Prague Castle is every bit as breathtaking as you imagine. The grandeur of St. Vitus Cathedral, the…read moresweeping views over the city, and the layers of history make it an unforgettable experience. Arrive early, take your time, and simply wander~there's magic around every corner, especially Golden Lane! A must-see when visiting Prague.

We took a guided tour of the castle and it was a great experience…read more The Castle complex is enormous, with an area totaling approximately 753,473 square feet. That makes it the largest ancient castle in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The complex extends down to the Lesser Quarter, or Mala Strana, where several chateaux and palaces are found. Wallenstein Palace, for one, is home to the Czech Senate and includes 26 houses and six gardens. Inside the walls, you can find a cathedral, many museums, the office of the Czech president, the Bohemian Crown Jewels and much more. The complex is expansive and it can take hours to see everything inside.

This is the star architecture within the Prague castle complex and visible from all over Prague…read more It is worth the tour ticket but it is also quite crowded. The shear amount of gold, tall ceilings, two organs and the silver Tomb of St John of Nepomuck are all stunning. Despite the crowds, you will have plenty of time to walk around

This large cathedral inside Prague castle is celebrated for its Gothic architecture, historical…read moreimportance as a burial site for Bohemian kings, and its role in Czech coronations and housing the Crown Jewels. There's an entry fee to visit. Some free guided tours can get you in to see the organ, but that is under reconstruction at this moment, so it would not be ready until next year.

This Premonstratensian* monastery lies about 10 minutes walking southwest of Prague Castle, most…read morewell-known today for its library and brewery. (Since the brewery has its own Yelp page I'll review that separately.) If you're visiting Prague for more than a couple days I'd suggest adding this to your itinerary the same day as the castle grounds. Without diving too much into its history I'll just add here the origins of the monastery date back to 1140 as a Romanesque basilica founded by the Catholic bishop of Olomouc, Jindřich Zdík, with the support of the Bohemian monarchy, and built by the brotherhood of Premonstratensians. Over the centuries, and between the various wars, the buildings burned and were reconstructed several times and the theological halls, libraries and brewery were added a few hundred years after its initial founding. The different areas within the complex include the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Strahov Library with a number of rare medieval manuscripts, maps and globes, the Baroque Theological Hall, the Classical Philosophy Hall decorated with frescoes, and the Strahov Gallery with its collection of lesser known Gothic, Baroque and Rococo paintings. While not a huge complex, and because it's a working monastery and abbey not all areas are open to the public, they did a good job curating the flow of the tour and providing a fair amount of history in the self-guided audio tour. The audio guide comes complimentary with the entrance fee and I listened to most of the recordings. The full walkthrough can take about 1.5 hours. During off-peak season and later during the afternoon (I arrived around 3pm) most of the visitors were part of tour groups or only purchased the first ticket option below, so outside of the main halls and libraries the lower levels were pretty quiet and empty. Tickets can be purchased online or on location in the Church of St. Rochus across the way from the main tourist entrance of Strahov Monastery. Coin lockers (coin returned upon exit,) are also located here, to store larger bags as those are not allowed inside. I believe last entry is an hour prior to closing. There are two types of tickets available, I got the second one since I figured why not, I was there already. 1) entry and self-guided tour to main hall with cabinets of curiosities, library views but no walking into the libraries themselves. This takes about 20-25 minutes to look through. 190 CZK for adults, 90 CZK for children 6-17, seniors 65+ and others that qualify for reduced admission, and 390 CZK for a family ticket. 2) entry and self-guided tour to main hall with cabinets of curiosities, library views, lower level galleries and exhibit on church art and artifacts. 340 CZK for adults, 190 CZK for children 6-17, seniors 65+ and others that qualify for reduced admission, and 690 CZK for a family ticket. Hours are 9:30am-12pm, 12:30-5pm daily though suggest checking their website directly. After visiting the monastery it's worthwhile to drop by the brewery restaurant for a meal and a beer (brewed by the monks)! *yes that's a lot of syllables. And yes I had to google what this meant: a religious order arising from the branch brotherhood originated by St. Augustine and specifically adhere to the precepts established by their founder St. Norbert.

I walked for about 40 minutes from Old Town, crossed St Charles Bridge, and walked all the way to…read moreStrahovsky Monastery so that I can visit the library. When I arrived to the monastery, there's a small entrance in the wall that you have to walk through like a portal that leads into the monastery grounds. I love visiting beautiful libraries, and that was the only draw for me here. At the ticket book, I got a student discount ticket for Strahov Library, only 90 CZK/ $4.30 USD. Got got multiple photos of and in front of the Baroque Library thanks to the help of tourists, and helping other tourists take their pictures for them. You can't enter the libraries, and they're barricaded from people walking in, but you can take photos and videos from the doorway of the the library. There's also interesting artefacts on display that you can take photos of, such as several illustrated manuscripts and books.

Cannot avoid this bridge visiting Prague. Beautiful, relaxing and enjoying the air, the view and…read morethe deep history behind this medieval stone arch bridge since 1357 and its 30 Baroque statues. Visit in sunrise and late night for less crowded space and beautiful view.

Charles Bridge also previously known as a Stone Bridge is almost 700 years old bridge across the…read moreriver Vltava in old town Prague. Used for many centuries as the only bridge in Prague it was also the main road for coronation processions and it decorated with religious statues along the way. Today the bridge is used for pedestrians and is visited mostly by tourists. Even on rainy and snowy day when I visited - it is nothing short of impressive. In particular - the bridge is roughly 35 feet wide - and considering its age it is an amazing fear of engineering.

Adding a ticket to the Golden Lanes is worth your while when visiting the castle. We found the…read moreAlchemists room the most fascinating. It was also interesting to look at all of the rooms and their interpretive signets; however many of the artifacts are not original, especially in the armor rooms as all of those are modern reproductions - though they are beautiful.

Meh. While I appreciate the artistry (everything on display in the rooms upstairs were made by…read morelocal vendors, and the items show off the skill and labor that goes into making a suit of armor, for instance) and the history (the residents turned Golden Lane into a "museum", staging and opening their houses [for a fee] to tourists near and far before the government bought up the land) of this place, it still left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. Of course, that may be due to the enormous crowds of people we were dealing with the day we went, as well. But, no. Maybe we'd seen one too many suits of armor in London, or maybe we'd seen one too many pointy weapons in Edinburgh, but by the time we got here, my eyes kind of flitted right over the displays. I stopped long enough to admire the handy work - there were some incredibly detailed pieces, after all - but room after room of armor did not appeal to me. There was one room towards the back of the building that housed pieces of torture equipment, which I found strangely fascinating. And there are dioramas along the lane itself that give a good glimpse into how people lived and worked in the area. Those were probably my favorite part of the lane itself. Otherwise, the hallways are too narrow, the lanes are too congested, and the doorways into the dioramas are too small to allow for proper viewing. Plus, there's only one exit, and if it gets backed up (as it did when we were trying to exit, all because someone thought it'd be a good idea to put one of those "penny press" machines at the bottom of the stairs), you're likely to get stuck forever. Okay, I'm being melodramatic. But it does bottleneck at the one and only exit (stairs down), and that can be quite frustrating when one just wants to leave the grounds.

Creative architecture by Frank Gehry that is best viewed from multiple angles, also be sure to view…read morethe hanging figures in the dome

This pillar of modern architecture in Prague "danced" to life in1996…read more The project comes from the drawing board of world-renowned architects Vlado Milunić and Frank O. Gehry. Its concept was inspired by the dance skills of the famous film couple, the stone tower symbolizes Fred Astaire and the glass tower, his partner Ginger Rogers. A gallery and a restaurant with a terrace (the Glass bar) offering a 360° view of Prague can be visited in the Dancing House. We visited both in the daytime and also in the evening to get pics at different times of day and to appreciate the lights that made the structure a beautiful glass jewel at night....Loved it....

Piss - is an outdoor 2004 sculpture and fountain by Czech artist David Černý, installed outside the…read moreFranz Kafka Museum in the Lesser Town. The fountain's basin is made of bronze and shaped like the Czech Republic. Standing in the fountain, opposite one another, are mechanical statues of men, standing 210 centimetres (6 ft 11 in) tall with bronze penises, urinating. One of them in what seems to be urinating the Prague area, the other other one doing the same in Brno (the second largest city in Czechia). Visitors to the area used to be able to command the men to write messages into the water via SMS....not sure if that is still the case.

Unique... The fountain's basin is shaped like the Czech Republic. The two statues of men are…read moreurinating. It's by Czech artist David Černý. He has several other statues around the city.

What a stunning view! Honestly you can't go wrong with any panoramic view of Prague, it's such a…read morepicturesque city! This tower was built in 1891, a 63.5 meter version of the Eiffel Tower, located centrally in Petrin Gardens which is a large park area directly south of the Prague Castle plateau (the closest section of the park being only 5 minutes away by foot). The tower itself is about a 30 minute walk from the castle, with some gentle slopes, not too steep. It's helpful to download G-maps in advance as cell signal can get weak in certain areas. There are also a number of different trails so better to be prepared and save yourself some extra wandering, though with the number of periodic signs and other visitors you shouldn't get too lost. If you're approaching the hill from the east, there's funicular that takes you uphill from the lower section of the city though when I was there this was under repair, (that might've been why the tower wasn't so crowded too?) Timed tickets are available to purchase in advance and this is recommended during peak tourist season. Prices vary depending if you purchase in-person or ascend the tower by stairs or elevator. 220CZK purchased at the tower in person, 290CZK for online ticket. 150CZK for use of the elevator. In mid-autumn on a weekday evening around 5:30pm the crowd was pretty thinned out (maybe bc the funicular was down). I think there were 2-3 parties in line when I purchased my ticket at the counter inside the entrance. Thankfully the staff was friendly and spoke much better English than I had any clue about Czech, the transaction was smooth, and up the stairs I went! The climb up wasn't bad, a mini workout of 299 steps with a good-sized middle platform to rest if you like and admire the views from an outdoor observation deck. The top level is an enclosed area with 360 degree views. Winding around the center of the tower is a double helix staircase; one staircase goes up, the other down. They're strict in enforcement. Also the stairs are partially covered though partially open to the elements so in the case of inclement weather be wary. Once you're on the middle and top decks, the views are stupendous! On a partially sunny late evening you could see for miiiles. Bathrooms are not located in the tower so if you need the closest ones are paid about 25CZK (€1), only exact change accepted.

The views are marginally better than those you get for free from some spots in the surrounding…read morepark. But it's a cool tower, only costs a few dollars to climb, and isn't too hard. You stop first at a large platform less than halfway up -- to pretend you're admiring the views while catching your breath -- then proceed to the smaller top. There is an elevator for additional fee, but the walk is half the fun for those able to do it.

Whimsical moving status of Frank Kafka head on top of the hour. Moving back and forth in random…read moredirections. Just to gaze, take pictures and leave or sitting there and gnawing your minds.

This contemporary interpretation of Franz Kafka's head is tucked away in a local shopping street…read more Look carefully and you will see slices of the head slowly rotate back and forth. Definitely worth seeking out if you are a fan of contemporary art.