The spires of Prague and a day trip to Karlstejn Castle
Summary
Since Eastern Europe opened up, Prague catapulted to be one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations. And for good reason – some of the architecture transplants you 600 years into past Bohemia with its fantastic Old Town, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle and generally meeting its name as the “City of a Hundred Spires”. But with such fame of course comes the hordes of fellow tourists which can take some of the wonder and energy out of the experience
Definitely worth the trip as it is a stunning old European City, but just be prepared for it maybe not to hit that magical note you were hoping for
highlights
#1 Looking out across the daunting Prague Castle that dominates the city's skyline
#2 Enjoying having a pilsner in some of Europe's largest squares, such as Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square
#3 Getting lost, and hopefully losing your fellow tourists, in Prague's wonderful Old Town
#4 Taking the half-day trip to the super pretty Karlstejn Castle and Karlstejn village. Find a spot slightly away from the tourists to enjoy the views
#5 Wandering along the various beautiful bridges that crisscross the Vltava River
#6 Visiting the Gothic masterpiece that is Saint Vitus Cathedral
Travel Tips
Three main tips to get the most out of your visit:
- Get Lost – as with all Old Towns, the enjoyment is about losing yourself in the hidden alleyways and giving yourself that wonderful few moments of feeling like you truly are transported back into Old Bohemian times, without the modern changes and the thousands of fellow tourists. Thankfully, Prague is big enough for you to be able to do this quite easily, so put away the map and just head off to see what you can find
- Make a day trip to Karlstejn Castle – its only 30km / 19miles to the south west and, whilst there are also lots of tourists, you’ll easily find some spots in the local village and surrounding countryside to enjoy the views of this castle that looks like it came straight from a fairytale
- Get stuck into some Pilsners – whilst Prague has a slightly iffy reputation for stag dos / bucks parties / bachelor parties, its still a great night out and, well when in the land of the pilsner, try not to wet yourself
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other European City Breaks
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone