How to See the Best of Prague in 2 Days: A Complete Travel Guide
Traveled in November 2018
Europe is full of charming old towns, but Prague stands out to me as one of the most breathtaking. With its cobblestone streets, Gothic spires, and pastel-colored buildings, walking through the old town feels like stepping into a fairytale. The first time I visited I came away thinking it’s no surprise that so many Korean dramas have used Prague as a backdrop – there’s a dreamy, romantic atmosphere that’s hard to resist. Prague is definitely a city that leaves a lasting impression. If you only have 2 days in Prague to explore, this complete travel guide will show you exactly how to see the best of Prague without feeling rushed, so you have plenty of time to savor the vibes.
Prague in 2 Days Itinerary
When to Go
We visited Prague in early winter during a European Christmas markets trip. While it was definitely chilly, it was still comfortable enough to walk around and take in the sights. The festive Christmas markets added an extra layer of charm to the already magical old town. Otherwise, since summers in Prague can get quite hot, I’d recommend visiting in late spring or early fall for ideal weather and less crowds.
How to Get There
The main international airport in Prague is the Vaclev Havel Airport in Prague (airport code PRG). The airport is about 30 minutes outside of the Old Town. To get to the Old Town, you can take a direct Airport Express bus, or call an Uber.
Prague is also well-connected to the rest of Europe by train. The main train station (Praha hl.n.) is only a 15 minute walk from the Old Town.
Booking tip: certain flight searches like Kayak, Skyscanner, or Google flights allow you to set price trackers that will alert you when the price of your flight changes. I never book a flight without tracking prices first because there is no better feeling than snagging a good deal! And if you book your flights with a travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire card, the card usually includes some travel insurance protections (like lost luggage reimbursements, trip delay reimbursements, or trip cancellation insurance) to save you the cost of buying extra travel insurance. Use my contact form if you’re looking for a credit card referral with bonus sign up points!
Bonus Booking tip: sign your kiddo up for frequent flyer accounts with airlines to start earning airline miles for them! Most airline miles do not expire for minors so your kiddo will thank you later.
Where to Stay
To fully immerse yourself in the charm of Prague during your 2 days there, I definitely recommend staying in or near the Old Town. These are our picks for cute boutique stays in Prague Old Town.
- MOODs Boutique Hotel
- Golden Angel Suites by Adrez
- Maximilian Hotel
- Grand Hotel Bohemia
- Check out my post on the best places to stay in Prague for all the details on these top picks.
How to Get Around
Prague is compact and pretty walkable. While we did take some trams, we covered the majority of this 2 day Prague itinerary on foot.
Show Me the Money
Prague in the Czech Republic uses the Czech koruna (abbreviated CZK). Credit cards were widely accepted at larger stores and restaurants, so we mostly relied on our no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card. We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Always choose to pay in the local currency rather than USD for a better exchange rate. We did withdraw a small amount of cash in each country just in case for the Christmas markets. If withdrawing any cash, look for ATMS run by the local banks and always choose to withdraw the amount in the local currency rather than USD for a better exchange rate.
Saving tip: to avoid ATM fees (from the foreign bank and your bank), look for a checking account that offers ATM fee reimbursements. I can personally recommend the Schwab investors checking account and the Betterment checking account for this purpose.
How to Stay Connected
Because we took this trip before e-sims were commonly used, we bought tourist prepaid sim cards for our cell phones. Orange and Vodaphone are two popular cell phone companies in Europe and sell prepaid tourist sim cards that can be used throughout Europe.
However, if traveling again we would definitely use an e-sim from Airalo.
If you have an unlocked phone, then you can either purchase a prepaid sim card or you can use an e-sim. The e-sim is the cheapest way to get international cell phone data. We had a great experience using Airalo to purchase an e-sim on our trip to Canada and our trip to Switzerland. The downside is that you only have data and no phone service when using Airalo e-sims, so it’s a good option if you don’t anticipate needing to make phone calls.
- The Airalo website has great tutorials and I also watched this Youtube video for more installation tips.
- We usually start the installation process at home to load the e-sim into our phones, and then once we land at our destination we turn off our US e-sim and turn on the international e-sim.
Airalo offers local e-sims for specific countries or regional e-sims for all of Europe.
- Get the Czech Republic Airalo e-sim here to stay connected as soon as you arrive (use my referral code ATEASP4988 for $3 off!).
- Get the regional Europe Airalo e-sim here if traveling to other European countries on your trip.
2 Days in Prague Itinerary at a Glance
| Day | Activity | Sleep In |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Town Square Charles Bridge | Old Town |
| 2 | Strahov Monastery Prague Castle Letna Hill | Old Town |
Day 1: Old Town Square and Charles Bridge
Day one might look light on major sights, but don’t underestimate how much time you’ll want to spend simply exploring Prague’s enchanting Old Town. Between the cute shops, winding cobblestone streets, and hidden corners, we loved having the chance to slow down and wander a bit to really soak in the atmosphere.
Old Town Square
The heart of Prague’s Old Town is the Old Town Square. The first time we stepped in the square, there were street performers everywhere, someone in a giant panda suit taking pictures with tourists, bubbles floating in the air, and of course the stunning architecture. It felt surreal, truly like something out of a fairy tale. Because Prague was spared from most of the bombing from World War II, most of the architecture is original (unlike a lot of other major cities in Europe which were not so lucky), which is really amazing if you think about it.
The Old Town Square is surrounded by the Church of St. Nicholas, the Tyn Church, and the Old Town Hall with its famous astronomical clock. The astronomical clock puts on a glockenspiel show at the top of the hour every day from 9am-10pm. Inside the Old Town Hall you can pay to go up the tower by elevator for some amazing views of the city. We love getting a bird’s eye view of any city, and the views from here were worth the ascent.
A 5 minute walk away is the Powder Tower, which was the main gate of the old town wall. It’s a nice photo op from the outside, but not really worth going inside. If you had to choose to pay for one, I would spend my money on the Old Town Hall.
Charles Bridge
From the Old Town Square, walk downhill towards Charles Bridge for more dreamy views. The Charles Bridge has towers on both sides of the river that you can go up. From the top of the tower on the Old Town side, you get a stunning view of the bridge, the river, and the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral across the river. We went up this side and enjoyed the views. I’m sure other side would be just as nice.
After going up the tower, cross the Charles Bridge and enjoy more of the views. For the best photo spot of the Charles Bridge on the Lesser Town side of the river, go behind the Franz Kafka Museum until you see the sloping stone walkway down to the water (where the swans and ducks are hanging out). The photos we took here with the swans in the background are some of my favorites!
For dinner, check out one of the local breweries! We enjoyed Lokal.
Day 2: Strahov Monastery, Prague Castle, and Letna Park
We spent this day visiting the sights in Lesser Town, on the other side of the river from the Old Town of Prague.
Strahov Monastery
The first stop is slightly off the beaten path to Strahov Monastery. Why are we going to a monastery? Because Strahov Monastery has one of the most beautiful libraries I have ever seen and this book lover could not pass up the chance to ogle it. And the brewery in the monastery, Klasterni Pivovar, has some of the best beer my husband has had.
- How to get there: Catch tram #22 or #23 to the Pohorelec stop.
- Cost: There is a fee to enter the library, and note that you can only view the library rooms from the doorways.
Prague Castle
From the monastery, we walked downhill towards Castle Square to the main entrance of Prague Castle.
- How to get there: If you’re not into beautiful libraries and want to go straight to the castle, take tram #22 or #23 to the Prazsky Hrad stop to get to the northern entrance of the castle.
- Cost: The castle grounds are free, but you have to buy a ticket to enter all the sights inside the castle. The “Basic circuit” ticket bundles the highlights of St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, the Basilica of St. George, and the Golden Lane.
Letna Hill
Exiting the castle complex from the eastern entrance past the Lobkowicz Palace, it’s a 30 minute walk to the top of Letna Hill for a beautiful overlook of the city. The timing worked out for us to be up at the park just before sunset and it was a lovely place to watch the sun setting over the river and panorama of the city.
For dinner, we ate at Nase Maso Butchery for a great burger. They are a tiny butcher shop with a couple small tables. The burgers, pastrami sandwich, and sausages are solid choices, or be adventurous and try their beef tartare.
