tours available. We got lucky that one of Becca’s local work contacts generously offered to take us around and teach us about the history, which made us appreciate what we were seeing so much more. The museum is comprised of several old synagogues and the Old Jewish cemetery, and it’s spread out across the Jewish quarter. Some of the synagogues have been turned into museums, one is a Holocaust memorial and one is still active. We also really liked wandering around the neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful well-preserved architecture. We spent 3-4 hours here, but it would have been a lot shorter of a visit if we didn’t have a guide.
Kozí 918/1, 110 00 Praha 1-Staré Město
Part way through our visit to the Jewish museum we stopped in for a snack. This bakery has delicious bagels, pastries, cookies and the most amazing pumpkin soup (Becca visited four times throughout her stay in Prague). It gets quite crowded during lunch, but is completely worth the chaos.
Explore Old Town and the Christmas Markets
After the museum, we were pretty toured-out, so we spent the rest of the afternoon just exploring the Old Town and enjoying the Christmas Markets. The main one is in the Old Town Square and was totally packed with tourists, but there are a few other smaller ones around. We were a bit disappointed with the lack of variety in the stalls, but we still enjoyed the atmosphere (and food!). We then went back to the hotel to relax for a bit. As part of Becca’s work commitments, we had dinner with some study abroad students at the local Chabad house (and then stopped in at Bakeshop again for dessert).
Saturday 10 December
Daily at 10, 10:45, 12 and 14 (lasts 3 hours).
Tour starts at the Old Town Square on the corner of Pařížská and Dlouhá street, next to St. Nicholas church.
We slept in on Saturday and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. We really liked the Sandeman’s tour and thought it was a great way to see more of the city. Our guide was informative and a good storyteller. During the mid-tour break we ran over to one of the street markets and grabbed a delicious, enormous apple strudel. The tour ended back in the Jewish quarter, but he had different information from our guide the day before, so we didn’t mind being back there. It was already mid-afternoon when the tour ended, so we went back to the hotel to relax a bit before an early dinner.
Žatecká 17, 110 00 Praha 1-Staré Město, Czechia
We were lucky to get a table at this cute little dinner spot, where we enjoyed delicious Czech beer and goulash soup in a bread bowl. The place was packed and kept turning people away instead of taking names for the next available table, so you have to either make a reservation or be lucky to arrive when a table is free.
After dinner we tried going to Hemingway Bar, which we’d heard had great cocktails. It was totally booked for the night, so we got some glühwein from the market and called it a night.
Sunday 11 December
Prague Castle complex 6.00 - 22.00, Historical buildings 9.00 – 16.00
119 08 Prague 1, Czechia
The castle grounds are free to walk around, so we decided not to buy a ticket since we’ve seen enough castles throughout our travels. By chance we arrived in time to see the changing of the guard, and then walked around the grounds, which were beautiful and had several small Christmas markets throughout. The real highlight though were the views over Prague from the back side of the castle.
Mala Strana
From the castle complex, we walked down through Mala Strana, a neighborhood with beautiful buildings and gardens. We popped in and out of cute shops, took the obligatory photos with Lennon’s Wall and walked across the Charles Bridge.
Lázeňská 19, 110 00 Praha 1-Malá Strana, Czechia
It started raining right around the time we got hungry, and luckily we were nearby this bagel shop that was started by a New Yorker. Service was surprisingly slow for a bagel shop, but we didn’t mind waiting out the rain, and the food and bottomless coffee was worth the wait.
Dyzajn Winter Market
Our hotel had a flier up about this design market, so we decided to stop by on our way back to Old Town. We were glad we did because it was all local artisans and designers, and the products were way more interesting than any of the regular Christmas markets. We didn’t end up buying anything at any of the markets, but we still enjoyed browsing and taking in the festive atmosphere.
Rose-Thorn-Bud
On every trip we share our rose (highlight), thorn (lowlight), and bud (what we're looking forward to).
Rose- goulash soup dinner (Becca), bagel (Josh)
Thorn- getting turned away at the cocktail bar (Becca), crowds (Josh)
Bud- castles in Germany (Becca), skiing (Josh)
If you go, things to know…
When to visit? December was definitely a nice time to visit because of the festive atmosphere with the Christmas markets. That said, it’s really crowded and probably a bit more expensive than other times of year. If you don’t mind the cold, Prague can be a year-round destination.
How long to stay? Three days felt like a good amount of time to see everything we wanted to in Prague. We went at a pretty leisurely pace, since we’d both been to Prague before, so you could definitely fit in even more if you wanted to.
What else to do? There are a couple of popular day trips from Prague, such as visiting the Terezin concentration camp and a town with the famous “bone” church.
