prague trip 2026
I think we’re going to do this trip recap a little bit differently. For our past London trips I wrote a travelogue, but I don’t think that will be as interesting for Prague. This trip had less of an itinerary and was more of a sightseeing exploration. So let’s try breaking it down by categories: food, coffee/matcha, getting around, sightseeing, and miscellaneous.
food
Overall the food was good in Prague. As vegetarians (well, I’m not 100% vegetarian but close enough for consideration when looking at food options), Prague’s meat and cheese heavy cuisine was a bit challenging. However, there were plenty of vegan/vegetarian restaurants to choose from, both serving Czech and other cuisines. We had lovely vegan takes on traditional dishes at Vegan’s Prague.
But it’s great to eat other cuisines when traveling too. Different international foods are available there too. We had some tasty Georgian food, found a nice Korean restaurant, and had some amazing Indian food on our last night.
Pricing was interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I thought it would be less expensive than London or home. And it was, but not by a ton. I don’t think we ever spent more than like $60 for a meal, and that usually included an appetizer or beer/lemonade. Which I guess is pretty good.
coffee/matcha
Like any good European city, the coffee scene was robust(a)1 in Prague. There were so many nice little cafes, open all hours of the day to pop into for a coffee and/or a pastry. It was hard to pick which ones to visit, and we relied heavily on European Coffee Trip’s app to find good spots.
The cafe at THE DESIGN was essentially a kitchen at the back of THE DESIGN shop, but had nice coffee and space outside on a quiet alley street to sit and drink. I really enjoyed this spot. My favorite moment of the trip might have been sitting in the alley with our coffees.
The cafe at VNITROBLOCK was quite good as well. The whole space was like a hipster coworking space, and the cafe at the heart of it fit right in. Excellent flat whites, and a good honey cake slice too. Nice space to hang out in.
JUN Matcha was really lovely. It’s right in the New Town but was down a side street and felt quiet when we visited. It had the best matcha of the trip, too.
beer
The beer was good in Czechia. The Pilsner was invented not far away, and it’s the hometown choice. Most restaurants didn’t have a ton of options - generally you could choose a lager (Pilsner) or IPA. But they were always good, so you never felt constrained with a small selection.
getting around
Prague is a small city, and quite easily walkable. For traveling longer distances, the tram and metro are super convenient.
It’s tough to judge the scale of a city from a map. A map of London, to me, looks like everything is within walking distance. But you wouldn’t want to walk from Big Ben to the Tower of London unless you had a lot of time on your hands. Prague is the opposite. Getting from the New Town to the Old Town looks like a hike, but in reality is only like a 15 minute walk, tops. Many of the streets are pedestrian only, or pedestrian forward. There isn’t a ton of traffic flow control (like stoplights or signs). But there’s strength in numbers, and the ratio of pedestrians to cars is high enough that it feels very safe to walk.
However, Prague is also a hilly city. The center of town (Old Town, New Town) are flat, but once you get out a bit, the hills begin. And some of those hills are hills. Getting up to Prague Castle felt almost like climbing a mountain, and some of the roads had switchbacks to get up there. The hills provided some breathtaking views, but left you breathless on the way up, too.
The public transit is quite lovely when you need it. There’s an extensive tram system that runs along the road network, and many popular lines run every 3-5 minutes. Others run every 10-15 minutes, but that’s still pretty good. The metro is only 3 lines, and I think is used more for longer distances - getting from one end of the city to the other. Especially if you’re visiting, I think the tram system can cover the majority of getting around.
The payment system is interesting. I like it, but in many places I just don’t think it would work. You buy a time-based ticket, I think starting from half an hour up to 72 hours2. But it’s kind of on the honor system - you don’t scan on/off either the tram or metro. This is what makes it some time efficient, with the number of people hopping on or off at any given stop, you could get stuck for minutes processing all the people. But! There are ticket wardens that do the rounds and hop on a tram and ensure everyone has a ticket. It happened to us a couple of times, and I’m not sure what happens if you don’t have a ticket (kicked off? fined? publicly shamed? all of the above?).
So it’s a wonderfully efficient system, but I think you need a certain community/civic dedication to make it work. The checks are few and far between, so you need a society that will reliably adhere to the system. More community oriented societies, like that in Europe or Asia3 could employ this with success. In the US (or even England/London) there’s no chance of it succeeding. Too many people would not buy tickets, try to “beat the system”, get their own or whatever. But in Prague, it worked a treat.
sightseeing
Prague Castle is the largest castle in the world, depending on how you define castle. That’s not a dig or anything, but it’s not a castle that’s like one big building. Prague Castle is a big area fortified by stone walls, but it has 2 cathedrals, other government buildings and multiple squares. The president of Czechia even lives and works there now.
St. Vitus Cathedral is the main attraction, and it is breathtaking. The first half was built in Gothic style. Then they took a 400 year break and finished the other half when Neo-Gothic was in vogue. It’s still technically not completed, there are some gargoyles that are not finished yet. Why rush things?
The stained glass in Europe in general is on another level, it’s so vibrant and moving. The glass in St. Vitus is no exception. Hometown hero Alphonse Mucha even did a stunning display.
Old Town Square is, well, the location of the historic town square. It’s very beautiful, with the famed Astronomical Clock at one end and Church of the Mother of God before Týn at the other. It’s quite touristy, but definitely worth a visit.
The New Town is another big area in Prague that is…newer than the old town. Sadly, Wenceslas Square was a bit torn up under construction, but it was still beautiful.
The National Museum was our first real visit of the trip, and was a really neat museum. Posted at the top of the hill in Wenceslas Square in the New Town. The building itself is stunning, and had some really cool exhibits as well. The anthropological exhibit in particular was really well done.
Vyšehrad Castle is the “other” castle, further south along the Vitava River. It’s a bit more out of the way (but not that out of the way), and therefore quieter and less touristy. Another beautiful cathedral, and a dope cemetery to walk through. It’s also up on a hill and the grounds afforded some beautiful vistas looking back towards the city/Prague Castle, as well as the river heading out of the city.
miscellaneous
One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was feeding the nutria, otherwise known as river rats. They kinda look like capybaras, and they live on islands on the Vitava river. They are partial to carrots, and will walk up and grab them nicely from you if offered.
Our hotel was this beautiful Art Deco building in the New Town. It felt like a place your would find the dapper Hercule Poirot; and their breakfast included Loupák, the most wonderful breakfast bread.
There was this absolutely gorgeous church in a park we visited on our first day there. The church and surrounding buildings were so ornate, it really was a nice way to start the trip.
overall
It was a fun trip! Prague is a nice, small city full of things to see and do.