am off to prague with the lads for hopefully a great weekend of drinkin and viewing.
would appreciate any recommended pubs where the music is 80's 90's ish, a place to have a good old let the hair down nite. call me old, but doof doof music doesnt do it for me.
Start off at the U Prince Hotel in Old Town Square, the pub and restaurant on the ground floor has a live band for most of the evening. 6 or 7 musicians and good music.
If that is not your taste step outside and take the first turning to the left, narrow streets with lots of entertainment, I went into one advertising Gypsy music, they played Glenn Miller all evening.
Take a trip to Prague Castle and then walk down the hill towards the Old Town Bridge, plenty to see and entertain you.
Fabulous city, something for everyone. Prices in the Old town are high but it's worth the extra for the atmosphere.
Avoid a restaurant called U Golema near the Jewish quarter (Maiselova) not only rude service but they had the nerve to add a 20% service charge handwritten and disguised as a food item. When I challenged it they had the nerve to say : "This is not McDonalds." (At MuckD at least we'd have got a smile). The only place in PRG where I have ever had anything resembling bad service or a problem.
For obvious reasons give the Nigerian pimps and drugpushers on Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske Nametski) a wide berth.
From the airport to your hotel, book your cab in advance...Very reliable and if I remember correctly was around $45 USD plus tip...Avoid the taxis outside the terminal.
And the taxi drivers are sharks, and I mean sharks, get a price before getting in and if they say "it's on the meter" then walk away else they'll take you on a magical mystery tour.
I didn't intend to contradict you, airport runs are one thing but I was referring, specifically, to getting a taxi back to the hotel from downtown.
It's circa 10 years since I occupied a week in Prague, our hotel was circa halfway between the city and the airport, our first evening there, my first ever time in Prague, even I figured out we were taking a zig-zag route back to the hotel.
If I recall correctly the fare should have been 400 of their currency, arriving at the hotel the driver demanded, the meter read, 1000, I walked in to hotel reception asking their advice, they were as good as gold, they told me to offer him 500 or we would call the police, he accepted the 500!
Thereafter, for the remainder of the week, it bacame a challenge to find an honest taxi driver and only one springs to mind, he told me it would be on the meter but he guaranteed it would be a maximum of 400, when it subsequently came to 380 I gave him one hell of a tip whilst thanking him for being the first honest taxi driver I had come across there.
PFog...Thanks, I didn't take it that way...I only spent 2 days (1 night) there on a personal layover...Ergo, I booked a hotel in the downtown/old town area...thus no need for local transport...
But I understand your point and on that you and I agree...
Probably too late and you have already been but other side of the Charles Bridge is great and a bit cheaper. Agree with other poster that St Nicks is always good for a pint cheers!
Why would you ever take a taxi in Prague? It's got to be the bigest rip-off in Europe, if not the world.
Look. When you arrive at the airport, buy a 26 KC (1 euro) ticket for the busses that depart the terminal every 3 minutes. The bus number is 119 if I remember correctly. This takes you 10 minutes to get to the metro station called Dejvicka. No need to buy another ticket. 3 metro stops and you are downtown. Guess what, you got to your destination quicker and you saved 70 euros. I' not even kidding. Coming back to the airport, buy another ticket for 26Kc and take it to Dejvicka metro, get off and then get on bus 119 for the airport. Done. Now I have saved you 140 euros....gee, about the cost of a roundtrip plane ticket to Midlands!?!?
A 26 Kc ticket is valid for 90 minutes. You can buy them at the automat machines or in any little cigarrette stand. Or when you are in the metro station buy a 1 day, 2 day or 3 day ticket...then you don' have to worry about tickets ever again.
Enjoy the sights of downtown, but understand that 90 percent of the restaurants are rip-offs. A half litre beer should not cost more than 30Kc (1 euro 20 cents)...end of story. Downtown they will charge you 60Kc for shit quality beer. Any local beer is good, but avoid the places that think it is somehow fashionable to sell Stella for 60 Kc. Never understood this. Czechs brew some of the world's finest pilsner style ales, but their high level of insecurity prompts them to sell shite like Stella in order to feel like they fit in. Strange.
So....you take a taxi, then you are a fool. Thre metro system is the easiest in Europe. Just ask my friend, who is a redundant 737 CSA pilot who now drives taxi for a living.
PRAGUE
