Prague

Prague is already chosen, and now the trip has to be put together piece by piece. At this stage there are usually more questions than time: how many days to allow, which part of the city to stay in, which tickets to buy in advance and how to get in from the airport. This section answers those questions in order.

The core of the section is itineraries for different lengths of stay. There is a half-day walking plan across Charles Bridge, the Loreto and the Strahov Library, itineraries for two and three days, and a week laid out by neighborhood. A separate piece covers a day on foot around the New Town (Nové Město). For a first trip there is an overview of what to see and how tickets and public transport work. Every itinerary notes where you need tickets and where lines usually form.

The second large group is individual sights. Several pieces are devoted to Prague Castle: a half-day route, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, and Hradčany Square by the entrance. Covered in the same detail are Old Town Square with the Town Hall and the Orloj astronomical clock, Týn Church, the Clementinum, the Powder Tower, the Dancing House, Vyšehrad, Petřín Hill and the Žižkov Television Tower. Each piece sticks to one subject: what is inside, what the ticket includes, when it is best to go.

The third group is roundups and practical matters. These cover viewpoints, museums, parks and gardens, unusual places, beer halls and breweries, the Havel Market and gifts to take home. The roundups help you pick a few stops rather than trying to cover everything. On accommodation there is an overview of the parts of the city to stay in and selections of central hotels in two categories. On transport: the trip from the airport to the center, the ways to get to Berlin, and the outing to Český Šternberk Castle. There are also two planning pieces: the budget for a short trip and seasonality month by month.

Every piece opens with a short answer to the main question. Practical blocks follow: tickets, opening hours, getting there, lines. We check prices and timetables against the official websites of the sites and carriers and give the source next to the figure. Each piece carries the date it was checked. We are direct about the downsides: the crowd on Charles Bridge, the line for Prague Castle, the long climb up the steps of the towers.

The section is meant for people who travel independently and want to divide up their days and spending themselves. It works for a first trip and for a return visit, when the main places have already been covered. If you need a ready-made escorted tour, these pieces will not replace it. A reader looking for personal stories and impressions would also do better elsewhere: ours is a reference format. We do not sell trips and we do not book anything, we provide information for making a decision.

Start with the piece on seasonality: the month determines the weather and the number of people in the center. Then open the piece on budget and the itinerary for your number of days. After that, settle on an area to stay in and pick a hotel. The pieces on individual monuments are best read last, when the route is already clear and only tickets and entry times remain to be confirmed.

Prague belongs to the "Czech Republic" section, which sits under "Europe" within "Destinations". If your trip is not limited to one city, go up a level: the "Czech Republic" section covers the whole country. Those traveling further across the continent will find "Europe" useful. Prague has no subsections, and all the pieces sit in a single list.

Admission prices, timetables and visiting rules change, so we return to published pieces and check them against official sources. The check date is updated along with the data. New pieces appear as they are ready, with no promises about timing. Before your trip, still open the website of the site itself: opening hours for a specific day are most reliable there. Everything else for planning has already been gathered.