Transportation:
• Make sure you get transport passes and get them validated! They don’t check for the passes that often, but if they catch you without your pass or it’s expired or not validated, they will charge a pretty big fine on the spot.
• I recommend getting a three day pass and then a 24 hour pass. (It should cost about 420 Kč, which is about the same as $21.) You can buy the three day passes in most metro stations and the one day passes in pretty much any convenience store (potraviny).
• To validate the passes, just insert them in the yellow boxes outside of the metro or inside trams or buses.
• The public transit in Prague kind of rocks and is really easy to work out. There are three metro lines (A, B, and C or green, yellow, and red, respectively).
• The three stops that transfer from one line to another are Můstek (green/yellow), Muzeum (red/green), and Florenc (red/yellow).
• The metro comes approximately every 8-10 minutes, but it runs slower on the weekends and faster during rush hour (every 2 minutes). Either way though, you’re never caught waiting for long.
• The metro stops running at midnight and starts at 5AM, I believe.
• As far as the trams go, they’re a little more complicated simply because there are a TON. But they’re easy enough to figure out once you know how to read the schedules.
• There are timetables posted at every tram stop, the columns are: Pracovní Den (work day), Sobota (Saturday), and Neděle (Sunday).
• Tram 22 will get you to the Prague castle, just get off at stop Pražský Hrad.
• Tram 22 is also known as pick-pocket express, so be extra cautious while riding it
• Also, Czechs are very quiet normally, so just keep that in mind while taking public transportation
• The night trams start at midnight and go until 5AM and run about twice an hour, so if you’re staying out late, I suggest checking what times the night trams are coming so you aren’t caught waiting for 40 minutes a three in the morning (it’s not too fun).
• On the tram, the stops will be announced with the name of the upcoming stop, then it will say, “next stop” in Czech and the following stop. So just keep that in mind when you hear the stop name last, it means not this stop, but the next one.
Vocab: I know you guys aren’t there for that long, but Czechs really like it when you at least attempt to speak with them a bit. That being said, pretty much everyone there will speak English, so it’s no big deal.
• When you enter stores/restaurants the normal greeting is “Dobrý den”
• When you leave, you should say “na shledanou”
• Děkuji, děkuju, or díky are different ways to say thank you • “Nerozumím” is “I don’t understand” just add česky to make it “I don’t understand Czech”
• “Mluvím anglicky” is “I speak English”
• “Nemluvím česky” is “I don’t speak Czech”
• Ahoj is hello and goodbye, but informal.
• Pivo is beer
• Hospoda is pub
Food: I recommend trying some of these Czech foods: • Smažený sýr (fried cheese) is kind of like a giant mozzarella stick and you can get it almost anywhere (I recommend trying it on Wenceslas Square from one of the street vendors).
• Svíčková is a delicious traditional Czech meal that’s basically beef, bread dumplings and cream sauce that is served usually with a little bit of cranberry sauce on top of a lemon slice and sometimes whipped cream.
• Trdelník: I like to describe this as s cinnamon and sugar covered bread slinky. They smell awesome and are all over the place.
• Make sure you guys try hot chocolate (ideally from Café Louvre, because it’s awesome most places, but it’s guaranteed to basically be melted chocolate in a cup there)
Beer:
• The beer brands that the Czech Republic are famous for are Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser
• However, my favorites are Ferdinand and Kozel
• If you don’t try any other beer there, make sure you try Kozel černy (Kozel dark), because it’s kind of the best beer, in my opinion. (Like, even people who really don’t like beer, totally love Kozel dark.)
• Also, getting beer along the river is always a great idea, especially on a summer evening.
Restaurants:
• U Kroka: this is really close to the tram stop Výton and would be a great stop after visiting Vyšehrad (it’s also right next to where I was living last semester). They have really good food for good prices and they also serve Kozel.
• U Ferdinanda: This pub/restaurant is sort of hidden away next to Wenceslas Square, but it’s got really tasty Czech food for good prices and they serve Ferdinand beer. (The best pubs are hidden away like this one and are frequently partially or totally underground.) • čajovna a kavárna šamanka: This is my absolute favorite tea room/place to hang out. It is close to the tram/metro stop I.P. Pavlova and it has a huge tea menu (I love the malasa chai, mate carnival, and their signature tea named after them) and they also have hookah if you are into that at all. There is this super chill back room where people frequently just come and play music.
• Café Louvre: this is an art nouveau café with delicious food and people like Einstein and Kafka used to frequent it. It’s a little pricier than most places, but totally worth it.
• Also, if a pub or restaurant is charging much more than 40Kč for a beer, I don’t suggest going there: they’re probably going to charge way too much for everything else.
• Same thing goes for restaurants that are advertising “traditional Czech food” boldly in English; odds are that they’re going to be charging a lot for it.
• When it comes to tipping, it’s usually pretty safe to just add 20Kč per person to your bill. The rule of thumb is to round up to the nearest 10 and add on 20 to your total. • How you tip: They will give you your total, then you say your total (including your tip), which is the final price, and they will give you change accordingly.
Places:
• Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral (of course)
• Petřin Tower: This is the mini Eiffel Tower that is actually as tall as the real one if you add the hill it’s sitting on. It’s pretty scary going up it (at least it was for me, being afraid of heights), but the view at the top is so amazing. I highly suggest going at night because you can see all of Prague illuminated and it’s awesome. You could also go to žížkov tower, which is also a really cool view of Prague, but if you only go to one, I suggest Petřin.
• Charles Bridge (also an of course): I suggest going either really early in the morning or in the middle of the night though, it’s kind of ridiculous during the day. That being said, there are always cool performers and artists on it if you go when it’s packed with people.
• The Lennon Wall
• Wallstein Palace Garden: there are a ton of Baroque gardens all around Prague, but this one is my favorite. It’s really close to the Malostranska tram/metro stop and there are peacocks that just wonder around. There is also the dripstone wall there. • Divoká Šárka is an amazing nature preserve on the edge of Prague and I loved going hiking there. That being said, it’s kind of out of the way.
• Letna Hill: There used to be a giant statue of Stalin erected here, but then the Czechs tore it down and put up a giant red metronome instead. There is also a beautiful park here.
• Vyšehrad Hill: If you have some time, just go there and explore the cemetery and the two parks there. There are so many stunning lookout points here.
• Wenceslas Square: This is a great place for shopping/exploring and the national museum is at the top of it, as well as a statue of St. Wenceslas.
• Old Town Square: Another great place to explore, but be wary of restaurants and such around here, it’s a pricy tourist trap a lot of the time. While you’re here, make sure that you see the Astronomical Clock—it goes off every hour. Also, I recommend going to the top of the clock and/or getting a tour of the underground. You can walk through houses and tunnels built in the 10th Century! The city was built right on top of it.
• The National Theatre
• The Dancing House
• There is small theater called Alfred Ve Dvoře (Alfred in the Courtyard) that puts on performances of different kinds of alternative theatre and I have loved everything that I’ve seen there. If you get the chance, the shows are only 100Kč for students and most of them do not have a language barrier. There are so many things to do and see in Prague, but those are some of my favorite things/must-see sort of things. If you have time, I suggest looking into museums, galleries, and the zoo. Also, I know this is a TON of stuff, but if there is anything more specific that you would like to know about, on this list or otherwise, I would be happy to provide information for you.