Czechia: Prague
Prague is one of those cities that I have only heard good things about, whether you are traveling solo, as a couple, on a friends’ trip, or as a family. I haven’t heard one bad review of this city. As we were planning our summer travel, we found great flights on EasyJet for a long weekend in Prague and were able to use Hilton points at a hotel in the city center so that our hotel stay only cost us about $150.
The most pleasant surprise of the trip (which was overall fantastic) was the weather. We were here at the end of August when the heat at home in Southern Italy is pretty suffocating. In Prague, it was sunny but cool and breezy. It almost felt like early fall in the Midwest of the United States (where my partner and I both grew up). It felt like, quite literally, a breath of fresh air after a really hot summer in Naples. Here is how we spent our weekend in Prague:
Thursday
The easiest, and quickest, way to get from the airport to our hotel was to take a taxi. Uber and Bolt are both available in the city both Bolt seemed to be consistently cheaper. We stayed at the Hilton Prague Old Town. The location was great — accessible to several types of public transit, easy to walk to old town and the river — and the suites were large and comfortable. After we checked in, we hopped in another Bolt to get to Zoo Praha quickly (25 minutes in a taxi versus 50 minutes or so on public transit). We spent the afternoon exploring the zoo, which was absolutely fantastic. It reminded us a lot of the San Diego Zoo, both in size and layout. Parts were under construction so it seems they are expanding it quite a bit but it didn’t impact our experience in any negative way. There are restaurants throughout as well as snack bars and gift shops. There are a few interactive exhibits, like a “children’s zoo” where you can buy food for goats and sheep, as well as a kangaroo enclosure you can walk through. They also had signs posted about shows and demonstrations with keepers at various enclosures that happen at different times throughout the day.
We used the PID Lítačka public transit app to buy bus tickets and plan the route to get to our dinner reservation. If I had downloaded this earlier, it may have been easier to take public transit to the zoo. We noticed that GoogleMaps and this app did not always provide the same routes or timing for public transit and GoogleMaps often gave longer transit times and/or didn’t offer as good of options.
For dinner, we had reservations at Výtopna Railway Restaurant. At this train themed restaurant, all of the food and drinks is delivered via trains that run on tracks on tables around the restaurant. The menu is mostly burgers and meat dishes. The food is nothing terribly special but it was tasty. The beer was very good. We all thought the experience overall was fantastic. I highly recommend making a reservation (easy to do via Google). We went at 7pm and when we left the line was all the way down the staircase (the restaurant is on the first floor).
Friday
We started the morning at The Playground, a toy store and indoor play place. They open at 10am so we got there right when the opened (it was only about an 8 minute walk from our hotel). They do a whole little ceremony for the door opening, which overwhelmed our four year old a bit. It involved cheering and bell ringing, which was a lot of fun for the other kids, but was a bit much for ours. If your kids are easily overwhelmed or aren’t fans of this kind of thing, maybe don’t arrive right at 10am. After convincing him there would be games inside, we headed in to explore. I was expecting a bit more of a play place a bit less of a toy store, but I think it skewed a bit more in the direction of a store. We spent maybe an hour playing here before heading back out to enjoy the nice weather. There is a huge slide from the first floor down to the ground floor, an arcade, a mirror maze, a virtual reality area, a BRIO train table, a snack bar, and some kind of butterfly play experience, although we didn’t look into the butterflies because my son wasn’t interested. Everything was paid for separately, including the toilets (except the slide and small BRIO train table which were some of the few free play areas). It was a fun way to start the morning but definitely not an all day activity. It would be a perfect way to kill time on a rainy day.
After The Playground, we hopped on the metro to head to the castle. We wanted to make it there by noon to watch the changing of the guard, which happens at this time everyday. We were to the first courtyard (where it takes place) by 11:45am and the crowds were already huge so if you care about a great view I definitely recommend planning to be there early. We wandered around the castle grounds for a while but opted to not get the castle tickets, which you needed to actually go into any of the monuments like the cathedral or The Golden Lane. My son was more in the mood to run around outside and play versus tour anything. We did note that tickets were cheaper buying them on-site than on somewhere like GetYourGuide and the line was shorter by The Golden Lane than by the cathedral.
For lunch, we went to the Strahov Monastery brewery restaurant, Pivovar Strahov. We did not have a reservation and luckily got a table but had I planned ahead, I would definitely make a reservation because they were packed. The beer was great and the food was delicious (and the portions were huge). We ended up getting tickets to tour the monastery libraries and galleries, which was worth it. They were beautiful. The basilica was also beautiful and my son was happy to, as he always loves to, light a candle.
From here, it was actually an easy walk to the Petřín Tower, which was built to look like a mini Eiffel Tower. You can buy either elevator or stair tickets to get to the top lookout deck. I didn’t realize this and ended up going back to add the elevator option because of the look I got when my partner realized I got stair tickets and we both know he would be the one carrying our 4 year old up the stairs when he refused to walk up them all by himself. The elevator was worth it and the views are incredible.
There is also a funicular that goes up Petřín Hill (if you’re like me, you’ve probably seen this recommended to do with kids in Prague) but it is currently not running and isn’t expected to reopen until Summer 2026.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening hanging out at a beer garden, which felt like the perfect thing to do in the summer in Prague. We headed a bit out of the center to Na Hradbách, which is on top of the historic Vyšehrad fortress . It is a beautiful, spacious beer garden with kids play area and beautiful sweeping views of Prague looking over the fortress walls. They had local Czech beers, a large grill menu, and toilets on site.
One of my aunts messaged me once and said, “how is it you always seem to be on a boat?” Which is a fair question. I am happiest when I am near the water and one of my favorite ways to see a city, or a new area, is on the water. I found a 50 minute sight seeing cruise with Prague Boats on the river that was about $55 for all three of us — this included three drink tokens. This is how we spent Friday’s sunset — cruising the Vltava River. As it’s a group tour, I recommend being there at least 30 minutes before departure to line up if you care about getting “good” seats. I know that I care about a good view and I want to be one of the first people on the boat so I’m willing to get there early and stand on line while my partner and son run around the waiting area.
The boat ride was great. The views of the castle, Petřín tower, the towers of the monastery, and the Charles Bridge from the water were stunning. The audio guide on the boat was clear and easy to understand. One of the most interesting things we saw from the water was the Prague Metronome. Located in Letná Park, the giant, functioning metronome stands where a statue of Joseph Stalin once stood overlooking the river. At the base, a plaque reads, “in time, all things pass…”
The most stunning view of the castle was probably when the boat turned around the head back to the pier. It was beautifully lit and looked like something out of Harry Potter. Everyone rushed to the front of the boat to take photos but luckily we were already sat at the front of the boat right in the bow because that’s where my son picked — little did we know he had chosen the best seats.
Saturday
On the recommendation of a good friend, we decided to take a half-day trip out to Kutná Hora, about an hour outside of Prague, on Saturday morning. We used the PID app to plan the travel and buy tickets because, again, it was more efficient than GoogleMaps.
The town is tiny so we came with one intent — to visit the Sedlec Ossuary, also known as The Bone Church. In the mid 1200s, an abbot from Sedlec returned from Jerusalem with a jar of soil from Golgotha, known as “Holy Soil.” This led to a massive increase in people wanting to be buried in Sedlec, which led to the expansion of the cemetery. In the 15th Century a gothic church was built near that cemetery the basement was used as an ossuary for bone storage. Over the centuries, including plague and war, the number of bones only increased, and in the 1800s a woodcarver was appointed to, as the website states, “place the bones in order.” What was created is, honestly, hard to describe. The entire ossuary is decorated in artwork made out of bones, using the remains of an estimated 40-60,000 individuals. The center piece is a giant chandelier made entirely of bones. There is no photography allowed in the ossuary and I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone on site respecting this rule.
We bought our tickets online but there is also an info center where you can buy tickets. I did note on the website that the ticketing system will be changing after October 1, 2025 so keep an eye on that if you’re planning a visit after this date.
After walking around the ossuary and church (the two monuments included in our ticket), stopping in a few shops, and grabbing a coffee, we decided to grab the earlier train because it was starting to storm. There is a LEGO museum and activity center near the church and Kutná Hora itself is really cute little medieval town but with the weather and an overtired kid, it was best for us to hop on the train.
We were able to snag a lunch reservation at Výtopna again (my son’s request). We missed most of the rain showers during lunch and the trains were just as fun the second time. After lunch, we walked through old town to see the astronomical clock tower and did some shopping to find my Christmas ornaments.
As the sun came out, we rented a retro car paddle boat from Kotva paddle boats. They are cash only but they took euros. It was about a 20 minute wait for one of the car boats (it seems to be the most popular) but they gave us a beeper and we waited in the park and played until our boat was ready. There are several boat rental options on this little island so you can check prices and availability but I believe this one is the only stand that rents the retro car boats.
We were able to paddle to the other side of the Charles Bridge from where the cruise had taken us the night before and saw several fun beer gardens lining the river bank (somehow, a live musician somewhere is always playing “Sweet Caroline” or “Country Roads”). I’m sure the Americans singing along to John Denver from their car paddle boat was quite the spectacle for people walking along the river.
Definitely pay attention to the yellow buoys (there is a map on the boat that shows you the boundaries you have to stay within) as you are driving around because you cannot paddle beyond them and I read several reviews of people being fined if they accidentally went past them.
We did spot a great playground, food vendors, and live music on Střelecký Island as we paddled by. We planned to stop by once we turned the boat back in but the skies turned and the rain properly started coming down. It would have been the perfect way to spend a sunny evening however.
We headed to U Fleků for dinner — their website recommended coming either before 7pm or after 9:15pm. Their reservations for August were full but outside of this time frame they predicted a wait of only 8-25 minutes (I know, very specific).
There was a line out the door when we arrived, which didn’t bode well, but we waited less than 5 minutes. The atmosphere is fantastic and incredibly traditional for a beer hall. When the weather allows, they have a beautiful outdoor courtyard. It is popular with locals for the beer, food, and live music (singers, tuba, accordion, etc). The menu is, again, pretty traditional Czech fare and your options are light or dark beer. They also offer small shot size glasses of mead. The servers keep track of your order, and the number of beers, by tallying everything on a sheet on paper on your table.
When we do trips with more activities like this, even when they’re fun activities like the zoo or paddle boats, we try to make sure we build in “kid relaxation” time too. This trip, this looked like getting back to the hotel early so we had time at the pool. I think one of the funniest things my son has ever done was coming up to me to ask for a beep for the “Dada submarine boat” (they were in the pool playing pretend boats) because the boat wasn’t ready yet and he needed a beeper to beep when his boat was ready to take him out on the river. I’ve said it a thousand times — travel with kids is hard and humbling but wow is it worth it.
Sunday
This was basically just a travel day for us. We took advantage of being able to sleep in a bit and enjoyed a slow morning. We relaxed at the hotel, ate breakfast, and packed before checking out and taking a taxi to the airport. We had a midday flight so headed out around 10am.
Note: the hotel pool does open at 7am if you have early risers and want to squeeze in some playtime before leaving for the airport.
Things to see next time:
Cafe Louvre: this is a 1900s cafe that has been beautifully preserved just like it was in the early 1900s. You’ll find good coffee and breakfast/lunch. It is a great spot if you are interested in history and learning about the famous visitors this cafe boasted in the 1900s.
Venue: this was recommended by a friend as a fantastic place for brunch! She recommended it if you love spicy chicken and waffles, Bloody Marys, açaí bowls or chai lattes. Note: it does get busier at brunch time so sometimes even just a coffee/latte to-go is great.
Weekend Farmer’s Markets: a friend of mine highly recommended the farmer’s markets in the city! I wish we’d had time to seek one out.
Teresa U Prince: it is free to go up to the fourth floor for drinks. It gives a fantastic 360° view of the city and is an amazing spot for photos. It is right near the astronomical clock and main square in Old Town.
Aquapalace Praha: this water park looks fantastic and is one of the biggest in Europe. It was roughly 30 minutes by car or an hour by public transit. We decided not to go because our 4 year old wouldn’t have been able to access all of it because of his age but it would definitely be worth it (to us) when he is a bit older.