Why Visit Prague

To read my full guide to Prague just click here.

It's lively, it's cheap, it's beautiful, and it's not far from a church made nearly entirely out of bones. Why wouldn't you want to visit Prague? Well it's always in the top three cities for pickpockets in Europe, but other than that there's really no reason you wouldn't want to visit this architectural masterpiece of a city.

For as long as I can remember Prague has been the go to stag and hen do location in Europe, it's got cheap drinks, lots of bars and clubs, and a sex museum. It's ridiculously easy to get to with cheap flights from most British airports, and as with most of Europe pretty much everyone speaks English. So it's easy to see why it's got a good reputation with drinkers of all ages and genders. 

However Prague has moved well beyond the drinkers paradise location in the last few years, and is ahead of the likes of Barcelona and Amsterdam in terms of visitor numbers. Not all of these people can be drunk all the time. Although with the beer prices in Prague you might be tempted to give it a go.

There's actually absolutely loads to do. The Main Square is probably the prettiest you'll ever see, with the gorgeous Church of Our Lady Before Tyn one side, and the magnificent Astronomical Clock, which has been wowing visitors every hour, on the hour for centuries the other.

From the Main Square it's just a short walk across the famous Charles Bridge, passing John Lennon Wall, to the Castle District of Hradcany. This is a proper throwback to medieval Europe, only without the bubonic plague to worry about. 

You'll probably be happy just walking around these streets for hours. I certainly was. There's statues and churches galore, with cobbled streets and steep stairs winding their way up to Prague Castle.

While it's fun to see the changing of the guard outside Prague Castle the real star of the show is undoubtedly the Gothic masterpiece that is St Vitus Cathedral. It took 600 years to complete, but I think it was time well spent.

Despite all of this my favourite part of Prague is Petrin Tower, standing high and proud on Petrin Hill. Sure the views from up here are spectacular, they really are some of the best you'll ever see, and they really do capture the beauty of the city.

But that's not why I love Petrin Tower. I love it because it's clever. It's not much off a sixth the size of the Eiffel Tower, but thanks to its elevated position it's actually higher than its much more famous French counterpart. But why build a 300 meter tower when you can just stick a 63 meter one on top of a massive hill? These Czechs don't miss a trick. 

Prague is undoubtedly one of the great budget cities of Europe, but it feels like that's doing it a disservice. You could easily remove the word budget from that sentence and it'd still be accurate. The whole city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site and it's just so easy to see why once you've started walking around the beautiful old streets.

While it might be difficult I do want to pull you away from Prague briefly, because just an hours drive away there's the old mining town of Kutna Hora. Stay with me here. I know an old mining town doesn't sound amazing, but this one really is special.

For a start there's the traditionally beautiful Gothic St Barbara's Cathedral, appropriately dedicated to the patron saint of miners. It really is worth the trip on its own. But St Barbara's isn't really why you visit Kutna Hora. You visit for a much more morbid reason. It's the home of Sedlec Ossuary, better known as The Bone Church. Everything in this small building is crafted from the remains of 60,000 people. Bone chandeliers, bone sculptures, bone everything. It's magnificently macabre and a real must see to believe.  

Prague really should be on your list of places to visit before you die. And if you ask nicely maybe when you do meet The Grim Reaper someone will turn your remains into a pretty chandelier or similar in a church made of bone. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of well placed bones. But really go visit Prague, it's to die for. 

To read my full guide to Prague click here