We (two senior women and my 18 yr. old grandson) will arrive in Prague about noon on May 31, staying at Thunovska 19 for 5 nights. The first day we will be exhausted after a two day trip (12 hour layover at JFK). I thought a bus tour where you can just ride around and see the sites without getting off would get us oriented and keep us awake. Is there anything like the hop-on-hop-off bus like Manhattan and other big cities have? Or could we just ride a city bus? We like public transportation, as an opportunity to meet locals, and I read any entry of tips for using it, but I wouldn't know what would be a good route. Also am considering a river cruise in afternoon or evening, but reviews are very mixed. We aren't interested in food/wine/music, just scenery. I didn't even realize there was such a thing as river ferries as opposed to tourist cruses. Any advice would be appreciated. Lynn Mallory from Albuquerque, NM
Posted by
Edinburgh
2681 posts
bus tours are not much good in Prague as most of the tourist sites are in pedestrian zones, where you are staying you are not far from Malotranska metos/tram interchange, the no 23 tram will take you up to the castle area and beyond so worth taking it , in the other direction will take you along the river for a bit,it is a special tourist tram and runs every 30 minutes. you are also not far from letna park, a couple of tram stops up the hill, lovely place for a stroll and several places to enjoy food and refreshment, letna Park beer garden is a favourite spot for me and you get great views over the city, not just beer to drink but wine and soft drinks available as well as some half decent street food.I am just heading to work and will try and post info on the river ferries and trips that may be of use to you
Posted by
Edinburgh
2681 posts
quick break at work.
http://www.praguesteamboats.com/
have a look at this company , regular cruises, ferry to and from Prague zoo/Troja chateau and in that area (Naplavka ) there is a great market on a Saturday morning/early afternoon.
https://livingprague.com/prague-transport/prague-public-transport/
this link will explain the public transport, but have a look at the whole website, loads of info on all sorts of thing to do with Prague.this company also does small group tours which are excellent, I have known Jason who runs the website/tours for many years.
https://www.livingpraguetours.com/
if you look at the photos on the Pub and Tapas tour you will see me with Jason and a couple of other guys,I am the one in the darker blue shirt.I am actually meeting with Jason next week for a meal and a few beers.
https://www.nakedtourguideprague.com/
this is another great small group tour company, I did a tour with Marcus about this time last year,nice guy and great tour,I did the early morning one.
Marcus often posts on here with some excellent info.
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thank you so much. This is such a help. We may need more, since we had a travel agent working on this and it turned out she was planning a whole different trip than we wanted, so we are on our own with no experience in Europe.
Posted by
Edinburgh
2681 posts
http://www.prague.net/
this website may also be of use to you.The castle area is above where you are staying but trams up the hill (no22&23) run very regular and takes a few minutes, the tram stop Malostranska is just a few minutes walk from your accommodation.Be aware there are security lines for the castle complex and they can take a while to get through.I would suggest you take the gtram 2 stop further from the normal castle stop to Pohorelec and walk down the hill from there , even walking up to the Strahov Momastery area first and walking down from there ,some lovely buildings and great views from there
you should be able to walk to the Old town area across Charles Bridge,several trams from where you are just one stop that takes you close .but walking is better as it takes you through some nice places
Posted by
Czech Republic
3 posts
In Prague tram number 22 runs by almost all the main tourist areas like the Prague Castle, the Old Town, Lesser Town, Strahov Monastery and its convenient to hop on and off. You can buy tourist tickets for 310Kc (12 dollars) for 3 days.
There are many walking tours around the old town, some of them are even free (although the tour guide may expect a tip). Many of the tours have themes like history, ghosts and legends, communist era etc. If you want to see some nice views you could go on a photo tour of Prague.
Prague is a very walkable city. Its possible to walk across the main areas in less than an hour. Bus tours are not much good because the streets are too narrow.
Posted by
Prague
445 posts
We have Hop-on Hop-off here as well. Just walk to the Old Town Square and look for the guys with the green umbrellas, they'll walk you to the office and you buy a 48 hour pass. Just make sure you know how to find their stops. For a short cruise I like Little Venice. Small boat, 45 minute cruise close to Charles Bridge with drink and a snack. Evening cruises are normally designed around a longer cruise upriver "through the canal lock" as we say. As far as I know only the Jazzboat has a cruise-only option i.e. you don't need to eat. Most river cruises start at 8 and run for 3 hours. If you get back to the dock @11pm and you don't have any pick-up booked then just walk into a hotel and ask them to call you a cab. Don't flag down anything on the street.