To celebrate an end to the stressful January assessment season, a group of students from the English Society took off to Prague for a couple of days. In this article, I will give you an in-depth review of the city, featuring our highlights and tips for your potential future visit, so that you can make the most of it!
Our highlights were Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the John Lennon Wall and Karlovy Lazne.
Prague Castle is enormous and unlike most other ‘castles’ you will ever see. It is a complex of buildings halfway up Petrin Hill, which is beautifully lit up at night, and you can grab a hot wine for 60 Koruna (just over £2) as a reward for making your way up there.
“The John Lennon Wall is the aesthetic haven your Instagram has been dreaming of ”
Once you are at Prague Castle, nestled in amongst the more modern buildings is a stunning, dark, gothic looking cathedral looming above the rest. Inside you will discover the most beautiful stained-glass windows, full of detail and bright colours perfectly preserved.
Meanwhile, the John Lennon Wall is the aesthetic haven your Instagram has been dreaming of. The atmosphere of the whole area is amazing, with buskers and cute little cafes all the way along the river. Finally, Karlovy Lazne, the biggest nightclub in all of Europe at five storeys tall. Each floor has a different music theme and the bars have different drinks available (try an alcohol mist balloon!)
A word of warning to future visitors: ATMs in Prague are all specifically set up to trick you into withdrawing more cash than you want to and at a terrible exchange rate. It is a huge, city-wide tourist trap. If you can, exchange all your money before you go. This applies to most places abroad, in fact.
“Tours are absolutely worth it”
From the Old Town Square, if you walk down any of the side streets you should see some people signing tourists up for free walking tours that run every hour. These tours are absolutely worth it, as they are only a few hours and you receive so much information presented in the most entertaining and hilarious way. You only pay for the tour in the form of tips – 250 Koruna (just under £9) is a good tip for a 3-hour tour.
As our Czech tour guide said, “if you walk into a restaurant and beer is more expensive than water, just walk out. They’re trying to rip you off.”
Olivia Morel: “Prague was an amazing place to have a two-day trip, so much to see and do. The castle was great.”
Lauren Savill: “This trip was an incredible opportunity to explore such an underrated city and learn about the history and culture of the Czech Republic. The city has stunning architecture and fantastic food … I think this was English Soc’s best adventure yet!”
Cathy Cooper
Images courtesy of the UoN English Society
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