Falling in love with Prague
The stag sand hens have moved on, leaving Prague a holiday hot sport for romantics, says SIMON BINNS
PRAGUE, the Gothic capital of the Czech Republic, is undergoing something of a renaissance.
It was probably one of the first cities to showcase Eastern Europe as a viable tourist destination for British travellers.
As a result, it was top of the list for an increasing number of stag and hen groups, drawn by the cheap food and drink and diverse nightlife.
The city became overrun with those looking to party rather than appreciate the myriad other things Prague has to offer.
The city took back control, though, as party tourism spread across other Eastern European destinations.
Now, many are rediscovering the charms of a city steeped in history as well as blessed with a range of things to do.
Here are seven things to see and do on a romantic break in Prague.
1 CHARLESBRIDGE
Dating to 1357, the road over the River Vltava lets you take in Prague from its very heart. It links the old town in the east to the castle in the west, and withstood the Second World War as well as many floods over the centuries.
Charles IV was King Of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, and the bridge is a fittingly bold monument, which took his name in 1870.
For those who like their romance slightly darker, the statues of 27 heads that line the bridge are those of the leaders who lost out in a 1621 revolt. Fear not, they’re only reproductions put there in the 1960s.
2 WENCESLAS SQUARE
Named after Saint Wenceslas, patron saint of Bohemia, the square is part of the historic centre of Prague and a World Heritage Site. It was home to a defining moment in the country’s history when, in 1918, Alois Jirásek read the proclamation of independence there.
This is where, historically, the country has gathered to celebrate and protest, but in recent times it has become home to hotels, department stores and restaurants.
3 PRAGUECASTLE
What’s more romantic than a castle? And this one is a beauty. Dating back to the ninth century and covering 750,000 sq ft, it attracts nearly two million visitors a year and can’t really be missed. As well as marvelling at its gorgeously Gothic St Vitus Cathedral, the Romanesque Basilica of St. George, a monastery, museums, gardens and defence towers, you might want to catch the Summer Shakespeare Festival, which regularly takes place in the courtyard of Burgrave Palace for that Romeo and Juliet moment.
4 THE DANCING HOUSE
Bear with me. While an office building may not immediately strike you as romantic, Prague’s Dancing House reprises the romance of two of the most famous dancers of Hollywood’s golden age, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The Nationale-Nederlanden building, built between 1992 and 1996, boasts two styles which wrap around each other like the silver screen’s fleet of foot duo. The neo-Baroque intentionally clashes with Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings around it and stands out for its daring approach.
5 THE ASTROLOGICAL CLOCK
The Orloj is unmissable, positioned proudly on the Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square. Its astronomical dial puts on a show every hour as figures of the Apostles and Death strike the time, and hundreds gather below to watch.
Legend has it that Prague will prosper if the clock is well-maintained. The tower itself dates back to 1410, with the figures added around 200 years later. .
6 TAKE A BOAT TRIP
From a dinner cruise to a trip on the jazz boat, it would be an oversight of epic proportions not to take a boat trip down Prague’s Vlatava river.
More daring couples can choose from a variety of water sports, or go rafting but if you go to the Czech capital and don’t hit the water in some shape or form, you’re missing out. The Prague A La Carte Dinner River Cruise lasts three hours, comes complete with a pianist to set the mood, and will set you back around £55 a head.
7 THE LENNON WALL
If love is all you need, head to the John Lennon Wall. Until the 1980s it was just a wall. But Lennon-inspired graffiti and his lyrics started to appear, largely to annoy the Communist masters of the late 1980s. They tried to cover them up, only to see more reappear almost immediately.
In 2014 the wall was painted over by a group of art students, and the clever declaration that ‘wall is over’ covered up its past. The ‘ll’ was quickly scrubbed out and replaced by ‘r’ and there are still Lennon-inspired pictures to be found.