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Prague/Vienna tips?

Elle

Veteran

Help! Anyone know of any restaurants, cafes, places with good pastries, or oddball stores. We're going next month on short notice. I've never been to either of these cities, we're taking a big trip for my husband's birthday and plan to end up in Budapest where my brother is living.

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15 replies

Latest reply was from bella

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

Best hot chocolate: http://www.praguechocolatebistro.com. We were just there last December. Amazing stuff. The food was great, with several vegetarian choices (important to us). The hot chocolate is to-die-for. They also have a small store just up the street where you can get all sorts of chocolate goodies. We brought home chocolate-covered almonds. Yum!

Jane

Veteran

We've had two lovely evenings in Salm Brau in Vienna, on two separate trips to Vienna. It is traditional Viennese cooking, and warm and cosy, delicious. Their english is good and they are very welcoming.

On one of the mornings in Vienna we went to see the Spanish riding school practice. The full price tickets in the evening are a bit pricey, and we had our son with us, so it seemed a bit too grown up for him. But the practice session in the morning is a bit more real and fun, and there was a bit of drama with the head teacher shouting at one of his pupils and then someone falling off one of the horses!

http://www.salmbraeu.com/home/

I hope you have fun planning your trip.

Elle

Veteran

Alexandra and Jane - Thank you both so much! I've put the Prague Chocolate Cafe and Salm Brau on our must do list. The links made me drool. I'l look into the Spanish Riding School. We won't be there for a performance but will try to get to a practice.

L'Abeille

Veteran

How much detail do you want?! DH and I went to Vienna in February. I'd have to do some digging to find the names of the restaurants and cafes we went to. I went with a list of must-eat pastries and main dishes and just worked my way down it...

Highlights/things we enjoyed: We also went to the Spanish Riding School morning exercises. At the Hofburg Chapel in the Imperial Palace, the Vienna Choir Boys sing mass every Sunday (even when it is the off season for their concerts); you stand in line in the courtyard before 10 am for tickets. We went to the Naschmarkt, the big market, which has a huge flea market on Saturdays, but the food market every day. We did one of the very touristy Mozart-and-Strauss musical evenings which I quite enjoyed; if we went again I'd try to take in something at the Opera House.

My regrets: the footwear I brought was not as all-day walkable as I expected (before the next European trip, I'm getting some black sneaker-type walking shoes). Because of that, we ended one afternoon's plans early, and didn't visit the imperial art museum (basically, the stuff that isn't in the Louvre is there) and later discovered it is closed on Mondays.

We stayed a little outside the city centre, near Schoenbrunn, the summer palace. Worth a visit and tour, even more so now when the gardens will be in bloom. We got a 72 hour transit pass, which allowed us to jump on any subway train, bus, or tram, with just a wave at the scanner.

Gaylene

Veteran

Our Prague hosts directed us to the Cafe de Paris just a few steps from the Japanese Embassy: http://www.cafedeparis.cz/en/

We had two very good dinners there--once seated in the small inner courtyard under the stars and the second time inside the very atmospheric interior room. Highly recommended; my risotto was one of the best I've ever had--even better than in Italy!

After dinner, take a stroll over the Charles Bridge without having to contend with the throngs of tourists you'll find in the daytime.

Gaylene

Veteran

If you are interested in something more traditionally Czech, U MLYNÁŘE is great for a beer and robust Middle European dinner:
http://www.restauraceumlynare.cz/

In a similar vein, another good choice in that area is Gitanes: http://www.gitanes.cz/en/index.html

Another interesting place to check out in New Town is The Globe bookstore. Great for coffee, brunch, lunches, and homesick English speakers:
http://globebookstore.cz/

BrieN

Veteran

Following with interest: DH and I head to Vienna in October.

Elle

Veteran

L'Abeille - Thank you. Your highlights and recommendations are very helpful. No need to dig into your files.

I love opera so I may start there.

Now, I'm going to test out my shoes again - nothing is worse than sore feet on a trip.

Gaylene- Thanks for the detailed restaurant recommendations. They all look interesting, although I think I may have to start with the risotto at Cafe de Paris. It's one of my favorite dishes.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

I've been in Prague last month and what struck me is just how much more crowded it was than 20 years ago when I was there last time. Which is why one morning I got up at 6 an and went to the city, just to enjoy the empty streets and especially Charles' Bridge - it was so worth it.
I'd definitely recommend an evening at National Marionette Theatre, we watched Mozart's Don Giovanni which was fantastic.
When in Vienna, visiting the Hundertwasserhous was a must for me, so cheerful and unique.
Have fun.
(Sorry, no restaurant recommendations as I'm gluten intolerant and find it time consuming to navigate restaurants when traveling for short periods, which is why I rely on taking with me the familiar snacks and focus on the sightseeing )

L'Abeille

Veteran

I remembered the restaurant recommendation I have for you. It's on a side street a short 2 blocks from Schoenbrunn Palace. It's called Der Schwabl and I found it via HERE Maps when we were in the neighbourhood. The website is entirely in German and the clientele was all locals out for a nice dinner and a glass of wine. They "specialize" in traditional Austrian cuisine, locally sourced; I can vouch for their Wienerschnitzel.

If you love opera, check out Haus der Musik, an interactive museum. Not all the exhibits were fully functioning when we were there, but it's worth it for a chance to virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. (They applauded DH; they laughed at me.)

bella

(website)

Veteran

If everything goes well (fingers crossed!), we'll be in Prague next week. I had seen Don Giovanni at the Estate Theater when I visited Prague the first time. I really loved the experience, so I wanted to do it again this time. Unfortunately no operas are scheduled at the Estate Theater during our short stay there (only plays), so I booked tickets to an opera at the National Theater - which I heard is also very good. I used an online service, so far so good. I could update you when I get back if you want.

I am looking into restaurants, etc myself as well. The one food I remember fondly from my first visit is the bread dumplings. I am planning to eat them any chance I get this time!

Elle

Veteran

Ornella - The National Marionette Museum sounds fascinating and just up our alley. Thanks so much for your other recommendations too.

L'Abeille. We will look for Der Schwabl - found it online (thanks to google translate). We will also try to test our musical prowess at the Haus Der Musik. Thank you again. Your tips are so helpful.

Bella - We'll probably arrive soon after you leave but I'm going to look at booking a musical evening in Prague. We'll also look for bread dumplings. Thank you. All I know about Prague (beyond the major sights) is to look for the Strudel Window in the Zizkov district of Prague.

Cococat

Veteran

if you like art, I can recommend both the Belvedere and Albertina museums in Vienna. I recently spent 2 days in Vienna and one day was taken up visiting these museums. They were both spectacular!

Lucky you going to Budapest. It's such an interesting city. I would love to spend more time there one day.

Elle

Veteran

CocoCat. Thank you! I will try to get to both the Belvedere and Albertina museums in Vienna. We are only there for three days but love museums. I'm excited about Budapest (never been) especially since we will stay with my brother.

bella

(website)

Veteran

Hi Elle,
As promised, here are my updates from Prague:
Our opera evening was wonderful. We watched La Traviata, which surprisingly included a bit of nudity! So beware if you are going with kids. If you are planning to buy tickets ahead of time, I would recommend Bohemia Tickets. We encountered absolutely no problems.
We were recommended to check out the Brewery in Strahov Monastery. It is a bit of a hike up a steep hill, but totally worth it. The food was not exactly the best we had in Prague, but the beers are fresh and excellent. It is a very popular spot both by tourists and the locals, so expect to share a table.
Speaking of food, it seems like my memory deceived me a bit. The bread dumplings are ok, but it is the sauce that you mope up with the bread, which is excellent! The dish is called Svíčková, beef served in a sweet sauce with cranberries jam and cream, accompanied by large portions of bread dumplings. It can be found all around Prague. A typical Czech restaurant, which comes highly recommended is Kolkovna, right across from the Spanish Synagogue. I would recommend it if you are in the area.
We had unseasonably good weather, and very much enjoyed our stay.

Finally, we used the Trip Advisor phone app. You can download the maps for various cities, and they work offline. We used this to locate restaurants and ended up eating only very good food! So, I would recommend it wholeheartedly!

I wish you an excellent holiday!

ETA: Totally forgot to add that, we didn't do many museums this time on account of time shortage. (We were there for a conference). But Kafka Museum, if you are at all interested in his work, is short and sweet. I am glad I got to see it.