Prague

hi there i used that shuttle bus as well http://www.prague-airport-shuttle.com/
we booked before we went on line , and it was well organized , although u'd be a bit apprehensive before hand but i can say it was very good

we stayed in a lovely hotel called Hotel William its near the Child of Prague Church on the Castle side of Prague

It was lovely hotel , 5 min from charles bridge, so we did'nt have to worry about taxis etc

i researched the place before and found www.virtualtourist.com very good , it gives good advice from visitors point of view things to watch out for

I felt very safe in prague though and this was at all hours of the night
To be truthful i felt safer there then i do walking through streets of Cork City where i live in at 8-9 on a weekend night !


Prague is lovely city , we did a trip as well outside the city to a Concentration camp called [SIZE=-1]Terezin [/SIZE]
it was very thought wrenching although small over 30,000 were killed there , i think we got instructions on how to get there from that virtual tourist site, The metro There is excellent , supposedly Eastern European countries have a better transport system than the so called 2nd wealthiest country in the Euro Zone
 
i found a link from the site for that hotel u can see pictures
[broken link removed]

i was looking at the site and the prices seem high for it , but we got it a lot cheaper through a travel agency
I woud think go into travel agency and see what deal they can give u and get the name of the hotel and then google it or see if u can find reviews on it sometimes u might get good feedback on the hotels or area this way and can check out local transport or other hotels in the area etc
 
I think the most daunting thing about eastern europe and Czech is the language is totally different from anything we probably learned in school (french , spanish, german etc) with a completely different alphabet.

Prague is very safe in my experience and I think the biggest chances of messing up a trip are in how well prepared you are.
I'd advise to make careful note of the address of your accomodation and landmarks etc. Try to remember where it is and take note of it with you.
If you cant pronounce or spell your accomodation then you cant ask a taxi to take you back there and a vague notion you are staying in a hostel/hotel etc wont help as theres hundreds of places which fit that description.

This knowledge would come in extremely useful in a worst case scenario where your handbag/mobile was lost (along with your address) as I ve found a lot of Czech police cant actuallly speak english.
 
hotel julian is a great relaxing hotel, great location, wonderful staff, fantastic rooms, a real gem. Check it on tripadvisor - its highly recommended, down to the teddy in the breakfast room!! Great price too for the quality of hotel it is. Just a couple of doors away a huge selection of really cheap untouristy type restaurants.
http://www.julian.cz/en/
 
Hi

Just one final query how safe is Prague? - especially at night time in pubs, clubs and walking back to hotel as I have been hearing a lot of horror stories i.e. pickpockets, bar staff / bouncers being rough. Or is it being blown out of proportion and just use your normal commonsense when travelling? :confused:
 
I am always there with Czech friends who speak english better than I do and who take care of me but the 2 biggest problems are I would say

1. being overcharged for a beer at some places because they recognise you as a foreigner. It doesnt happen everywhere and you may walk away believing you have a bargain because its still really cheap compared to home.

2. Avoid taxis which follow you as you leave a pub or club. resist the temptation to take those ones. walk for long enough and find your own taxi further on and ask how much it is to a location before you get in , or use the really good public transport which restarts around 5 am anyway.
 
sign said:
1. being overcharged for a beer at some places because they recognise you as a foreigner. It doesnt happen everywhere and you may walk away believing you have a bargain because its still really cheap compared to home.

2. Avoid taxis which follow you as you leave a pub or club. resist the temptation to take those ones. walk for long enough and find your own taxi further on and ask how much it is to a location before you get in , or use the really good public transport which restarts around 5 am anyway.
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Thanks sign - as long as the beer is cheaper than here i don't mind if point 1 happens (but will be wary) and i wont go near the taxis! :)
 
sdelaney said:
i wont go near the taxis! :)
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If you're staying around Wenceslas Square you're probably within walking distance of most places you would want to go anyhow, unless you go up around Prague Castle, but the tram system is very handy. www.prague.cz might have a few tips about getting around.

I never felt nervous wandering around central Prague on my own - would never be very late though - but as others have said, take the normal precautions. Wait until you see the beggars there, they are on their knees with their heads down and hands out. Very hard to watch in -5 degrees with snow flurries. That's probably the most upsetting thing I saw in 3 trips, never felt anyone intimidated me.

Oh, and if you're exchanging currency, shop around and check for "hidden" charges (i.e. slightly dubious ways of calculating the exchange rate!). I found the airport rates to be the worst.

A book I have on Prague says the top 10 Nightclubs are: La Fabrique, Karlovy Lazne, Roxy, Zoo Bar, Tom Tom Club, Damuza, Keltic, Friends, Jazz Club Zelezna & Jazz Club U Stare Pani (haven't bothered with any diacritical marks!)

After getting 2 pages of advice, I hope you're going to give us all a blow by blow account of your trip after it happens!
 
sign said:
I hope she tried some absinth ;-)
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No “she” hasn’t been yet, but will definitely try it out if it promises what it says! “60% alc./vol. 0,35 Liter (350 ml) CZECH ABSINTH STRONG from Czech Absinth s.r.o. Distilleries, will satisfy all specialty herbal alcoholic beverage lovers through its high content of more than 25 various top quality herbs, included the famous artemisia absinthium (wormwood or thujone). It is recommended to drink it in small doses for its well-known hallucinogenic effects and ecstasy. In small doses it does not cause any health damage at all, on the contrary it has a healing effects, supports digestion and enjoyed in moderation works as an excellent aphrodisiac”

And sign for giving such nice tips and advice I will bring you back a bottle or I can get you a pint if your in Temple Bar at the weekend! (joke) :p
 
Just remembered that when you're leaving Prague airport, (btw I was last there before before security got even stricter!) the security checking system is worth knowing about.

It’s different to many airports that I’ve been through in that you don’t have a security check before you go airside, only a passport check. Then you get to a big (and very warm!) shopping area with duty free, shops, smoky bars etc.. Restaurants are upstairs.

When you get to your gate area, there are various rooms, each of which deals with 2 flights at a time, that you have to go and wait in for boarding. It is here that the security checks happen, and there is usually a long line to get in, so it’s hard to time it that you’re not sitting in that boring room for too long!

The other notable thing about the checks here is that they have the most sensitive metal scanners ever, even my earrings set it off! Yet there aren’t signs telling you to empty your pockets of change, take off belts, remove all jewellery. But you need to remove all this stuff or it will set the scanners off.

As security rules have got even tighter since I was last there, I don't know if it's got any worse since!
 
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