MINI GUIDE
Budget Prague
COMPILED BY NATALIE MILLMAN, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM NEIL WILSON. PHOTOGRAPHS: MICHAL BARBUSCAK, DAVID CERNY, GORNOSTAJ/ISTOCK IMAGES, © 2015 WWW.KLAPPER.CZ DIGITALISM ROXY PRAGUE, MO PEERBACUS/ALAMYPrague essentials The know-how
FURTHER READING
Lonely Planet’s Prague &
the Czech Republic
(US$21.99) has plenty of
information on Prague plus
day-trip suggestions.
Chapters from the book can
be downloaded at
lonelyplanet.com (US$4.95).
Livingprague.com
is an insider guide to the
city by a British expat.
Franz Kafka is the best-
known writer to have lived
in Prague – no prizes for
guessing which castle he
was thinking
about in his
modern
classic
The Castle
(Penguin
Classics).ARCHITECTURE IN PRAGUE
OBasilica of St George The city’s
finest Romanesque building,
characterised by rounded
façades and arched doors.
OSt Vitus Cathedral Built
over 600 years, this is one
of the most richly endowed
cathedrals in central Europe.
OSt Nicholas Church The most
impressive example of Baroque
style (pictured below), its green
dome is a fitting symbol of the
Catholic Church’s dominance
over 18th-century Prague.
OCrowne Plaza Hotel Built
in 1954, this is designed in
the bombastic Stalinist,
socialist-realist style.
OŽižkov TV Tower This
colossal building dates
from the end of the
communist period.
ODancing House
This building from
after the Velvet
Revolution
resembles
two dancers.palette with colourfully eccentric
touches, and the place is famous
for its huge rainfall showers.
There’s a cool basement lounge,
with red-brick vaults and black
leather sofas (miss-sophies.com;
Melounova 3; from US$65).
The modern Extol Inn is in an
up-and-coming neighbourhood
within reach of the city centre by
tram. The cheapest rooms are
no-frills affairs with shared
bathrooms; three-star rooms
have en suites, minibars and TVs
(extolinn.cz; Přístavni 2; from
US$72.44).WHERE TO STAY
The Czech Inn calls itself a
hostel, but the boutique label
wouldn’t be out of place. Iron
beds, brushed-steel floors and
Belfast sinks give this hostel
offering dorm rooms, doubles
and apartments an industrial feel
(czech-inn.com; from US$36.22).
Miss Sophie’s mixes a greyTRANSPORT
Turkish Airways and Finnair fly to
Prague from Singapore and Kuala
Lumpur with one stop (from
US$733; turkishairways.com). To
get to town from the airport, take
bus 119 to the end of metro line A
(Dejvická; 20 minutes) then
continue by metro into the centre
(10–15 minutes). Alternatively, a
taxi costs around US$23.18.
Central Prague is fairly compact,
and individual neighbourhoods
are easily explored on foot, while
its integrated metro, tram and
bus network covers the rest
(US$1.45 for a basic ticket valid
for 90 minutes; dpp.cz/en).Tours Entertainment Sights Eating SleepingFind hostel rooms with design
hotel décor at Miss Sophie’s