As our overnight train from Budapest rolled into Prague, Emily and I waited in anticipation, looking through our large train window at the gloomy outside weather. We had a long, busy day ahead and hoped we wouldn’t spend the entire day dodging rain showers. Our AirBNB was a short walk from the train station and was conveniently located around the corner from Wenceslas Square and the National Museum in the New Town area of Prague. While I certainly enjoyed the location and found it very walkable to almost everything in Prague, I think other areas such as Mala Strana (“Little Quarter”) or Old Town would have been ideal, though likely more expensive. After struggling to obtain our keys from a lock box inside the currency exchange business that shared a wall with the apartment building (the owners decided not to open on time and left a crowd of us waiting in the rain), we finally entered to find a nice apartment with a rather large bathroom, sofa bed, and a charming little balcony that ultimately served us very well for our two night stay in Prague.
After dropping off our suitcases at the AirBNB, we quickly departed to find some breakfast and explore. The overnight train allowed us to shower and dress for the day en route, which was a great way to maximize our time. As we walked toward Old Town, we stopped and indulged in a popular pastry called a Trdelnik, a rolled dough covered in cinnamon and often stuffed with anything from fruit to Nutella. Emily thought the pastry made a decent telescope but eventually settled on having it for breakfast.
Finding your way to Old Town Square can be a little confusing in Prague, as many of the streets run diagonally and in opposite directions. We eventually learned that all you need to do is follow the crowds and you’ll end up where you want to be. While the beauty of Prague is absolutely a must-see, this comes at a cost, as Old Town is packed with tourists and seldom do you feel the ability to escape and enjoy the beauty in isolation. But crowds aside, we had a blast exploring all that Prague has to offer.
Sandeman's New Europe Walking Tour
I’ve been on a Sandeman’s New Europe free walking tour once before while in Munich in college and remembered it being a fantastic way to see a lot of a city in a small amount of time while at the same time soaking up some great historical facts. The walking tour in Prague was no different. One of the great perks of these tours are that, while signing up online in advance is helpful, doing so is not required. Our tour guide, Jeremy, was great – energetic and knowledgeable, as any tour guide should be! Shortly before the tour began the clouds cleared and the sun emerged, allowing for some of the best picturesque blue skies that we saw while in Prague. We walked through the Old Town of Prague and to Wenceslas Square to learn about more modern times in the city before we had to depart the tour early. Due to some poor scheduling on my part, we were due at our next pre-scheduled excursion. Still, we learned a lot about the history surrounding this medieval city and gained a deeper understanding about Czech pride and culture.
Check on the Bucket List: Beer Spa
I can recall several years ago seeing a Facebook ad for a beer spa someplace in Europe where one could sit in a tub of beer and drink to his heart’s content. I knew instantaneously that I needed to do this, so when Emily and I decided to venture to Czechia, a country quite fond of its beer and consuming it in large quantities, we thought it would be a great place to visit a beer spa. Not to mention, Emily could spend all day in a bath tub and would never turn down a spa day (even if it is in beer). We booked two hours at the Original Beer Spa Rynba in a private room for the two of us. Now, many people have asked me if you ACTUALLY sit in a tub of beer and how on Earth they can afford to waste so much beer. The tub is filled with hot water after which a bucket of hops and barley are added. The best part was the personal keg that poured light and dark varieties of Krusovice beer, which we preferred to the more popular Pilsner Urquell. Unlimited quantities of beer meant that if your beer got warm, just turn it over into your tub and pour yourself a new one! Or just pour it over your head for fun, as I did in the video below! The room was dimly lit and romantic with a bed of hay to relax in following the beer bath. There was a private restroom and shower as well, although it was recommended not to shower for several hours as the hops are apparently great for the skin. The beer spa experience was so much fun and not one we will soon forget.
Now that we were definitely feeling relaxed and re-energized from the beer spa, we set back out to explore more of Prague and see what we had missed on the walking tour due to our early departure. We walked through the Jewish Quarter including several synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. We were a little disappointed to find that most of these sites required paid entrance, and since we had already splurged on the beer spa for the day, we opted not to pay and just observed as we walked by. We did, however, find a small hold in the fence surrounding the Old Jewish Cemetery that allowed us to peer in and snap a photo.
We continued through the Jewish Quarter toward the Vltava River. This river flows through the heart of Prague and separates Prague Castle to the West from Old and New Town Prague to the East. There are several bridges that cross the Vltava, the most famous of which is the pedestrian Charles Bridge. For most of history this was the only bridge that connected Prague Castle to Old Town over the Vltava River.
After exploring Prague for several hours we had worked up an appetite. We stopped earlier in the afternoon for some fried goodies from a street vendor in Old Town Square but decided to indulge in an authentic Czech meal at a restaurant Provaznice recommended to us by our tour guide earlier in the day because many locals eat here and it is fairly well hidden. We enjoyed schnitzels, potato dumplings, sauerkraut, and more Czech beer. Overall this was a great meal in a very quaint little location, which is rather hard to find in Old Town.
After eating we felt pooped. We had done a lot of exploring, and with a heavy meal in our bellies we were ready to call it a day. There were several fun things to look forward to on day two in Prague, so keep reading to find out what else we packed in to 48 hours in Prague!