Prague

Why go

A thousand years of building with no bombing — Romanesque to cubist in one continuous stretch. A castle that is still the seat of government — the largest ancient castle complex in the world. Cubist architecture — a movement that existed as buildings almost nowhere else. Beer as civic culture — the Czechs drink more per head than anyone, and the pubs are the social infrastructure.

The character

Prague was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire under Charles IV in the fourteenth century, and he built accordingly: the castle, the cathedral, the stone bridge, the university, the New Town laid out on a scale that took six centuries to fill. The city then avoided the two things that destroyed most of central Europe — it was not flattened in the war, and the communist government that followed lacked money for large-scale demolition. What survives is not a preserved quarter but a continuous fabric: Romanesque cellars under Gothic houses under baroque façades, along kilometres of street.

The twentieth century is the other layer. Kafka wrote here in German, in a city that was Czech, German and Jewish at once, until the war removed two of the three; the Velvet Revolution of 1989 began with students on Národní třída and ended with a playwright in the castle. Modern Prague is a wealthy tourist capital with a hard core of Czech normality behind it — go two tram stops from the centre and the prices halve, the language changes and the pubs fill with people who live here.

Places of character

Charles Bridge before seven — it belongs to the city rather than the crowd for about an hour a day. Vyšehrad — the second castle, on a rock south of the centre, with a cemetery of Czech composers and almost no visitors. Municipal House — a 1912 Art Nouveau palace with Mucha interiors and a concert hall. Cubist houses — the House of the Black Madonna and the villas under Vyšehrad; a Czech architectural experiment with no equivalent anywhere. Josefov — the Jewish quarter's six synagogues and the old cemetery with twelve thousand stacked stones. A Vinohrady pub — tiled, loud, cheap, and the actual social life of the city.

The way to do it

Get up early: the centre is genuinely magical before eight and genuinely unbearable from eleven to five. Stay in Vinohrady or Karlín and not the Old Town. Use the trams, especially the 22 up to the castle. And drink in pubs and not bars — the difference in price and company is enormous.

One perfect day

Cross the Charles Bridge at six-thirty with the mist on the river and the statues black against the sky. Up through Malá Strana to the castle for opening, and the cathedral before the groups. Down the Nerudova and a mid-morning beer, which is entirely normal here. Tram to Vyšehrad for the ramparts, the cemetery and a view back at the whole city. Lunch in Vinohrady. Afternoon in the Municipal House or the cubist buildings under Vyšehrad. Early evening concert — there is always one. Dinner in a tiled pub with pork and dumplings, and a last walk over the bridge when the crowds have gone again.

Grand hotels

Hotel Paříž — 1904 Art Nouveau by the Municipal House, protected as a monument since 1984. Augustine — a working Augustinian monastery from 1284, part of which is still occupied by the friars.

When to go

Best expression: late September and October — golden light on the sandstone, the season easing, beer garden weather ending. Consider: January, cold and cheap, with mist on the river and the bridge empty. Avoid if possible: the Christmas market weeks and July, when the Old Town Square becomes impassable.

The frame

Ideal stay 3 nights · Minimum 2 nights · Best arrival by train from Vienna, Berlin or Dresden · Airport PRG, 17 km · Walkability excellent, with hills and cobbles · Best without a car yes