Good evening everyone.  A few weeks ago, my wife and I decided to book a last minute trip to Europe this summer with stops in Prague (PRG), Copenhagen (CPH), and Amsterdam (AMS).  We both had a fantastic time in Prague and I highly recommend visiting for a few days the next time you are in Europe.  Here are some of the highlights from our 3 days in Prague.

To get started, we used 65,000 KLM / Air France Flying Blue Miles + $242 in taxes/fees per person to fly Air France Business Class from San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG) to Prague (PRG).  We then took a $22 Uber from the airport to MGallery Century Old Town Prague Hotel (part of Accor).  I booked 3 nights through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal and used the $100 Hotel Credit from my Citi Premier Credit Card.  The hotel was a short walk from the Old Town Square and had beautiful charm and an awesome breakfast spread.  The total cost with the $100 Hotel Credit was $476, or $159 / night.  Here are more photos from the hotel website.  During our stay, I realized that MGallery was a brand under the Accor family of hotels and they have 120+ boutique hotels around the world, with the majority spread out around Europe.

Our first activity after we checked into our hotel was to walk to the river and take a Prague 1-Hour Devil’s Channel Cruise ($22 / person on Viator). If you use Viator often, you should read: Viator Launches Viator Rewards; Earn 10% Rebate on Activities & Redeem Rewards for Future Activities within 6 Months.  There are many different sizes of boats, some with food and drinks, and some with live music available, so there are a lot of options when sailing up and down the Vltava River and under the beautiful stone bridges.  We were a little tired from our long day of travel, so we made our way back to the hotel for the evening.

The next day, we did a Sandemans Free Walking Tour of Old Town Prague.  If you are not familiar with free walking tours, the concept is simple: reserve a spot online, show up at the meeting place on time, go for an entertaining and education group tour, and then tip the tour guide whatever you feel like they deserved from the tour.  You can tip in most currencies, with credit cards, and via mobile wallets.  I find these tours fascinating since you meet other tourists from around the world, the tour guides work very hard for their tips, and you can get your bearings of a new city without getting lost.  You can find these tours by Googling “free walking tour in _______” or by searching on GuruWalk (which aggregates almost all of the free walking tour companies).

After the free walking tour ended, we made our way to the Pilsner Urquell Experience ($23 / person).  This is a fun and interactive self-guided tour that tells you about the history of the brewery, how the beer is made, and provides a few beers to drink at the end.  Before you shout at your screen about all the foam in our beer glasses, you should know that this is called a “Mlíko”, which is the Czech word for milk and is one of the classic Pilsner Urquell pours.  The locals will chug this beer before the foam turns into liquid as a palate cleanser.  Also, this experience was created by the same company that created the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin and the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam.

Later that day, we did a Prague Foodie Tour ($155 / person on Viator).  We walked to several restaurants and tried many local and tradition Czech foods and drinks.  The meals were excellent and our tour guide was fantastic.  At the end of the tour, he sent out an email with a PDF attachment that had all the restaurant names, meal names, and other foodie info about Prague.

The next day, we did a Sandemans Free Castle Walking Tour that took us across the Charles Bridge (the oldest and most famous bridge in Prague) and up to Prague Castle.  The history and architecture around Prague is amazing and the stained glass windows inside the cathedral were beautiful.

During our free walking tour and foodie tour, we learned that there was a sizeable Vietnamese population in Prague.  I believe Czech Republic and Vietnam were both under communist rule at the same time, so citizens of each country travelled frequently back and forth.  That resulted in many great Vietnamese restaurants in Prague, one of which our Prague Foodie guide recommended (the Remember Vietnamese Food restaurant was a 5 minute walk from our hotel).  We had 2 entrees, an egg roll appetizer, and 2 alcoholic beverages for about $25.  The pork belly with rice noodles was excellent.

Did I mention that we had a great time in Prague?  The weather was perfect, the architecture was magnificent, the food and drinks were delicious, the people were very friendly, and the prices were very affordable.  If you haven’t been to Prague before, add it to your European bucket list of destinations.  If you have been to Prague before, let me know if I missed any of your favorite sites or activities.  If you have any questions about Prague, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

P.S. Our next stop was Copenhagen, so check out The Sites, Smells & Tastes from 2 Days in Copenhagen, Denmark.