Hotels in Prague

Prague survived the twentieth century with its old fabric intact, which is why the walk from the Old Town Square across Charles Bridge and up to the castle feels like a film set — and why several million people a year do exactly that walk. Go early or late and it's magical; at 2pm in July it's a slow shuffle.

Beer remains absurdly good and cheap by Western standards, though the Old Town's tourist restaurants have learned to charge Vienna prices, and the stag-party economy is real around Wenceslas Square at weekends. Stay in Malá Strana, below the castle, for cobbles and quiet after the day-trippers leave, or in Vinohrady — a handsome residential district ten minutes away by metro — for better-value hotels and the cafés locals actually use.