Christmas in Prague?

October 25, 2007 10:34 PM

Christmas in Prague?

I am considering going to Prague for the first time over the Christmas holidays with my husband and college student daughter. I don't know that much about Prague but it intrigues me and I would love to go before the currency changes to Euros. I have traveled in Europe but neither my husband nor daughter has ever been abroad. We normally go someplace warm with a beach over the Christmas holidays, but if you've seen one beach resort you've seen them all! Is it worth the trip to go to Prague for 5 or 6 days (air time not included)? what is there to do? What do you love about it? why would you recommend or not recommend our going ahead with this?

posted by Lylo to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

Since Prague has a continental climate, the only advice I can give is : expect low temperatures.
posted by Baud at 1:20 AM on October 26, 2007

I was there the first of the year. It's cold, windy, and it starts to get dark at about 4pm. The Jewish Quarter is incredible (See Wikipedia and let Google be your friend) and Hitler didn't destroy it because he wanted to use it as a museum for the "extinct race". We took a side trip to Kunta Hora, which was pretty impressive. We did the Sedlec Ossurary and Kunta Hora has great history, being that in the 13 to 15th century they had a major mint. See

http://www.hillmanwonders.com/czech/kutna_hora.htm

I think we were done with the area in about 4-5 days. We went to Germany prior to going to CZ.

Prague is beautiful, it wasn't destroyed during WWII so there is a lot of history. The Czech Republic is really coming along considering it hasn't had much time out from being communist.

We stayed in a hotel that was 300 yrs. old. They have romantic, winding streets to wander. If I had a complaint, it was too touristy (gift shops that sold the same stuff over and over).

A plus for us was that most people there (we found) spoke English.

Feel free to e-mail me using my MeFi acct. if I can answer more questions for you. There have been previous question on AskMefi about Prague, so I'd also check those out.
posted by 6:1 at 1:51 AM on October 26, 2007

My wife and I spent Christmas in Prague 3 years ago. It is a beautiful city albeit one which is heavily touristed in the centre year-round. You can meet more locals by travelling a short way our from the centre. Five or 6 days would be ample for a visit.

You can expect it to be cold - there are street markets at Christmas and you could look out in particular for the people engaged in the business of selling and butchering carp - the traditional Christmas meal - on the streets. Christmas eve is the big day of celebration. We went to see a classical music concert on Christmas night which was good fun. Snow is not guaranteed but nevertheless fairly likely.

Christmas day is always a peculiar time to be in a hotel and you might want to decide whether or not you want to stay in one that does anything special for visitors at this time. The average place will be operating on a skeleton staff over the celebrations. While many shops, restaurants and tourist facilities do close for a day or so we did not find this too disruptive.
posted by rongorongo at 2:45 AM on October 26, 2007

Moving to Prague this weekend. Have a Czech wife and we know the place quite well. Never spent Christmas there, we always travel to see family but any specific questions I can help with feel free to MeFiMail or see profile.

It will be cold and dark fairly early but a romantic city to walk about in the evening and if it snows quite magical. Other plus points as mentioned is very international so English speaking no problem. Christmas markets and carol singing in old fashioned cobbled streets.

Down points is that because so international might not be the friendliest place in the world RE seeing and meeting real locals the way smaller towns might be.
posted by Gratishades at 3:34 AM on October 26, 2007

We were in Prague for New Years' Eve last year. We spent 3 days there, which was enough for us. We liked visiting the castle, the churches and sitting at the many cute cafes. The old quarter is a very nice place to wander.
I would go to a few concerts and, if I could convince the wife that it isn't a stupid idea, the black light theatre if we went back again. Taking an excursion outside of the city would also have been good to do.
My wife didn't like the crowds in the narrow streets.
The Christmas markets were okay, but not as good as the German ones.

Do you want to do touristy stuff? Celebrate the Christmas spirit in a way that you couldn't do on the beach?

My opinion: If I wanted to experience a European Christmas, I wouldn't spend Christmas or pre-Christmas in Prague. We were in Dusseldorf the week before Prague and enjoyed the Christmas decorations and markets there a lot more.
posted by hala mass at 6:02 AM on October 26, 2007

Just out of curiosity: why do you want to go there "before the currency changes to Euros"?
posted by rom1 at 6:56 AM on October 26, 2007

Is it worth 5 days? Yes. Prague is a rich city that requires a bit of patience in order to find the really 'cool' stuff to do. It's cheap, but things will not jump out at you screaming 'this place is awesome.' The Czechs consume the most beer per capita in Europe, so drinking is a big deal. Be adventuresome and say "Jedno pivo, prosím!"

-Avoid the city center for meals and drinks. You will be amazed at how much less a beer/dinner may cost just around a corner or across the river.

-Drink some Velvet Beer from tap and try to consume the head before the foam disappears. It's amazing and something that you can only get in Prague.

-Visit Museum Kampa. Look for the chair in the middle of the Vlatva.

- Decent old film cameras are very cheap in Prague and they seem to be everywhere. They make an excellent souvenir.

- Do avoid the black light show that is heavily advertised.

- You must make your way to the Hanging Coffee. It is my favorite place in the city and an absolute delight to just take in a meal and several beers with friends. There are no tourists, it's somewhat quiet and the food and beer are cheap and delicious. Highly highly recommended.

- Go to the Jewish quarter and visit the cemetery. Mindblowing.

- Take a trip to the Jetson-esque TV Tower with the giant babies crawling on it.

- Enjoy a dinner and concert at Akropolis.

Nearby cities that are worth the visit are Cesky Krumlov, a charming medieval town and then Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia is gorgeous at Christmas time...probably moreso than Prague.

You can't go wrong with Prague. It's affordable, easy to navigate via public transport and a great place to visit during Christmastime.
posted by inqb8tr at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2007

I spent a semester there and recently returned for a 4 day period. My semester spent there was from Late January to early May, and it happened to be the coldest winter they'd experienced in a long time, in March there were still five inch icicles hanging off trees. As others mentioned it will be cold and get dark early. It will be quite touristy as well, because the holiday season is high season.

Having said all that, it is a beautiful, beautiful city. Not knowing any mount of Czech can be a bit frustrating at times, but at the same time, a lot of people speak English there. Please email me if you want suggestions for restaurants that are not tourist traps, but also tourist friendly.

Also, check out the cubist museum if you go, it is lovely.
posted by piratebowling at 8:46 AM on October 26, 2007

I spent christmas in Prague two years ago. I'm an athiest and not really into even the secular version of christmas and I have to say that spending it there was wonderful. It was amazing how real christmas felt, not at all like the lights on houses and shopping malls with plastic wreaths that we get to 'enjoy' here in the states.

My friend and I spent 4 days there and were lucky enough to know a local. The best restaurants, shops, and cafes were the ones away from the tourists. I recommend you explore any business that doesn't have english on their sign. We wouldn't have gone into them without our local guide but now I know where to find the good stuff. The people in those places were just as likely to speak some english and were all very happy to have us there.

I don't have any good records of the cool little places we found but I did manage to figure out the name of one cool german pub: U Fleku. Their dark colored beer was light and most potable. The little shots of alcohol they bring around are also surprisingly tasty though I have no idea what they were.

Most of our time was spent simply wandering around outside. Dress for the weather! It snowed constantly while we were there.
posted by J-Garr at 10:01 AM on October 26, 2007

If the Euro bit is about saving money, I was in Prague this June and it is far from the bargain it was when I was there in 99. (It was as expensive as Italy) Basically the US dollar is in the toilet. Prague is gorgeous and romantic though, and a fantastic place to wander for hours on end, which costs nothing. Bring comfy warm boots.
posted by tula at 10:22 AM on October 26, 2007

I can't say enough on how beautiful Prague is. In my opinion the old city is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Walking the Karlův most (Charles Bridge) at dusk really did change my life. Nothing but that to add to the above, I hope you have a wonderful trip.
posted by eatdonuts at 4:12 PM on October 26, 2007