Editor Pick
A Big Disappointment
- June 25, 2009
- Rated 2 of 5 by
Sonia3 from London, United Kingdom
This review is going to be really mixed because there is so much to Prague castle. It's really like going to a little village because there is so much to the castle and the area around it and if you want to see it all then you'll need to spend the entire day there.
-Tickets-
I bought a Prague Card and got the short tour free on that but if you don't have a prague card the prices are:
Short Tour- 250 crowns (£9.22)
Long Tour-350 Crowns (£12.90)
You can also pay to get into individual attractions and discounts are available, as well as family tickets.
(Please not that the currency in Prague is changing so prices may not be accurate.)
-Getting There-
Obviously travelling there will depend on where you're staying but the easiest way is probably to take the metro to Malostranska from there you can get the tram but I would highly recommend walking up the steps to the castle because the view from there is amazing. Of course you can take the easier way and get the tram up and then walk to the top of the steps.
The view is simply breathtaking and while there are towers that you can go up for similarly great views they cost money and this is free. From here you can see all over Prague.
I personally think that it's worth going to the castle just for the view. It was the highlight of my day...but then much of the rest of the day was a huge disappointment so maybe that's not saying much!
-Free Things to do in Prague Castle-
-The Changing of the Guards
I've never really seen the appeal to this but we found ourselves at right place when the guards were changing and stayed to watch. We actually didn't have a choice as we trapped on the other side of the fence and couldn't get out without walking through the guards, which was quite tempting because it was so boring.
I don't like to say that this wasn't worth going to see because it could be the best changing of the guards in the world and it just wouldn't interest me. If you're interested in this kind of thing then go to the castle. It happens every hour and at noon there's a fanfare and flag ceremony.
-The Gardens
It was winter so there wasn't anything great to see in the gardens, all the flowers were dead but I'm sure that in the summer they're a lot better.
-St. Vitus Cathedral
Once again something I have no interest in but if you like Cathedrals then it's worth visiting. It's pretty enough but I personally have no interest in this and thought it looked much the same as any other Cathedral.
-Paid Things to do-
-St. George's Basilica
Apparently there is a lot of history to this place, unfortunately I learnt nothing about it because all of the information (and there wasn't much of it) was in Czech. I don't think I can hold this against them as we were in Czech Republic but it was a bit disappointing.
-Golden Lane and Daliborka Tower
Daliborka Tower is very interesting in my opinion. It's small but it contains so much history and all of the information was written in many languages including English. It's basically a tower that was used a jail where people were tortured. Not the most pleasant of histories admittedly but certainly very interesting.
Golden Lane while very pretty is just a row of gift shops. I was personally shocked that they actually charge you to go to a gift shop...surely that's not good for business!
-Old Royal Palace
Interesting building. It's a shame that they don't have any information up anywhere about it. I would have liked to have found out some information about this building but didn't realise until after we went in that there wasn't any information written anywhere and by that point it was too late to get an audio guide.
-General-
This was a very disappointing day out. I was expecting so much and it delivered so little.
First of all my ticket was supposed to cover the short tour which according to their website includes The Story of Prague Castle. I was really looking forward to seeing this and then when we arrived we were told that the short tour did not include it (it still says on their website that it does). When I mentioned this to the staff they weren't very helpful at all.
Generally the staff were unhelpful and seemed to not really know what they were talking about. I had to ask a couple of members of staff for directions to a place only to discover that it was the same building that the first member of staff had refused to let me into with my ticket. I then returned to the building and was told that yes, it was the right place and I did have the right ticket.
The signposting was confusing. There were signposts but they seemed to either lead to nowhere or back the way we had come. I don't have the best sense of direction but I can usually follow sign posts.
Some attractions had no information at all which I found disappointing because I like to know about the buildings I'm visiting. I wanted to know about the history of the castle but left knowing very little.
I would not recommend buying tickets for the attractions unless you happen to have a big interest in that area. It's worth going to see the free attractions, if you have nothing better to do with your day and as I said before it's definitely worth going up there for the view but the tours are pretty much a waste of money.
And they're not tours. They give you a map and that's it.
I'm giving this attraction two stars, one for the view and one for the tower but I think that's quite generous.
There are other attractions in the same area so you can go for the view and not waste the day but do keep in mind that most attractions aren't open on a Monday (Prague castle is though).
From journal A Fairytale City