Czechia Part 1 - Prague

It has been a whole travel-filled spring for me this year. And recently I returned from my latest trip – 12 days in the Czech Republic! I spent the first two weeks of May out there and had a fantastic time. Since I was there so long, I’m going to break these into two parts, with the first one being solely about Prague, where I spent about half of my trip. I highly recommend the city, and you really only need to spend about 5, maybe 6 days to really delve into it and see what you need to see. And with that, here is the great, the frustrating, and the overrated of Prague.

The Great

Prague Castle
This is the top of everyone’s list for a reason when it comes to Prague and that is for good reasons. The castle is really a castle complex that includes St Vitus Cathedral, the old royal palace, and a number of permanent exhibits. Part of what made visiting there so great was I took the English-language tour with one of the official guides. And he was amazing and funny and I learned so much about both the history and the buildings themselves. It’s also worth checking out the exhibits (a separate ticket), particularly the one on the history of the castle which was incredibly thorough and interesting. An absolutely must visit in Prague for very good reasons.

Field Restaurant
As a foodie, I try to check out one famous restaurant per trip and just go full-on indulgent with everything. For Prague it was Field, where I did the short tasting menu – in theory 6 courses, but in reality it worked out to 10 with all the little extra things. The food was nothing short of incredible. It was delicious (although one course left something to be desired – that, however, is always true when dealing with thimany dishes), everything was beautiful, and beautifully presented, and the staff were excellent. And of course it was vegetarian friendly! I cannot recommend this place enough.

Vysehrad Castle
This is worth going for the atmosphere if nothing else. Like Prague Castle, Vysehrad is a large complex with gardens, different buildings, and a few different tours. The day I was there it was softly raining or drizzling and wandering the grounds and looking at the different building was so beautiful and relaxing. I’m sure it’s even more gorgeous in warm, sunny weather. It’s worth taking a few hours to just wander around, check out the various buildings, and there are also a few different tours.

Pinkas Synagogue
This is a must see, but in a painful way. Josefov is the old Jewish quarter of Prague, in the corner of Old Town. The Jewish Museum has a whole structured tour of all the synagogues, with a really excellent audio guide. But the synagogue that moved me the most was the Pinkas Synagogue, which is a holocaust memorial. The entire inside is covered with the handwritten names of all the known victims of the holocaust from the Czech Republic It is most visceral memorial for the Holocaust I've ever seen. I definitely cried. It’s heart wrenching to visit but so important to bear witness to the past.

The Overrated
The Klementinum
I am a book lover, and so as you can imagine I was excited to visit what is touted as one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe. Which ended up being the most overrated thing I did the entire trip. It’s not that the library isn’t gorgeous, it is! It’s just the everything else related to it kind of sucked. I ended up just leaving half-way through the tour. Moral of the story, if you want to visit a pretty library in Prague, go to the library at the Strahov Monastery. A way better experience.

The Frustrating
Ticketing systems
This is a larger complaint with the country- Czechia has the most confusing ticketing system I’ve ever seen. You would think that a given complex would have a ticket, that gets you into the site writ large, and then tours are usually an add on. Nope! Some sections are free to wander through, many sites (like Prague Castle) have multiple ticket options that cover different buildings/sites within the site. And many things can only be seen via tour that you need to book in advance. So I recommend doing your research about tickets for sites before heading over so you don’t pull your hair out in confused frustration.