Half-day Prague Highlights Tour: Includes Walking Tour From Prague Castle To Old Town

This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Stare Mesto (Old Town), Stare Mesto (Old Town), Prague, Bohemia

Old Town Square (Czech: Staroměstské náměstí [ˈstaroˌmɲɛstskɛː ˈnaːmɲɛsciː] or colloquially Staromák [ˈstaromaːk] (About this soundlisten)) is an historic square in the Old Town quarter of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is located between Wenceslas Square and Charles Bridge.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Old Town Hall with Astronomical Clock, StaromEstske NamEsti 1, Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

The square features buildings belonging to various architectural styles, including the Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn, which has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century. Its characteristic towers are 80 m high. The Baroque St. Nicholas Church is another church located in the square.

Prague Orloj is a medieval astronomical clock mounted on the Old Town Hall. The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still in operation. The tower of the Old Town Hall is open to the public and offers panoramic views of the Old Town.

An art museum of the Czech National Gallery is located in the Kinský Palace.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Charles Bridge, Karluv Most, Prague 11000 Czech Republic

Charles Bridge (Czech: Karlův most [ˈkarluːf ˈmost] (About this soundlisten)) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava (Moldau) river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.[2] The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most), but has been referred to as "Charles Bridge" since 1870.[2]

As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. This land connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.

A UNESCO World Heritage site, the bridge is 516 metres (1,693 ft) long and nearly 10 metres (33 ft) wide, following the example of the Stone Bridge in Regensburg.

Duration: 20 minutes

Pass By: Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namEsti), Vaclavske namEsti, Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

In 1348, Bohemian King Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague. The plan included several open areas for markets, of which the second largest was the Koňský trh, or Horse Market (the largest was the Charles Square[3]). At the southeastern end of the market was the Horse Gate, one of the gates in the walls of the New Town.

The Statue of Saint Wenceslas formerly stood in the middle of Wenceslas Square, near Grandhotel Evropa, it was moved to Vyšehrad in 1879. During the Czech national revival movement in the 19th century, a more noble name for the street was requested. At this time the square was renamed and new Statue of Saint Wenceslas was built in 1912.

Stop At: Lesser Town, Malostranske Namesti Praha 1, Prague 11800 Czech Republic

Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", German: Prager Kleinseite) or more formally Menší Město pražské (English: Lesser Town of Prague) is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods.

In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center of the ethnic German (and since 16th century also Italian) citizens of Prague.[citation needed] It also housed many noble palaces while the right-bank towns were comparatively more bourgeois and more Bohemian Czech.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Prague Castle, Hradcany, Prague 11908 Czech Republic

Prague Castle (Czech: Pražský hrad; [ˈpraʃskiː ˈɦrat]) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.

Duration: 1 hour

Pass By: New Town, Prague Czech Republic

The New Town (Czech: Nové Město) is a quarter in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. New Town is the youngest and largest of the five independent (from the Middle Ages until 1784) towns that today comprise the historic center of modern Prague. New Town was founded in 1348 by Charles IV just outside the city walls to the east and south of the Old Town and encompassed an area of 7.5 km²; about three times the size of the Old Town.

Pass By: Vltava River, Melnik Czech Republic

The Vltava (/ˈvʊltəvə, ˈvʌl-/ VU(U)L-tə-və,[1][2][3] Czech: [ˈvl̩tava] (About this soundlisten); German: Moldau [ˈmɔldaʊ]) is the longest river within the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Elbe at Mělník. It is commonly referred to as the "Czech national river".[4]

Stop At: Republic Square (Namesti Republiky), Namesti Republiky, Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

The Powder Tower is one of the original 13 city gates in Old Town, Prague, Construction began in 1475. The tower was intended to be an attractive entrance into the city, instead of a defensive tower. The foundation stone was placed by Vladislav II. The city council gave Vladislav II the tower as a coronation gift. While it was being built, it was called the New Tower. The look of the tower was inspired by the work of Peter Parler on the Charles Bridge.[1]

Vladislav II had to relocate due to riots, so the tower building stopped. He returned in 1485 to live back in Prague Castle, where he lived for the rest of his life, along with the rest of the Kings of Bohemia who lived in Prague.[1] Kings would not return to use the tower or Royal Court until using it for coronation ceremonies starting again in 1836, where they would pass through the tower to go to St. Vitus Cathedral.[citation needed]

Duration: 15 minutes

Pass By: Narodni Muzeum, Vaclavske Namesti 68 Nove Mesto, Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

The National Museum (NM)[1] (Czech: Národní muzeum) is a Czech museum institution intended to systematically establish, prepare, and publicly exhibit natural scientific and historical collections. It was founded in 1818 by Kašpar Maria Šternberg.[2] Historian František Palacký[3] was also strongly involved in the foundation of the museum.

The National Museum houses nearly 14 million items from the areas of natural history, history, arts, music and librarianship, which are located in dozens of museum buildings. The main building of the National Museum has been renovated in 2011-2019, and permanent exhibitions will be there gradually opened from spring 2020.

Pass By: Obecni Dum, namEsti Republiky 1090/ 5 Staré Město, Prague 111 21 Czech Republic

The Royal Court palace used to be located on the site of the Municipal House. From 1383 until 1485 the King of Bohemia lived in the property. After 1485, it was abandoned.[1] It was demolished in the early 20th century. Construction of the current building started in 1905.[1] It opened in 1912.[citation needed] The building was designed by Osvald Polívka and Antonín Balšánek.[1]

The Municipal House was the location of the Czechoslovak declaration of independence.[1]

The roof of the building was the location for the INXS music video for their huge hit New Sensation.

Pass By: State Opera, Legerova 57/75, Prague 110 00 Czech Republic

The State Opera (Czech: Státní opera), is an opera house in Prague, Czech Republic. It is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. The theatre itself originally opened in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre. More recently it was renamed the Prague State Opera. Currently it is home to approximately 300 performances a year.

Stop At: St. Nicholas Church (Kostel svate Mikulase), Mikulashske namesti 484/10, Znojmo 669 02 Czech Republic

The Church of Saint Nicholas (Czech: Kostel svatého Mikuláše) is a Baroque church in the Lesser Town of Prague. It was built between 1704-1755 on the site where formerly a Gothic church from the 13th century stood, which was also dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It has been described as the greatest example of Prague Baroque.[1][2]

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: Tadu Dancing House Gallery, Jiraskovo namEsti 1981/6, Prague 12000 Czech Republic

The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží (Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot. The building was designed in 1992 and was completed four years later in 1996.[1]

The non-traditional design was controversial at the time because the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous. The then Czech president, Václav Havel, who lived next to the site for decades, had avidly supported this project, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.

Gehry originally named the house Fred and Ginger (after the dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – the house resembles a pair of dancers)[2] but this nickname is now rarely used. Gehry himself was

Pass By: Martin Tour Prague, Prague Czech Republic

First and last stop