Prague is the capital city of the Czech republic. It is almost entirely populated by tourists, who mainly reside in one of four areas of the city: Pražský hrad (Prague Castle), Karlùv most (Charles’ Bridge), Václavské námĕstí (Wenceslas Square) or Staromĕstské námĕstí (Old Town Square). Occasionally, one may encounter someone who actually lives and works in Prague full time; these people are a rarity, however, and for the purposes of most censuses (censii?) can be ignored.
Therefore, the social demographic can be broken down roughly as follows:
- 10% stag parties – who reside exclusively in the George and Dragon pub on Old Town Square
- 30% confused looking tour groups – these are usually to be found around the Castle, desperately trying to work out which umbrella-wielding tourguide they are supposed to be following
- 30% student backpackers – during the day, found sleeping on benches in and around the city; at night, in any of the many bars and restaurants around the city.
- 20% English holidaymakers, adorned in traditional ill-fitting football shirt and shorts outfits – usually found on Wenceslas Square, because that’s where Marks and Spencers is
- 5% assorted other tourists
- 5% actual residents of the city
(statistics may not be entirely accurate)
The currency in Prague is the Czech Crown; when we went, there were about 42Kč to the UK pound – double it, add a bit and knock 2 zeros off, in other words. But you needn’t worry about that unduly, as Prague is, for westerners, outrageously cheap – which accounts for the huge number of tourists that overrun the place throughout the year.
The language in Prague is, funnily enough, Czech; this is close enough to Russian for it to be confusing for Russian speakers, although unlike Russian it’s written with a Roman alphabet. Again, though, it’s barely worth worrying about because nearly everyone speaks English or German as a second language. Unless you’re like me, of course, and get all guilty about going to a foreign country without knowing any of the language – in which case “Pivo, prosim” will get you what you want, most of the time.
Public transport in Prague is, frankly, a marvel. You pay 250Kč (a little over £5) for a 7 day travel card, and that entitles you to use any public transport in the city (metro, trams and buses), as much as you like, for that period. The services are regular, reliable and frequent, although the metro stations in particular are a testament to particularly dreadful 1970s “futuristic” architecture.
Street crime is, apparently, a problem in Prague, although we didn’t experience anything in our time there. If you’re sensible – keep your money well hidden, don’t leave anything in loose pockets, and leave all valuables in your hotel or hostel safe – you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Metro stations are the most common place for muggings, although obviously, any of the main tourist areas are hotspots, too.
Accomodation is about the only thing in Prague which isn’t absurdly cheap – hotel prices are about the same as most of the rest of Europe. There’s a decent selection of youth hostels, though, and it’s worth booking into one of those even if you do want a hotel, because if you’re anything like us, you’ll get there and find they’ve overbooked you, and they’ll stick you in a nice 3* hotel round the corner for exactly the same price as the youth hostel.
Oh, and don’t bother getting a taxi from the airport to your hotel; it’ll cost a (comparative) fortune – at 750Kč it was easily our biggest expense of the week, apart from accomodation. The 119 bus runs from the airport to the end of Metro line A, Dejvická, from where you can get to the centre of town; use that instead, and you’ll save yourself around a tenner which you can put to use buying yourself a beer or fourteen when you arrive – which, lets face it, is probably why you’re going, anyway.