Although my boyfriend and I had been on a couple of trips in the UK, in August 2024 we went on our first trip abroad, with Prague as the destination of choice. We only spent three days there, but managed to see everything we wanted to and more, and this was one of my favourite trips to date!
I'd been to Prague with my family as a child, however I had very limited recollection of the city and had been wanting to revisit for a couple of years now, so it provided the perfect opportunity for a couples trip.
Day 1
We had an early morning flight with Wizz Air, departing at 7:15am, meaning we had to wake up at 4:30am. Luckily, we'd gone to bed early the previous night so felt fairly well-rested. We'd brought a couple of sandwiches with us for the journey and after grabbing a coffee in the airport, we headed to our gate and boarded the plane. The flight was very smooth, and once we landed, the lady at the tourist information desk was extremely helpful, providing us with an array of information, including how to get to our Airbnb from the airport.
After a short bus ride and a metro, we arrived at our stop, karlovo náměstí. We were very lucky to have an early check-in, meaning that we could immediately dump our bags and freshen up before exploring the city, and I was enamoured with the Airbnb. It was run by a company called 'numa' and was more similar to a hotel, with the whole building owned by the same company, luggage storage lockers, a terrace and common room. We had water, tea and coffee capsules in our room, as well as a fridge, and the bathroom offered moisturiser and a hairdryer, alongside the three soaps, which was great. Furthermore, the long windows allowed a lot of fresh air and sunlight into the room, as well as a nice view, which I appreciated. It was perhaps the best Airbnb I've stayed in to date and I would highly recommend it.
After a quick coffee and freshen up, we headed to a nearby bakery, Bochníček, to pick up some pastries, including the most delicious banana muffin. We then visited the landmark that I was most excited for: the astronomical clock tower. Although the clock itself was very cool, the actual chiming of the clock on the hour was fairly underwhelming and the huge crowds that it brought in was insane. That said, the Old Town Square is absolutely beautiful, with various churches and cute buildings, however one thing I would say is that there are a lot of wasps and if you have any food on you, it's very likely that you will have to swat off some wasps (similar to how you have to be on the lookout for seagulls when eating fish and chips on the British coast).
I owed my boyfriend an ice cream from a bet that we'd made before coming, so I got myself a pistachio ice cream and him a white chocolate and almond ice cream from Crème de la Crème, and both were divine. We crossed over Charles Bridge, which is famed for the statues of saints along the bridge, reminding me greatly of the Eye Bridge in Skopje in North Macedonia, and musicians lining the bridge, which was lovely, although once again, this bridge was absolutely crammed with tourists.
We took a slight detour to the Lennon Wall, an art-filled wall which I'd assumed would be similar to the Berlin Wall, but instead comprised mainly graffiti as opposed to murals, and was very small. En route to Prague castle, we came across Waldstein Garden, which featured a fountain with the biggest koi fish I've ever seen, and then we walked up 'staré zámecké schody', which are stairs leading up to the Castle, which was a nice but crowded walk up. The views were gorgeous, and as we walked over to Petrin Hill, we passed one of my favourite viewpoints, Vyhlídka z Hradčanského náměstí. Petrin Hill is a gorgeous hill featuring woodlands and gardens, with Petrin Tower, a tower resembling the Eiffel Tower in France, at the top. The walk up was steep and it was around 25°C so by the time we reached the summit, we were very warm and sweaty. We bought a homemade mint ice tea and a local beer to try, both of which were very refreshing, and the breeze at the top was very welcomed.
We decided to climb the 299 steps up Petrin Tower instead of taking the lift, which was a good workout and we were afforded a break at roughly the halfway point as there was an observation deck there, as well as another at the very top. There was also a one way system in progress, where one stairwell was for ascending and the other for descending, which was well designed. The views at the top were incredible were well worth the challenge (although there is also the option to take an elevator up).
We debated visiting Strahov Library as both of us enjoy reading, however the reviews were sub-par so we instead went for lunch (even if it was 4:30pm). A colleague of mine from Prague had recommended a restaurant called Malostranská beseda for authentic local cuisine, specifying that the Svíčková was her favourite dish, which made ordering very easy for us. The dish comprised sliced beef and bread dumplings with a creamy sauce alongside cranberry sauce and was very filling and sweet. My boyfriend had also ordered goulash as a starter, which was delicious.
We walked through Malá Strana, crossing a bridge over the islands in the middle of the river, where we spotted many people on pedalos, which was picturesque. We headed towards the Dancing House, an odd-shaped building, before returning to our Airbnb to shower and relax.
Despite our early wake-up and our 16km walked at this point, we were actually doing alright and weren't that tired. Our first stop of the evening was Prague's Robotic Bar, where two robots make your drinks before your very eyes. The concept was very cool and we managed to get seats right at the front, which was ideal. I ordered a G&T and my boyfriend a Blue Hawaiian, both of which were made predominantly by the robots, although the barman did have to add the extra ice and lemon slices. The bar was cool but it's worth noting that it closes at 8:30pm, there are only 12 seats, and it is walk-in only.
We then headed to the Aperol Spritz Terrace by the river, which was initially supposed to be for one drink before heading on to another bar, but instead was where we spent the remainder of the night. We ordered several rounds of Aperol spritzes, as well as a medium charcuterie board, and chatted over several hours as we watched the sunset over the river. It was honestly magical and was the perfect end to the evening. We eventually headed home (via a kebab shop as my boyfriend was peckish), ready to reset before another busy day.
Day 2
We woke up and got ready for the day, then headed for brunch. Initially, we wanted to try Bistro Monk, but the queue was long so instead we headed to Venue, which had a much shorter queue. We were very hungry so ordered an additional dish of Czech buns with vanilla cream, alongside our mains (avocado toast for me and chicken and waffles for my boyfriend). The food was absolutely delicious, the service was great, and the vibes were immaculate.
We then explored the sex machine museum nearby, which I thought would be slightly gimmicky but was actually quite interesting and unexpected. We then headed to Letna Park, which had lots of steps to climb but offered beautiful views over the river and was very peaceful. We came across some trampolines and swings too, which provided us with some entertainment. We wanted to explore the Communist Museum but the sun was out, so decided to rest our feet and have a coffee first. We walked to Café Imperial, but they were only serving lunch at that time, so instead we headed to Espresso coffee shop for lemonade and coffee. A few minutes later there was a very heavy downpour so we ran the short distance to the Communist Museum, where we escaped the rain and learned about communism in Czechia. I'd visited other former communist countries before, including Cambodia and Romania, but I've found that each country has a very different experience with communism and was interested to learn how it was perceived in Prague. That said, the museum was founded by an American and his Czech wife, so it was fairly bias and the exhibits mainly comprised a lot of written text on the walls so after about an hour my attention waned.
From here, we'd aimed to visit the famous spiral bookcase in the Municipal Library of Prague, only to learn that the library was actually closed over August, so instead we tried chimney cakes (trdelník) - spiral doughnuts filled with your choice of ingredients (in my case bananas, nutella, and soft serve ice cream). These were delicious but extremely filling and rich so neither of us managed to finish ours. By this point it was around 4:30pm, so we headed back towards our Airbnb once more to rest and refresh, stopping at Wenclensas Square, a modern square where many historical protests and celebrations have occurred, en route.
My boyfriend had decided to surprise me with a date night on this day, comprising dinner, mini golf, and drinks, however right as we intended to leave, it started pouring with torrential rain, to the point that we had to camp out in a store temporarily in the hopes that it would pass. Once we realised that it would last a while, my boyfriend sprinted to the restaurant, while I made my way across under my small umbrella. We were both drenched, and I had decided to wear sandals and shorts, the former of which got soaked through as I had to cross the road, which was filled with a torrent of water. Nonetheless, we eventually made it to the restaurant: Bistro Špejle. Here, the dishes are tapas-style and each dish has a certain number of sticks, the total of which dictates the price. I loved the concept and the food and drinks were great, although we didn't manage to try what I was most excited for (the mini burgers) as they'd run out when we arrived and another batch was only brought out as we were paying.
We then went for dessert at a macaron bar, Mad Rabbit, as my boyfriend knows I love macarons but had never tried them himself, and we tried four flavours: coffee, pistachio, blueberry, and vanilla - which were delicious. Our next part of the date was playing glow-in-the-dark mini golf, which was extremely fun. The course comprised 18 holes and whilst we waited for our reservation, we played 'Let's Get Deep', a card game for couples. They had various other board games on offer too, including glow-in-the-dark jenga. Our tickets included two drinks and we later worked out that for the entire venue, we'd played less than £20 total, which would be unheard of in London. The golf course was very well-designed and so much fun, I would recommend it very highly!
Eventually, the mini golf venue closed, and we decided to visit Dog Bar, which my boyfriend was excited about as it seemed wacky, with some people having to climb to their seats, live music, and fuseball tables. Unfortuntely, we didn't have any cash and they didn't accept card so we couldn't go in. Instead, we went to a photobooth nearby to take some pictures for my scrapbook (one of my favourite types of souvenir). We then aimed to go to Výtopna, a restaurant in which the food and drink is served via a railway train, however they were closing up so told us to return the following day. After two failures, we got the hint so decided to head back to the Airbnb for some rest.
Day 3
Following a lie in, we got ready for the day, then packed all of our things up and checked out of our Airbnb. Our flight was only scheduled for 9:40pm, but as aforementioned, our Aribnb had free luggage storage lockers, which were an absolute life-saver as we could enjoy another day of sight-seeing without having to lug our bags around with us.
We aimed to head to Café Salvia for breakfast, as in our Prague Lonely Planet guide it named this café as one of Milan Kundera's favourites. For reference, my boyfriend and I have a book club, and in honour of our trip to Prague we'd read 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milan Kundera. Instead, we ended up passing Globe Bookstore and Café, which I'd read good reviews about and so we had breakfast there instead. Much to my surprise, they had board games that we could play as we waited for our meals, and so my boyfriend and I played Ticket To Ride, an old favourite of mine, which was very fun (although I lost). I had ordered the avocado toast and my boyfriend an assortment of french toast, eggs, bacon and sausages, and everything was divine.
My boyfriend wanted to try a new activity out, and so we decided to rent some bikes and cycle along the river on cycle paths. The rental company we went for was Okolo, and I could not recommend them enough; we were given two great bikes, helmets, a phone holder, and an app that had a map of a cycle path that they recommended, for under £20 total. We already knew that Prague was much cheaper than London, but the extent to which this was the case kept surprising us. The cycle paths were in very good condition and predominantly flat so we cycled by the river, through beautiful parks with ponds and gardens, and I had an incredible time - the only stressful parts were the immediate roads between the rental store and the cycle lanes.
After our slight exertion, we decided to treat ourselves with some more ice cream from Crème de la Crème, specifically mango for me and hazelnut for my boyfriend, both of which were delicious. Following that, we did some souvenir shopping and then enjoyed a lemonade at Výtopna, the railway restaurant we'd been turned away from the previous night. This was a cool concept and well-priced but I think the novelty wears off fairly quickly so I don't see myself going back.
We wanted to try some more local food before heading to the airport, so went to a restaurant called 'Lokál Dlouhááá' for dinner, specifically trying the pork schnitzel with buttered potatoes, which did the job. We then headed back to the Airbnb to pick up our luggage, then took the metro and bus back to the airport, just as we'd arrived on the first day. The airport was very quiet so we managed to get into the lounge very easily and after enjoying some more snacks, we boarded our flight to London. We were very sleepy by this point but managed to stay awake throughout the flight to read our current book club book. The flight was very smooth and once we landed in Gatwick, we sped through and got home just after midnight, which was dreamy.
Final Thoughts
I had the most incredible time in Prague and couldn't have planned it better if I'd tried. I felt that we'd have easily been able to kill another few days there, however we managed to see everything we'd wanted to and even had time for additional activities, such as cycling and a date night, too, which was perfect.
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