Prague Things to Do

Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, has several daily food markets at Havelske Trziste and at Prazska Trznice in Holešovice, a tram ride away from the city center. On Charles Bridge peddlers sell ‘Czech’ souvenirs to tourists but if you want to see behind the façade, head for the weekend flea markets.

The Czech Republic’s romantic capital city of Prague is made for love; its Baroque churches, stern medieval halls, warrens of cobbled streets, and watery vistas from Charles Bridge to Prague Castle across the Vltava River are almost guaranteed to make love blossom.

Parties take over in Prague on Silvestr – the Czech Republic’s New Year’s Eve – when the city ramps up to celebrate with fireworks and fun for locals and thousands of hard-drinking Euro-revellers alike. Stores close in the early afternoon on New Year’s Eve but reopen on January 1; most of Prague’s street parties are accessible on foot in the pedestrianized center.

Christmas reveals romantic Prague at its best; the pedestrianized streets of the historic center of Czech Republic’s capital city are strung with fairy lights and the stores are all immaculately dressed with festive decorations. If you’re lucky, there may even be a carpeting of snow.

Prague has become quite the tourist spot in the past decade and with that comes higher prices. However, a visit to Prague doesn’t have to break the bank (or even touch the wallet). There are plenty of free things to do in Prague that give visitors a chance not only to see the sites, but to learn more about the city’s past.

The history of Jews in Prague is a vibrant and intermittently tragic one. More Jews lived in Prague than anywhere else in the world in the early 18th century, for instance, but both before and after, purges, exploitation, pogroms, atrocities and periods of expulsion plagued Jews in Czech lands off and on for centuries. At the beginning of WWII, more than 90,000 Jews called Prague home. By the end of the war, fewer than 15,000 remained in the entire country.

Today, Jewish heritage and culture has become celebrated, and Jewish heritage sites have become a major tourist draw.