1 day stopover in Prague
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and widely known as the “Golden City”. It got this name from it’s skyline, dotted with golden spires and gold domed roofs, as well as it’s reputation as a city of wealth and splendor, a remnant of the 14th century when Prague was a bustling port and trading city. When you travel from any further northeastern European country to any Czech city you will probably pass through Prague, a city well worth visiting for a stopover.
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Overview of a 1 day stopover in Prague
- How to get to Prague
- Where to stay in Prague for most convenience during a stopover
- What to do in Prague (food, sights and museums)
- Map for a 1 day stopover in Prague
- My honest opinion about Prague
How to get to Prague?
From the neighbouring countries it’s easy and convenient to reach Prague by train – just make sure your train goes to Prague main train station and not Praha-Smíchov, since that one is on the other side of the river. And book with a Czech company, since especially the Deutsche Bahn (German rail) is not reliable.
From further away countries you can fly in, since Prague has an international airport as well. From the airport into the city it will take you about 35 minutes by car (taxi, uber, etc.) or public transport.
Look up your options here:
Where to stay in Prague when you’re only stopping over
My recommendation is the Libero Apartments* Hotel. It is close to the main train station, so you can easily walk to it on arrival day and the day you leave, no extra public transport ticket needed.
They have different rooms with en-suite bathrooms, some even feature a small kitchen and they are located in a safe neighbourhood. They were clean and comfortable.
What to do for a stopover in Prague
On the way from the trainstation you can stop at Areparna for dinner after a long travel day. They serve Venezuelan food, it’s hearty, (sometimes) fatty and delicious. Then you can check in to your room almost next door. Of course you could also check in first, but once I get to where I will sleep for the night after a long day, I am not leaving again until the next morning.
In the next morning I had breakfast at Cafefin, which is in walking distance from the apartment. It is a modern Vietnamese Cafe with delicious breakfast options and a very stylish interior. I went for a French toast and salt coffee (longer time readers can probably tell that I am missing Vietnam) and was not disappointed. It was more on the expensive side compared to other places I went to for food, but within a reasonable travel budget.
There is also an ATM of the Raifeisen Bank nearby to get cash if needed.
After breakfast I got a 30 minute public transport ticket for 1,20€ (you can check prices on the pid website) to get to the old town square and Astronomical Clock. The public transport system in Prague is extensive, from metros to trams to buses and even a funicular (more on that later).
On the way from the old town – because the crowds were driving me nuts – I stopped to see the Charles bridge, then took a tram across the river and to Újezd station, right outside Petřín park with Petřín hill. If you are more lucky then me the Petřín funicular uphill we be in operation! If that is the case you will need to buy an extra ticket if you want to ride it – OR you buy a 24 hour public transport ticket at the start of the day, because just three single journey tickets and the funicular ticket are more expensive than the 24 hour one.
In the south west corner of the park you can find the Czech Ethnographic Museum of the National Museum. It’s a lovely museum in an old park residence where I was the only visitor. You can see traditional costumes, learn about wedding traditions and the influence of farming and the church on the country and its people. You may have heard about a ship in a bottle, but have you ever heard of Jesus in a bottle? No? Me neither, but you can see it in this museum XD
On the way back I stopped at the tram station in front of the dancing house (two galleries above). Interesting to see, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it. For lunch I stopped at the apartment first to get new water, then had Japanese Matcha Pancakes and a Sakura Latte at Funwari Japanese Pancakes (last gallery). Originally the plan was to go to U Houdků, a restaurant serving traditional Czech dishes, but the portion sizes were too big for me by myself – pork knuckle starts at 1kg per serving.
From there I walked to the last museum on my list, the Military History Institute in Prague: The Army Museum Žižkov.
Last stop of the day was the Bonvivant CTC’s bar, which, again, is in walking distance from the apartment. And it is safe to walk, since it is a safe neighbourhood. They have a signature menu with drinks currently inspired by Italy. Instead I went for a drink recommended by one of the bars regular customers who was sitting next to me. Something with orange, whiskey and black pepper.
For breakfast the next morning I went to golden egg, which is about half way between the apartment and the train station. Like the name suggests their focus is on egg dishes. My choice was the classic – a brioche bun with a fried egg, cheddar, crispy bacon and ketchup (with the ketchup substituted for siracha mayo) and a homemade ginger lemonade.
Map for a 1 day stopover in Prague
How to read the map: the red dot is the main train station, yellow dots are places to eat, orange is a bar, dark blue are museums, light blue are historic places and sights and purple is the place I mentioned where you should stay for maximum convenience.
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More InformationYou can save the map to your Google Maps for your time in Prague by clicking here.
In the mood for more of the Czech Republic?
Still have time on your vacation? Don’t like trains or public transport? Consider renting a car to visit more cities in the Czech Republic! What I like about Omio is that you can filter for electric cars by picking the filter “zero emissions”.
Need recommendations on where to go? Check out my posts about Brno.
My honest opinion about Prague
Prague is a beautiful city, there is no doubt about it. But it is also overrun. I have never felt that a city is as overrun as I did in Prague. Was I part of the problem? For two days, yes, certainly, in some places.
There are other cities in the east of Europe than Prague, there are other worthwhile cities to visit in the Czech Republic than Prague. I haven’t seen nearly as much as I wanted in two days, one because it was unbearably full and secondly because almost every place to visit was so expensive. If you pay 37€ to visit Prague Castle (all exhibitions and the entirety of the hill, including the gardens, the basilica and the citadel) and you can’t even see anything, because it is packed to the brim with bored out of their minds pupils on class trips and travel groups where half of the people are on their phone instead, it’s just not worth it.
And honestly, most people seemed to be there only for the pictures. Running from one sight to another and filming videos in front of them. Is nothing else the point of travel? Only showing it off online and at home? You could tell the locals are fed up, too. The amount of people who were so surprised and then being so nice to me when I was genuinely interested and polite… incredible. And incredibly sad.
