City Escapes Czech Republic Europe

Is the Prague Castle Worth the Hike?

“Ahoj” and welcome to the first in a 4 part series of posts on Prague – the most ‘central’ part of Europe. (I actually found out from a few Czech friends that they dislike being referred to as Eastern Europe. So when you refer to Prague, make sure you reference their centrality!)

First things first. This website’s name is obviously Kaptain Kenny and the branding relates to all things ‘captain’ and ‘pirates’. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Czech word for hello is ‘ahoj’ pronounced ‘ahoy’ as the old pirates once did. If that doesn’t scream ‘Kaptain-Kenny-is-supposed-to-be-in-Prague’, I don’t know what does!

I began my Prague journey by signing up for two walking tours. The company ‘Discover Prague Tours’ is a winner. You’ll be the luckiest tourist in Prague if you get Givi, he’s a Georgian/Czech guy with the most hilarious sense of humour and style of telling stories. Thanks Givi 🙂

The first walking tour started at the old town square and you just have to find the tour guides with yellow umbrellas and shirts. The tour went for around 2.5 hours and was essentially free except for tip I gave Givi. I was so ecstatic that as soon as this one finished, I signed up for the next tour which was for the Prague Castle. It wasn’t expensive – around 300 Czech Korunas which is around 10 euros.

I’m so glad I went! Besides getting a little sunburnt, the trip was fabulous. I met lots of interesting people on the tour and got to take some stunning photos of the Prague Castle. I found out that the Prague Castle is an actual suburb or district of Prague, like a little town in itself.

If you’d like to learn about the history of the Prague Castle, click here.

As usual, I’ll let the photos tell the story. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch. I love hearing from you all!

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Ciao for now.

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The tour starts at the town square but quickly proceeds to the Manesuv Bridge where you’ll have your first glimpse of the Prague Castle. And no it’s not just that tall church on top, it’s the entire length below too.

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Making our way up the hill. It’s a hot and steamy day.

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From the Manesuv Bridge.

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I got lucky and my group was very friendly and chatty. Here’s Givi talking about Prague’s history.

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Once you reach the very top of the Prague Castle, you’ll get your first stunning view.

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Yay! I found a friend on the tour and he took a photo for me. (One of the dangerous perils of traveling solo.)

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Former Nazi HQ in Prague.

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People actually live on the castle grounds. As it’s a real district of Prague, it’s not specifically for the wealthy. There are regular flats for rent here which are regularly priced.

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Cute little streets.

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The most exciting part of this trip was being able to take photos of the stunning architecture WITHOUT hoards of tourists!

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Vineyards at the top of the mountain with a cascading view of Prague at the bottom.

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A beautiful location.

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Yep – so now the tourists begin to make their way.

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This building is the Schwarzenbersky Palace – it’s incredible up close. It’s made of two layers of stone. One layer is white and the other is dark grey/black and it’s carved to give it this effect.

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Another beautiful shot before we went into the area with all the churches.

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I was really here! I didn’t just steal the images off Google. (And no, I’ve never actually done that! All photos on this site belong to us.)

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Quite the doorway.

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Probably my favourite photo of the day.

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If you think you can come here during the day and get a photo of Prague without the tourists, think again…..

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More stunning architecture.

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I’m not usually a huge church fan but this was spectacular. It’s all mosaic!

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Shadow and light.

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Look closely! The word ‘ano’ is written here which was supposed to be latin for ‘built’. (E.g year built.) However it’s misspelt. Ano means ‘arsehole’ in Spanish & also Italian. It should be ANNO. This is because back in the day of empires and rulers, Latin was the language of religion but no one could actually speak it!

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Well that’s quite spectacular.

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YES. I’ve achieved the unthinkable. A photo in Prague without a single soul or car. 10 points to me.

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Amazing weather and a great tour of the Prague Castle grounds.

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Impossible to get a photo without someone coming in and ruining it! Grrr…

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Yay! Second time lucky.

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Too gorgeous. Prague you’ve got my heart and I’ll be back.

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Givi giving a speech!

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Thank you for reading 🙂

 

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9 Comments

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    Lien
    July 12, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    Looking at your pictures, I get the feeling I should revisit Prague. I went a few years ago, but in February and it was freezing, so I missed a lot of all those nice things, just because I couldn’t handle the cold!

    • Reply
      kaptainkennytravel
      July 12, 2016 at 9:06 pm

      Lien you have to come in summer! It’s pumping! I have 3 more posts to come so stay tuned 🙂

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  • Reply
    Prerna_Malhan
    April 21, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    Ah say less tourists and I am all excited. So that is definitely going to our list of places to visit in Prague. This hike is totally worth it!

  • Reply
    shesatripblog
    November 11, 2017 at 3:26 am

    Okay, now I’m off on a rabbit trail reading all the posts on here! What a small world — I took a tour with Givi as well!

    • Reply
      kaptainkennytravel
      November 11, 2017 at 8:56 am

      No way! Turns out he’s my friend’s friend!!!!! We spent loads of time together in Prague 🙂 Such a small world

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