Eight Places You Should Visit in Prague

Prague is the capitol of the Czech Republic. As one, it is also the largest city in the Czech Republic with over one million people living there. It is situated in the north-western part of the country and it is stretched along the Vltava River.

Prague is also the fifth most visited city in Europe and it is believed to be one of the safest cities in the world as well.

Prague is known (at least among people in the Czech Republic) as the city of one hundred towers. It is due to its great amount of towers, churches and old houses. In 1992, the historical center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It contains the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town including lots of monuments and historical buildings that are worth of visiting.

In Prague, there are tons of beautiful and amazing places that you wouldn't want to miss - galleries, museums, theatres, gardens, etc. It is impossible to visit all of them, though.

This warning may be insignificant for those who are used to travelling around the capitals of European countries. Prague is the capitol, after all. So, what you should prepare yourself for before actually visiting Prague?

• Prague is crowded - of course, this applies to every capitol and mostly to every bigger town in the world; in Prague the greatest amount of people is concentrated in its historical center, especially while there is sunshine
• The historical center of Prague consists of quite amount of narrow streets - since Prague historical center was built between 11th and 18th centuries, you can't expect spacious and straight streets to be there; there are actually tens of narrow and crooked streets which is easy to get lost in
• Beware of thieves - even though Prague can be listed as one of the safest cities, there are a lot of thieves and pickpockets so you should watch your wallets especially while being on the subway
• In the center, you can meet a lot of homeless people and streets performers - this is unflattering side of Prague; during the day, you can meet homeless people begging for money on the streets and during the night, there are places with drug dealers you should avoid

Although, all of these points may be negative, the sight of Prague's magnificent monuments and historical buildings can easily compensate for all of those negatives. I hope, I didn't discourage you from visiting Prague - Prague is definitely worth visiting.

So, which places in Prague you shouldn't miss?

Note: All of those places mentioned below were picked up by me. I consider those places really beautiful and unique, but it doesn't mean that you can't find more beautiful and more unique places in Prague. It depends on your priorities on this field. I mean, if you don't like visiting churches, you probably won't agree with me on my selection.

The monument of Prague overlooking the whole city is certainly 'must see' place. Prague Castle is dominant feature of Prague. It is also the residence of the President of the Czech Republic.

The area of Prague Castle consists of four churches (St. Vitus Catedral is well-known in the world; another famous church there is St.George's Basilica - exhibitions are often held there), four palaces and a lot of other buildings (among the most famous Golden Lane or Powder Tower can be counted). The area of Prague Castle is surrounded by gardens, which are accesible to the public in the summer.

If you are going to visit Prague Castle, I highly recommend to you waiting for change of Castle Guards (they change places at the top of every hour) - it is really worth watching.

The construction of the Charles Bridge was started by King Charles IV. in the 14th century and was finished in the beginning of the 15th century. There are three towers protecting the Charles Bridge - two of them on the side of the Lesser Town and one on the side of the Old Town.

There are also thirty baroque statues. The most famous one of them is St. John of Nepomuk statue. Not far away from that statue you can also find the small grating with the relief of St. John of Nepomuk. If you touch that relief (or two reliefs under the statue - the woman or the knight with the dog), you can make a wish.

The Charles Bridge is always crowded - but it is beautiful and you can find there street artists drawing people or stands with souvenirs. From the Bridge, there is magnificent view of the Vltava River.

The Astronomical Clock is located in the Old Town on the Old Town Square. It is the third oldest astronomical clock in the world.

At the top of every hour, the Astronomical Clock starts to move. The four figures around the Clock - the Vanity (the one looking into a mirror), the Miser (holding a bag of gold), the Death (the skeleton) and the Musician (the one with a lute) - are put into motion after the skeleton rings its bell. Also, after ringing the bell, two windown on the top of the Clock are opened and the Apostles start to show themselves.

It is worth watching - the only problem here are people. There isn't enough space in front of the Astronomical Clock, so sometimes it is difficult to see the Clock moving.

The National Theatre was opened for the first time in 1881 and in the same year it burned down. After only two years it was rebuilt and reopened. The National Theatre consists of three ensembles - opera, ballet and drama. And, although you may not like any of them, at least the unique, golden shining building is really something you should see with your own eyes.

Wenceslas Square is one of the main Prague squares and it is also one of the most crowded. It is the centre of the business in Prague with stores, malls and restaurants on both sides of the square. A lot of companies have their places of business on Wenceslas Square. The place is popular for all kind of events - celebrations, demonstrations, street performances, Eastern and Christmas markets are held there as well.

In the upper part of Wenceslas Square, you can find the famous statue of St. Wenceslas on a horse. This place is well-known as a meeting place for people. Above the statue, there is a large and old building of the National Museum overlooking Wenceslas Square.

Vyšehrad is not situated in the historical center of Prague, but it isn't that far away from it either. It is about two subway stations from the centre.

Vyšehrad is located on a hill over the Vltava River. If you ever visit Prague, I highly recommend you to take a boat trip on the Vltava River. You can see all the monuments of Prague from it - not only Vyšehrad, but Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge or the National Museum, as well.

The area of the castle of Vyšehrad consists of the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, the cemetary of famous people from Czech history (for example: Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Karel Čapek, Alfons Mucha or Vlasta Burian are buried there) and the large park, which is really popular among inhabitants of Prague - a lot of sport activities can be done there (yoga, jogging) and events are held there especially in the summer.

The last two places aren't that much historical as those mentioned above, but they are popular among tourists for its unique architecture.

Petřín lookout tower strongly resembles the Eiffel Tower, because the builders were strongly inspired by the Eiffel Tower. It was built in 1891 and it is one of main tourist attractions for its magnificent view on Prague.

Petřín lookout tower was built on a top of a hill and you can get there either by taking a stroll through a park or you can use Petřín funicular trains . Except Petřín lookout tower, the whole Petřín area offer more tourist attraction. You can visit for example: the mirror maze, a few castles, the Hunger Wall or sundial. There are also vast gardens with statues and wells.

The Dancing House' (formerly known as Fred and Ginger) architecture is very unique and quite controversial. Its architectural style is known as 'deconstructivist' alias new-baroque. It was built in 1996 and it was supposed to be a cultural centre. Right now, the Dancing House serves as a business centre.

Although, the Dancing House is and office building and are no cultural events held in there, it is still worth seeing for its unrivalled style in the historical centre of Prague.

On the map above, I marked every of those places I'd talked about, so that it could be easier to see their locations.

I know that probably most of those places are world-known and if you plan to visit Prague, you will visit them anyway, I just wanted to summarize the most important places anyone visiting Prague should see.