It will minimize, but not eliminate, uphill walking to proceed as follows: Metro does not go up Castle Hill. Malostraneske Metro station is the closest stop. Take the uphill bound #22 or #23 tram to the fourth stop from the Malostraneske Metro station.

Strahov Monastery has Prague’s finest Baroque interiors: the Library (Philosophical Hall), the Theological Hall, the Church of Our Lady. Originally built in 1140, the building was destroyed by fire in 1258, reconstructed in gothic style, and later redecorated in Baroque.

The house where the angels told the Virgin Mary that she would be the Mother of the Savior was whisked to Loreto, Italy, when its sanctity in Nazareth was threatened by infidels in 1278. A replica of Mary’s house was constructed in Prague in 1626—it’s the odd little structure in the middle of the courtyard. In 1661, Mary’s house copy was  surrounded by cloisters which were finished off in 1720 in Baroque. This is one impressive structure, from the first view of the front facade from the street to the small, brilliantly decorated church opposite the entrance. There is a
fine museum of religious trinkets on the second floor that should not be missed.

Leaving Loreto, I turned right and went downhill a little to Novy Svet Street, similar in appearance to The Golden Lane without the touristic glitz. One side of the street is bounded by the old city wall. On the other, a row of 16th century very small houses. Tycho Brahe lived at #1 (see plaque on the wall). Walking two blocks along Novy Svet (name change to Kanovnicka) brought me to Castle Square, directly in front of the main entrance to Prague Castle. I crossed the square to the balustrade overlooking the city, well worth this second visit.

Castle Square is lined with the grandest palaces of the nobility. Today, some are government offices, others are some of Prague’s finest museums. Having only 6 days in Prague, we never got to the museums, but walking up the square, away from the castle to the tram stop, was well worthwhile for the square and the surrounding palaces, and the arcades are impressive.

If you are up to it, walk downhill from the end of the square on marvelously attractive Nerudova St. into the heart of Mala Strana.

With its mile-long facade overlooking the city, Prague Castle, the largest in Europe, dominates Castle Hill. However, there are three more top sights on top of Castle Hill—The Loreto, Strahov Monastery, and everything else.

Metro does not go up Castle Hill. Malostraneske Metro station is the closest stop. Take the uphill bound #22 or #23 tram. To get to the castle, get off at the second stop after the Malostraneske Metro station. There are two important reasons to remember this tram stop—first, it is the closest access point to the castle. Second, just after you pass through the castle walls, the cleanest, most modern public restroom in the city is on your right. And it's free. After
spending a couple days in Prague, you will realize how significant this is.

Before entering the castle, take a detour to the right through the castle gardens.

The admission fees to the castle should have a road map. There are single entrance tickets to each sight or various combination packages that save $$$ over the single tickets.

We took a fairly minimal tour of the castle, but still, it took a half-day or more. We entered the Second Courtyard, went to the right out the main gate, went left to the edge of the hill to see the grand view over Prague—that’s Mala Strana below, and across the Vltava, the towers of Stare Mesto. Then back into the castle to St. Vitus Cathedral. Now, I do not much like Gothic cathedrals, but I make an exception for this, one stunning church on the inside. Then we proceeded on through the grounds to the Golden Lane, with a stop to look in at the Gothic Hall in the Royal Palace. The hall is so big that jousting tournaments were held here. The Rider’s Staircase is where the mounted contestants mounted to the second floor hall.

Golden Lane is another of Prague’s amazing sights (see journal).

At the downhill end of the Golden Lane, we entered Dalibor Tower and visited its medieval dungeon. From Dalibor Tower, we had to retrace our steps back through the Golden Lane to continue down the castle’s main drag to the end of the castle, and a decision point—leaving the castle leaves no choice but to continue down the Old Castle steps, the original route from Mala Strana, or, reverse course and walk more than a mile back through the stales to get to the sights beyond the castle’s front entrance. I opted for a break—down the stairs, which turned out to be a
good shopping place, as they were, like Charles Bridge, lined with souvenir stands and purveyors of arts and crafts. The break came from riding the Metro (Malostraneske station is at the bottom of the stairs) back to the hotel for a rest. By the way, the platform of the Malostraneske Metro station is the coolest place in Prague on a hot summer day.

It's not the most impressive castle I've ever seen, but castles are always worth a look. This one, I read, is the largest castle complex in the world.

There are several ticket options available, each of which grants you access to different parts of the complex. Option A is full access, and is, of course, the most expensive. We went with Option B, which granted us access to the castle and to Golden Lane, which is a giant waste of time altogether.

All captions in the castle were in Czech. Basically, we just wandered through a few rooms wondering what it all meant. Then we went in the tower to check out some torture devices, but you get more and better explanations at the torture museum in Prague, which you should definitely visit.

Golden Lane is just a bunch of shops with goods you can find in the market or elsewhere in town. It seems silly that you need a ticket to get in there. You'd think they'd want you to go there so you will buy things.

The views of the city, of course, are fantastic, as they are at pretty much any castle. We were there for the changing of the guard, which is always interesting, I think. It's such a simple little switch, but so formal. I think there must be great pride in such a job, even though it must be fairly miserable, just standing there all day, not moving, in very cold weather.

They also had a cool nativity scene in front of the cathedral. I was very impressed.

They do have a picture gallery, but our ticket did not allow us to see it.

Hmm. Basically, if you've never seen a castle before, check it out. Climb up there to see the city. But if you've been to the Tower of London or the castles in Edinburgh or Krakow, you will do fine to skip this.

As much as I loved Prague Castle, what I enjoyed most was the walk up to it and the view once there of one of the most beautiful cities I've seen.

There are pretty buildings and churches. Please be aware that to get up to the castle area there are about 150 steps. I went during the fall and the temperature was fine. I would not attempt this in the summertime. Just take the train up.