Prague

Where to Stay:
• Prague Square Hostel is in the middle of everything
• Mosaic House: very nice and very new, apparently the best hostel some people have stayed at
• Look for places that are close to a tram stop. The trams run all day and all night (every half hour at night).
• Old Town or Wenceslas Square would be great places to stay
What to Do:
• Old Town Square: “Staromestske Namesti.” Staromestska metro stop on the green line. It seriously looks like Disneyland here. Make sure to see this during the day and at night it’s so beautiful. The astronomical clock is here. There are always different exhibits going on which are very cool to see. Great shopping, restaurants (you must go to Bohemia Bagel it is amazing), and tons of bars (M1 is one). Bohemia Bagel and M1 are right across from each other (when you’re in the middle of the square, look for the corner with Caffrey’s Irish Pub and walk in that direction).
• Tour the Jewish Quarter in Old Town (I think it closes around 4:30 pm during off-season and a little later during major tourist season. It isn’t open on Saturdays (for Shabbat) so plan accordingly).
• Jerusalem Synagogue: Looks like it came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. Biggest synagogue in Prague
• Walk the Charles Bridge: “Karluv Most.” Oldest bridge in Prague. Great views and lots of vendors.
• Prague Castle: “Prazky Hrad.” This is the biggest castle in Europe. Go up to the castle and walk around the castle grounds and St. Vitus Cathedral and go inside (and you don’t have to pay to see any of this). Walk through Golden Lane.
• Wenceslas Square: “Vaclavske Namesti.” Great shopping (Mango, Zara, and H&M are there), museums, restaurants/cafes, clubs. See the national museum at the end of the large street and the Municipal House.
• Mala Strana: “Lesser town.” Right across the river over the Charles Bridge, this is a beautiful place to walk around. There are lots of cafes, and you can walk past many embassies, the Czech senate building, and to the Castle Gardens and Waldstein Palace Gardens.
• Petrin Hill: Great park and a memorial to Communism. Mini Eiffel tower is on top Petrin Hill.
• Lennon Wall: Tribute to John Lennon after he was assassinated. I think that this graffiti sight was also an underground artistic place during Communism. You can paint/draw on it if you want. The wall changes all the time as new people come and paint. It’s across the river over the Charles Bridge and then to the left (requires some weaving through side streets).
• Vysehrad: Old military fortress. From a boat on the water you get a great view of it. On Vysehrad there is a church, cemetery, statues, nice park, monastery, etc. It’s also where the building that I went to school was located. Take the long stairs down for a beautiful view of Prague.
• The Dancing House: Really cool building next to the river designed by the same guy who designed the Disney Concert Hall (Frank Gehry).
• Metronome: There’s a giant metronome up on a hill near Old Town across from the Intercontinental Hotel (actually this hotel is on the spot where Franz Kafka had his Bar-Mitzvah). There used to be a big statue of Stalin, but after Communism the metronome was put up in its place. When it’s nice out, there’s a great beer garden if you walk up the steps to the metronome.
• Kampa Museum and Kampa Park
• Kafka Museum
• Paddle Boats: If you’re there starting in May, you can take a paddle boat on the Vltava river. You get a great view of the city and it’s lots of fun. They rent them by the hour and it’s only about 200 crowns.
• Go to a tea house: You can order all kinds of unbelievable tea and smoke hookah. You walk in and take off your shoes and sit on cushions on the ground…it’s a neat experience. There’s a good one close to the Namesti Miru stop (tram or metro) that says “Cajovna” on the outside (caj, pronounced chai, means tea) one block past Pizzeria Grosseto next to the red Erotic Shop sign on your left.
• Café Slavia: Famous restaurant with typical Czech food and a great atmosphere. Also a good place to meet for coffee, etc. Right across from the National Theater (Narodni Divadlo).
• Cantina: Great Mexican restaurant near the base of Petrin Hill.

Nightlife:
• Radost: Amazing on Thursday nights (Free for girls on Thursdays all night, and before midnight most other nights). It’s where Rihanna filmed her music video (Please Don’t Stop the Music). At the I.P. Pavlova stop. The upstairs is also an amazing place for brunch (on the weekends) and dinner (it’s a vegetarian restaurant), and also a book/movie store. Be sure to eat in the back room, it’s beautiful…This is one of my favorite places (as well as everyone else’s on my program).
• Nebe: Go on Tuesday nights (Take the tram or metro to Narodni Trida)
• 5 Story Club: The biggest nightclub in Central Europe. Every floor has a different DJ and theme.
• Lucerna Music Bar and Club: 80’s and 90’s music on Friday and Saturday nights with music videos also playing on a big screen. Amazing place to go and dance (it gets really hot so dress light). I loved it here! Get off at the Mustek metro stop.
• U Sudu: Underground wine bar. Near Lucerna. We went on Tuesdays.
• Cross Club: Underground club, really really cool looking place. Close to Mecca, so start at Cross club and then make your way over to Mecca.
• Mecca: Far away but lot’s of fun. Free on Wednesdays.
• Mish Mash: A little bit far but really fun (especially on Friday nights).
• Beer Factory: They have taps at the tables so you just pay at the end for how much you’ve had to drink. It also has a club/dance floor.
• M1: Bar/Club in Old Town (across from Bohemia Bagel).
• Roxy: Club my program went to on Monday nights.
• After a late night out, go to the tram stop called Narodni Trida. Here you can get smazeny syr (fried cheese)…it’s a typical Czech food that you have to try (you can get it lots of places, but this little stand makes the best smaz).

Tips:
• The metros stop running at midnight and run slower on the weekends.
• Trams run every 10 minutes during the day, and then after midnight, the night trams run every half hour.
• WC = Water Closet aka Bathroom
• Typical Czech food: Goulash, dumplings (get the potato ones), fried cheese, saurkraut.
• Good Czech Beers: Pilsner (brewed in Pilzen, which is in the Czech Republic), Staropramen, Gambrinus. When you order water at restaurants, it costs money. So when people say that in Prague, the beer is cheaper than water, that’s usually true.