Tours in Prague

Prague sits on both banks of the Vltava, a castle on the hill and a bridge in between. It came through the last war with its centre largely unbombed. What you walk on is mostly original.

Charles Bridge was begun in 1357 under Charles IV. It runs 516 metres on sixteen arches and carries thirty baroque statues, most of them copies now.

The two banks

The right bank holds the old town and the commerce. The left has the castle and the gardens.

• Staré Město. The Old Town Square and the astronomical clock, running since 1410 and the oldest still working.
• Josefov. The Old-New Synagogue was finished around 1270, the oldest working synagogue in Europe. The cemetery beside it holds about 12,000 stones stacked up to twelve deep.
• Malá Strana. Baroque palaces and walled gardens under the castle, quiet a street back.
• Hradčany. Prague Castle, which Guinness calls the largest ancient castle complex in the world, and St Vitus, begun in 1344 and finished in 1929.
• Vyšehrad. The second fort, on a rock upriver, with the cemetery where Dvořák and Mucha lie.
• Vinohrady and Žižkov. Where people live and drink rather than sightsee, under the television tower with the crawling babies.

Pubs and what is in the glass

Beer here is a category rather than a drink. Pale lager comes from tanks in the better pubs, unpasteurised, and there is more than one pour. Ask for a mlíko and you get a glass of foam.

The tab is a paper slip on the table. Each round gets a mark, and the next arrives unless you say stop. Prices climb steeply near the Old Town Square.

The city after dark

Evening cruises run through the middle of town. Black-light theatre is a local form, stranger than it sounds. Ghosts, alchemy and Kafka carry most of the walking tours.

Practical

• From the airport. No rail link yet. A bus to the metro at Nádraží Veleslavín is the quick way in, about fifteen kilometres.
• Tickets. Transport is sold by time, not by ride: thirty or ninety minutes, a day or three days. The app is cheaper than paper.
• Trams. Tram 22 climbs to the castle and doubles as a sightseeing route. The metro is three lines.
• The clock. The apostles come out on the hour and it is over in under a minute. The crowd forms ten minutes before.
• Money. Pay in koruna by card. Decline when a terminal offers your own currency.
• Season. Summer is warm and crowded. December is cold, dark and full of markets; February is the emptiest month.
• Feet. Cobbles everywhere, and the walk up to the castle is a real climb. Grip beats looks.