Tips on visiting Prague

My wife and I took a trip to Europe in May ’04. Here are some tips for travelers to Prague.

• In Prague, try the U Mazlu restaurant (Jungmannova 26, Prague, Czech Republic; phone 224-946-896). It is located around the corner from the big Tesco department store on Narodni and a block from the tourist area.

The extensive menu is written in both Czech and English, but the restaurant’s patrons were mostly locals. I think we were the only ones eating who were not smoking, but that’s typical in most Prague restaurants. We had a bill of $16 for two entrées, one side dish, drinks and a dessert.

• We stayed at the small, quiet Hotel U Klenotnika (Rytirska 3, Prague 1), as recommended in Rick Steves’ new book on Eastern Europe. The hotel is in a good location, just around the corner from the Havelska farmers’ market.

There is a luggage elevator, but guests must climb stairs. I suggest asking for rooms 11, 12 or 13 (doubles) on the first floor, which is only one flight up. We paid $130 a night and were treated well by the attentive clerks and maids.

• Black-light theater may be Prague’s claim to fame, but the 90-minute show at the oldest venue, the Fantastika, was mediocre. The show used poorly painted props and had a silly, Alice-in-Wonderland, contrived plot. Tickets were $24 apiece. Spend your money elsewhere!

• Most tourists watch the Old Town astronomical clock, but its brief show is disappointing. For a better experience, go inside the tower and through the glass doors to the right, then use the free glass elevator to the third floor where you can buy a ticket for an elevator ride the rest of the way to the top. You won’t see the inside clock workings this way, but the view is spectacular!

• The No. 22 tram to Prague Castle was not running because new tracks were being installed, so we hiked there, up the hill from Charles Bridge. It was a long climb but, with rests and window-shopping, it wasn’t the agony we expected. The cobbled sidewalks, however, require careful steps.

At the castle, the self-directed tour ticket can be paid for only with cash. You can see St. Vitus Cathedral without a ticket but can only go in a third of the way and that’s where most tour groups stop. By purchasing a “B” tour ticket, you can leave much of the crowd, see the art around the altar, go down into the crypt and wonder what the archaeological diggings are about (no signs in English).

• We found that many businesses in Prague do not take credit cards, but, since it is our practice to take about $70 in local currency for airport transportation, etc., and Prague had ATMs everywhere, we used a credit card only occasionally.

• Our train tickets from Prague to Vienna cost $55 each, first class. The departures board at the station tells which track the train will be on but only a half hour before the train departs. The international trains are listed in red.

We were told by the ticket agent that the first-class car would be the seventh one. However, it wasn’t and we spent time searching until we realized that we should ignore the car’s painted numbers and look at the cardboard signs on each car.

Second-class tickets cost $38, but we preferred first class because it usually wasn’t crowded and there was space in each compartment for our two suitcases.

DAVE FISCUS
Sacramento, CA