Prague, Czech Republic

What to do in Prague, Czech Republic

Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad)

Looming over the city, this jumble of buildings dating from the 10th- through the 20th centuries include a palace, three churches, and a monastery. They are connected by interior courtyards and enclosed by a fortress wall. Favorite spots are the Chapel of the Holy Cross, where Charles IV enshrined religious artifacts and the White Tower, which jailed many people between 1584 and 1800.

Old Royal Palace

The former rulers of Bohemia lived here and a visit should include a walk through the courtroom, where Protestants were tried for heresy, and the heraldic room, which displays the family crests of Bohemia's 17th- and 18th- century aristocracies. Also of interest is the beautiful Royal Garden, with a dazzling view over the rooftops of Mala Strana.

Charles Bridge (Karluv Most)

Saints preside over the hodgepodge of tourists, locals, street performers, artisans, and souvenir vendors that crowd the span of this 14th-century Gothic fortification. Once there was only a single crucifix decorating this oldest of Prague's bridges, but Christian politics led to the addition of 30 statues during the Counter-Reformation.

St Nicholas' Cathedral

Built on the ruins of a Hussite church, this Jesuit cathedral symbolizes the dominance of Catholicism in 18th-century Prague. As you pass through its dramatic ornamental facade, you enter a cavernous pink-and-green interior covered in religious icons including the four evangelists beneath a vivid ceiling fresco. Mass is celebrated every day.

Franz Kafka's Birthplace

His dark tales and thinly-veiled critiques of authoritarian governments, including The Metamorphosis and The Hunger Artist, gained international fame, though the German Jew penned his master works in obscurity and cultural isolation under Austro-Hungarian rule. A small museum, which has been a pilgrimage site since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, recalls the visionary author's life.

Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti)

As the marketplace and center of the Stare Mesto for over 1,000 years, this square is the very soul of Prague. Wenceslas IV held open-air parties on its cobblestones, which also served as the site of all public executions in Bohemia. Many of the city's historical events took place here, like the mass decapitation of Protestant leaders in 1621 by leaders of the Counter-Reformation, and the 1948 Communist coup d'etat.

Prague's Crown Jewels

Housed in the Coronation Chamber of St Vitus' Cathedral are the crown jewels of Bohemia. The most precious is the crown of St Wenceslas, encrusted with 19 huge sapphires and worth nearly a million US dollars. The collection also includes the sword of St Wenceslas and a jeweled cross, created in the 14th century for the coronation of Charles IV, as well as the 16th-century orb and scepter borne by the later Hapsburg dynasty.

Strahov Monastery (Strahovsky Klaster)

Founded in 1140, this holy sanctuary was nearly closed by the tyrannical Josef II in 1782, but was spared through the clever tactics of its abbot, Vaclav Meyer. Meyer turned the monastery into a scholarly institute, enlarging its library and collecting rare works. The communists evicted the monks and turned the cloister into a literary museum in 1951. The monks are back and Strahov is once again a functioning monastery.

Prague Ghetto

It dates back to the 13th-century but its present appearance is the result of a vast redevelopment between 1893 and 1913. The few original buildings left form the best remaining complex of Jewish historical monuments in Europe. There are 6 synagogues, as well as the Jewish Town Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery, the most remarkable on the Continent.

Astronomical Clock (Orloj)

The fact that it is a grim portent of our inevitable deaths has not stopped this 15th-century clock from being one of Prague's favorite landmarks. The toll of a death knell rings to the accompaniment of sand slipping through an hourglass flipped over by a skeleton, as Greed clutches his purse, and Vanity stares into a mirror. This theme is typical of the pessimistic mindset of the Middle Ages, though the procession of Christ's Apostles before the death march represents the promise of life after death.

National Gallery

The 18th-century Sternberg Palace houses this extensive gallery featuring icons and other religious art dating from as early as the 3rd century and through the Middle Ages. Additionally, there is an entire room full of Cranachs, Van Dyck, Rubens, and others.

Day Trip to Cesky Krumlov

This fairy-tale town was declared by UNESCO as second only to Venice for historical value and architectural beauty. It thrived in the Middle Ages, situated on an old Bohemian trade route to Italy, and remains as a living gallery of simple and elegant pastel buildings, housing galleries, cafés, restaurants, pubs, and shops. The town is nestled into a curve of the Vltava River against the striking backdrop of the Sumava Mountains and Blansky Forest. Stroll along the cobblestone lanes and footbridges, the baroque gardens, rococo theater, and impressive courtyards of the chateau high up on the hill.

Day Trip to Karlstejn Castle

Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV entrusted his treasures to the safekeeping of The Chapel of the Holy Rood in this 14th-century castle. The castle also houses more than 100 paintings by the 13th-century artist Theodoric inside a stucco chamber studded with semi-precious stones. Apocalyptic frescoes decorate the Chapel of Our Lady and a Luxembourg family tree adorns the palace walls. Nineteenth-century renovations by the Hapsburgs refined the dingy castle, idealizing the image of life in Medieval Bohemia.

Day Trip to Melnik

Vineyards surround this Bohemian town, which has been aging wine for 1,000 years. Charles IV lured wine dealers away from Burgundy and soon a flourishing trade developed. The castle's vinarna offers tastings of the local wines amid a sweeping panorama of the countryside and the Elbe and Vltava Rivers. Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque influences are evident in Melnik Castle.

Day Trip to Konopiste Castle

The fateful alliance of 1914 between the Kaisers of Austria and Germany was sealed here in the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who became, in short order, the first victim of World War I. This former hunting lodge has barely changed, with thousands of stuffed animal heads lining the 13th-century castle walls, and Ferdinand's hunting grounds meandering still across the estate. The archduke and his wife landscaped an ornamental lake and fragrant rose garden decorated with Italian sculpture.