Walking Tours in Prague, Czech Rep

Castle Complex, Charles Bridge, St Vitus Cathedral, Mala Strana

Aug 22, 2007

From ghost stories to the Jewish quarter, there are plenty of umbrella-holding guides at the Astronomical Clock willing to lead tourists around the Czech capital.

In terms of growth industries, Walking Tours of Prague must be up there with social networking websites and hedge funds. It doesn’t take too long in the Czech capital city to realise that there are many companies offering much the same thing. Picking which one to go on can be a real head-spinner though.

Prague is an undeniably lovely city to walk around. With its riverside setting, giant castle complex and engaging olde worlde streets of Mala Strana, it is almost designed for a stroll. And tourism operators have not been slow to pick up on this – go on a summer’s day and there seem to be hundreds of tours going on, cramming onto the Charles Bridge and herding outside St Vitus’ cathedral. In fact, if there’s one image that sticks in the mind about Prague, it’s a plethora of tour guides holding up brightly-coloured umbrellas outside the famous Astronomical Clock to indicate their position. Wouldn’t want the tourists getting lost now, would we?

With so many tours on offer, it pays to choose carefully. Different tours are suited to certain people. Those wanting a quick taster are after different things to those wishing to discover the city in depth, for example.

The three main differentiating factors in the tours on offer are the duration, theme and price. Anything less than three hours long is hardly worth it – the tour will either miss out a lot of the major attractions, or will be so rushed as to not be enjoyable.

Then again, there are some that will take a whole morning or afternoon – and walking around for four hours can be tiring. Some of these will stop off at a café or a stall for drinks and refreshments on the way, but not all – it is worth checking what’s included in advance, and indeed whether the drinks come as part of the price.

Visitors not comfortable with the thought of walking for such a long period of time should opt for a more relaxed tour.

There are some considerable variations in price when it comes to Prague walking tours. Many use their low cost as the unique selling point, advertising in hostels and combining forces with backpacker operators. Most of these are perfectly good – this is not a marketplace where paying a lot more gets a lot better service.

The more expensive ones have more thrown in though. Some will include a river cruise, for example, or a meal in a nice Czech restaurant at the end.

The other variable, of course, is the theme of the tour. Most are very generalised, covering a bit of everything. Others have more of a focus, whether it’s history, architecture, ghost stories or the Jewish quarter. Often these are more satisfying, but leave a bit of the general detail out. Visitors that have the time and money are probably better off doing one general walking tour and one that’s on a theme. The Jewish quarter tours, in particular, are very different from the standard tours, and the guides on these tours have to achieve certain qualification before being allowed to lead groups.

The copyright of the article Walking Tours in Prague, Czech Rep in Czech Republic Travel is owned by David Whitley. Permission to republish Walking Tours in Prague, Czech Rep in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.