Czech and Prague Sightseeing

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia, it is home to approximately 1.2 million people.

Nicknames for Prague have included “city of a hundred spires” and “the golden city”. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. According to Guinness World Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world.
The four independent boroughs that had formerly constituted Prague were eventually proclaimed a single city in 1784. Those four cities were Hradčany (the Castle District, west and north of the Castle), Little Quarter (Malá Strana, south of the Castle), Old Town (Staré Město, on the east bank opposite the Castle) and New Town (Nové Město, further south and east). The city underwent further expansion with the annexation of Josefov in 1850 and Vyšehrad in 1883, and at the beginning of 1922, another 37 municipalities were incorporated, raising the city’s population to 676,000. In 1938 population reached 1,000,000.

Prague Sights

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe’s (and the world’s) most popular tourist destinations. Prague was one of the few European cities relatively untouched during the World Wars, allowing its historic architecture to stay true to form. There are lots of old buildings, many with beautiful murals on them. It also has a lively nightlife. It contains one of the world’s most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau toBaroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern.

Some of the most known sights are:

• Old Town (Staré Město) with its Old Town Sqare
• The Astronomical Clock
• New Townn (Nové město) with its busy and historic Wenceslas Square
• Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter)
• Charles Bridge
• The Venceslav square
• Prague Castle (the largest castle in the world) with its St. Vitus Cathedral
• Josefov (the old Jewish quarter) with Old Jewish Cemetery and Old New Synagogue
• The Lennon Wall
• Vinohrady
• The museum of Heydrich assassination in the crypt of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius
• National Museum
• Vyšehrad castle
• Petřínská rozhledna, an observation tower on Petřín hill
• Žižkov Television Tower with observation deck
• The New Jewish Cemetery in Olšany, location of Franz Kafka’s grave
• The Metronome, a giant, functional metronome that looms over the city
• The Dancing House (Fred and Ginger Building)
• The Mucha Museum, showcasing the Art Nouveau works of Alfons Mucha
• Places connected to writers living in the city, such as Franz Kafka.

Integrated transport system

Public transport infrastructure consists of an integrated transport system of three metro lines (with 54 stations in total), trams,
Prague Tram System (including the “nostalgic tram” no. 91), buses, a funicular to Petřín Hill and a chairlift at Prague Zoo. All services have a common ticketing system, and are run by Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy (The Capital City of Prague Transport Company).

Rail

The city forms the hub of the Czech railway system, with services to all parts of the Czech Republic and to neighbouring countries.
Prague has two international railway stations, Hlavní nádraží (sometimes referred to as Wilsonovo nádraží) and Praha Holešovice. Intercity services also stop at the main stations Praha Smíchov and Masarykovo nádraží. In addition to these, there are a number of smaller suburban stations.

Air

Prague is served by Ruzyně International Airport, which is the hub of the flag carrier, Czech Airlines. There are several cheap flights per day from the UK and from other countries. Ruzyně International Airport is considered as one of the most modern airports in Europe.

Taxis

The taxi service in Prague has had a somewhat checkered history. During the rule of Communist Party in Czechoslovakia (1948–1989), the taxi service was nationalised into one umbrella company, and, with a short exception during liberalization related to the Prague Spring, no independent taxi drivers were allowed. The quality and availability of the service was low. This caused many enterprising people to run illegal taxi services. Their earnings were far above income of typical citizens and became a source of envy. After the fall of the Communist regime, the service was liberalized and anyone could become a taxi driver. Unfortunately, the chaos of transition from planned to market economy did not leave any time to implement sufficient regulations. The lack of planning and controls has led to a number of serious taxi scams operating in the city; some of which have been linked with organised crime. Many of the victims of overpricing are tourists.
Taxi services in Prague can currently be divided into three sectors. There are major taxicab companies, operating call-for-taxi services (radio-taxi) or from regulated taxi stands, where overpricing is rare and regulation mostly in place. There are independent drivers, who make pick-ups on the street; cheating is mostly associated with these cars. Lastly, there are fake taxi drivers, who operate as “contractual transport services” in order to avoid government regulation.

Famous people connected with Prague

Being the cultural and economical center of Bohemia, Prague has attracted many famous people. Some of the best known are:
Charles IV
Rudolf II
Jan Hus
Bohumil Hrabal
Franz Kafka - German Jewish writer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Austrian German composer
Antonín Dvořák
Václav Havel
Albert Einstein - German Jewish scientist
Milan Kundera - Famous Writer
Jan Švankmajer - famed animator and surrealist
Tomas Rosicky - Arsenal F.C. footballer and captain of Czech Republic national football team