Going to be there for 5 days in early January. Any tips?

(11-20-2008 12:56 AM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  Going to be there for 5 days in early January. Any tips?

Never been. My buddy worked there for 2 years. I remember him telling me that the "old city" is really something to see. Prague escaped the world wars virtually unscathed, so the medieval character is still intact.

Have a great time!

I always read http://wikitravel.org/en/Prague to get a good idea of the place I am going to.

Enjoy!

(11-20-2008 12:56 AM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  Going to be there for 5 days in early January. Any tips?

I'll be studying there for 8 weeks in the spring. Please report back about your trip.

Where's Eric. I think he lived in prague for a while

Yes, I lived in Prague for 6 months. It's an amazingly beautiful city. Where are you staying?

(11-25-2008 04:27 PM)Eric Wrote:  Yes, I lived in Prague for 6 months. It's an amazingly beautiful city. Where are you staying?

Not sure yet. Looking into hostels at the moment. Any recommendations?

(11-25-2008 07:39 PM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  

(11-25-2008 04:27 PM)Eric Wrote:  Yes, I lived in Prague for 6 months. It's an amazingly beautiful city. Where are you staying?

Not sure yet. Looking into hostels at the moment. Any recommendations?

Well, I never stayed in a hostel while I was there, but I have heard quite a few good things about Sir Toby's (http://www.sirtobys.com/). Other than that, anything around Old Town should be pretty good. Try to avoid any place with a curfew.

(11-26-2008 11:26 AM)Eric Wrote:  

(11-25-2008 07:39 PM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  

(11-25-2008 04:27 PM)Eric Wrote:  Yes, I lived in Prague for 6 months. It's an amazingly beautiful city. Where are you staying?

Not sure yet. Looking into hostels at the moment. Any recommendations?

Well, I never stayed in a hostel while I was there, but I have heard quite a few good things about Sir Toby's (http://www.sirtobys.com/). Other than that, anything around Old Town should be pretty good. Try to avoid any place with a curfew.

That looks solid, I may go ahead and reserve there. Any tips for daytime sites that I wouldn't be getting from my guidebook or nightlife tips?

(11-25-2008 07:39 PM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  Not sure yet. Looking into hostels at the moment. Any recommendations?

Ive stayed at Czech Inn, Miss Sophie's, and Hostel Marabou. All 3 were excellent. Prague is such an amazingly beautiful city, Im sure you'll have a great time.

I went right after all the European kids finished high school and went on a spring break-like trip and all went to Prague to party. I was walking alone and a group of girls just grabbed me and took me to a club. I was making out with a different girl every night. Make sure you go to the 5-story club right by Karluv most, it's called Karlovy Lazne. Also Radost FX and Klub Cross are must see.

(11-26-2008 06:58 PM)MasterOfNone Wrote:  That looks solid, I may go ahead and reserve there. Any tips for daytime sites that I wouldn't be getting from my guidebook or nightlife tips?

Visit the Kostnice Sedlec in Kutna Hora on a day trip. It's about an hour outside of Prague by train, but it's worth the trek. It's this old Roman Catholic church adorned with the bones of villagers that died in the plague and the Hussite wars.

The Pilsen brewery is a good visit; it's located in Pilsen. You can also pay a trip to St. Bartholomew's Cathedral here.

You'll also want to visit the Karlštejn castle in the village of Karlštejn. It's about 30 minutes to the south of Prague.

Other than that, the tourist-guide-book stuff is actually pretty interesting. Visit the Orloj and the castle and old town square; you'll enjoy it all.

As for nightlife, the only additions I'd make to the above list (Radost FX, Karlovy Lazne) are Mecca, Nebe, and N11.

Edit: Also, report back on prices. I'm planning a trip back to Prague in February and would be interested to know how expensive it is. My gut feeling is that prices will drop pretty drastically in the next 3-6 months as tourism dries up. When I was there, a Staropramen in a cheap bar was something like 11 krowns, and there were 25 krowns to the dollar.

Eric: did you have to make any adjustments to pick up czech girls?

My ex gf (Russian) worked in Duplex (http://www.duplex.cz). And my 'close friend' of 4 years has unfortunately landed herself a job in Darling. Still won't stop me from hanging out with her and her new work colleagues the next time I'm there...

If you're attractive then getting girls shouldn't be too hard. The Euro and Pound are worth about the same now...which is fucked up news for me :'(

This post is about eastern europe in general:

I´ve dedicated this last year to eastern europe. I´ve been in Latvia, Riga, it´s a completely waste of time. All the girls there are prostitutes or will try to get you some money (that wouldn´t be so bad if they would be cheap, but they are expensive). This is mostly due to stupid english stags that go there in packages of 20 people, pissing on their monuments, dressing like superman, etc. Basically people from Riga don´t like foreigners. The foreign minister called english "pigs".
You can read some testimonials here:
http://www.riga-life.com/riga/nightlife
In eastern europe avoid the capitals, they are full of italians that have drained out all the naiveness of girls.
Spend one day in capitals and go imediately to secundary cities. In Latvia after being 2 days in Riga I decided to go to Daugavpills. It´s a ugly city, but the girls are like I´ve heard some friends describe how Riga was 10 years ago. Girls are beautiful, extremely accesible, I´ve opened a bottle of Absinto in a disco for 20 euros, the entrance was something like 3 euros. I had a dream vision in Banzai Club in Daugavpills:
A club full of drop dead gorgeous girls. They were like 10 guys in the club and 200 girls. And the funny part was that the guys didn´t even talked with the girls, they would be left alone in the dance floor.
Some pictures of essential on thursday night in Riga:
http://www.essential.lv/gallery.php?gid=42519&id=42529

After being in Latvia I´ve been in Czech Republic. Completely different country. Because I already knewed capitals sucked I went directly to OSTRAVA, third largest city in czech Republic, didn´t even passed by Prague.
It was funny when people asked me how was Czech Republic and I only knew one street called STODOLNI where all the pubs and clubs were.
In Czech Republic they still like tourists and they will treat you good. It´s really a more developed country, and you feel it when you´re there.
Ostrava in the first night me and my wingman banged the same girl. After the club closed she simply asked us if she could go with us to our hostel.
Thusrday night the streets were completely empty. I think it´s a cultural thing in czech, but all the clubs were empty. I headed with my friend to a strip club and we both were well treated (nothing compared with Riga).
Friday and saturday night were as good as wednesday night.
After Czech Republic I went back to eastern europe to visit Bratislava in Slovakia. I´s not like Riga, but the problem there is that simply girls won´t talk in english or make any genuine effort to it. People are rude and also don´t like foreigners.
But like Riga it has some of the most beautiful women you will see in the world.
After being in bratislava for three days, I had only maked out with one girl, I decided to go to the second city of Slovakia, but got lost on the way and ended up in a town called Detva in the midle of Slovakia. Fuck, it was like that city form the movie eurotrip. Anyway in that town there was only a coffee for old people, so it was one night wasted.
After being there one night I caught the train back to Ostrava and banged a girl in the same night I arrived.
After that I went to Prague. It´s really an astonishing city, worth visiting, different from other eastern europe cities with that shitty comunism style. I´ve only been there one night and it was on a sunday, so all the clubs were like italians sausage fest. But I most say that the quality of the girls was not as good as in Riga or Bratislava, but there were still some plenty hot chicks.
This year I´ve been in Czech Republic 4 times and I had a friend that went to live in Prague, leaving a well paid job to earn much less.
I´m going to visit him this new year in Prague because he told me that he had discovered non-tourist clubs full of hot chicks.
When I get back I will write my experience.
The main reason on writing this post is to tell that the main rule in eastern europe, is not staying in capitals too long, go to the second and third largest cities.

Just came back from Prague, this time of the year is too cold to be there and most of the czechs are in the mountains making ski, best time is after March. The weather was -6 to -12. Anyway banged the most beautiful russian girl till now and got a handjob by a czech.

Here is a list of non touristic clubs where you can go:

- "Postelbar"; the best one. http://www.postelbar.cz/
- "Zlaty Strom"; full of hot babes. http://club.zlatystrom.com/
- "Infinity"; good looking posh czech girls, but already with some italians ruining it.
- "La bodeguita"; good mojito and girls, more touristic.
- "Casa Blú"; university ambiance with nice girls and good food.
- "Beer factory"; full of english drunken girls.
- "Hanny Banny"; coofee with good hamburgers, some chicks.
Those were the clubs and bars my friend advised me and I´ve been.

The clubs you will read on the local guides will be full of italian men, simply don´t go there.
Don´t go to:
http://www.karlovylazne.cz/; Full of italian men.
http://klub.roxy.cz/; the worse disco I´ve been in my life, 95% men.

There´s also a phrase you can say, it´s pronounced:
"Huski novi Rock" it means happy new year and it´s tradition that czech girls give you a kiss on the mouth when you say this to them. I´ve got a lot of kisses saying this .

Hope it was helpful,

Take care

I lived in Prague for 6 months and found it was not that hard to find good quality chicks here. It was a while ago, I was not gaming correctly but I still got laid regularly. It helped that I spoke Czech, so if you do even a little, it will get you a looooong way. My favorite pickup places were bars located in student dorms - plenty of young Czechs live in dorms around the outskirts of Prague and on Petrin hill. All you need to do there is show up (with or without Czech friends), be friendly and show your interest, it will pay off.

I specifically avoided places like Radost FX, Karlovy Lazne, Lucerna, etc - move away from obvious tourist hangout and you will have better times and richer cultural experience. Czechs are not the friendliest of Eastern/Central Europeans but, like I said, speaking a little Czech will help you get on their good side.

Also, don't expect them to invite you to their home too much - it's not part of their culture. Czechs like meeting in hospodas and restaurants, with homes being very private. Dorms are a different matter though

What's up board I am a newbie here. I am a 30+ AA male currently living in Prague, Czech Republic. I have been living here on and off for the past year while maintaining a place in Los Angeles. Armed with a bit cash and an expense account, I generally go first class for everything (although I can rough it with the best)...so take my "advice" with that grain of salt.

My Picks of Prague

Food

~Upscale
Aromi ( http://www.aromi.cz )
Italian spot in the Vinohrady area of Prague 2 (where most expats live) just a couple blocks from Jiřího z Poděbrad metro stop. Easily one of the best places to eat in Prague hands down. Although they were rated by Michelin (1 star), the vibe is very chill (no white cloth on the tables). Expect to pay about $50 US per person.

~Good
Orange Moon (http://www.orangemoon.cz )
Great casual take out or dine in Thai restaurant. They have two locations in Prague and are open a bit later than most restaurants in this category. The staff is always friendly (rare in Prague) and their English is quite good.
Expect to pay about $20 US per person.

Drinks

~Upscale
Tretters ( http://www.tretters.cz )
NYC Gastro-themed upmarket bar that has some of the best bartenders and drinks in Prague. Very international clientele that doesn't seem to know it's a recession. Although I have had more than my share of good times in the spot it has some drawbacks. It's small, it gets packed quickly, and it's a haven for "working" women. You have been warned.

~Good
Hemingway's ( http://www.hemingwaybar.cz/bar-praha/ )
Best service in Prague. Close to Charles Bridge and two of the more popular clubs amongst tourist (meaning go once and check them off your list if time permits) Club Lavka and Karlovy Lazne. Great pre-game spot for a good drink before you gear up for the evening. Doesn't attract big crowds so BYOB's if possible.

I will follow up with Clubs and other oddities of Prague in a later post.

I've only heard good things about Prague. A good friend of mine preffers South America to Europe. He thinks European people are snobby, but he LOVES Prague. When I mentioned going to Europe he told me to only go to Prague. I can't make up my mind if my next journey will be South America one more time to check out some other countries, or Europe. Europe seems like it would be pretty awesome and easy to see a lot of places in a relatively short amount of time, and I have connections there. I definitely want to check out Prague though, and quit a few other places. Anyone have any reports about Switzerland? One of my best friends lives there and she makes it sound like the most awesome place in the world, minus the fact she made it sound like people didn't hook up as much. She's living it up big there though, with all sorts of ballers from all over the world. I'm interested to check it out. I feel like when you havea local to show you the ropes it makes your time a lot better. I doubt I would have had half as much fun in Brazil without my local homies showing me what was up.

you are right Brandon E, having a local to show you around makes a huge difference, especially if you are only there a couple of days. that being said if you ask the locals while you were there what they would recommend not only do you get good answers but often times you will be able to get them to join you.

i did a 6 week Euro trip a couple of years ago and ended up staying in Prague about 4 or 5 days, which was the longest I stayed anywhere. its a beautiful city, its easy to get around, the locals are friendly, and its pretty cheap

I'm here right now and am trying to figure out what makes this place so special. I remember hearing really great things but i'm not so sure. Its a clean city with architecture that is beautiful for sure but in kind of a depressing way. I don't speak the language but haven't noticed the local to be very friendly or unfriendly. The girls walking the streets and in the club are pretty but don't seem too special either. I don't know. I'm just not overly impressed with Prague. On the other hand I have only been here 3 days and doubt I know the city very well.

(06-21-2010 06:50 PM)jmb Wrote:  I'm here right now and am trying to figure out what makes this place so special. I remember hearing really great things but i'm not so sure. Its a clean city with architecture that is beautiful for sure but in kind of a depressing way. I don't speak the language but haven't noticed the local to be very friendly or unfriendly. The girls walking the streets and in the club are pretty but don't seem too special either. I don't know. I'm just not overly impressed with Prague. On the other hand I have only been here 3 days and doubt I know the city very well.

It's summer. And in most of these well-known cities, the creme of the crop is found in the scenes inaccessible to tourists on short-term stays unfortunately.

Best of luck though. Maybe you should get out to the smaller cities for a bit.