h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Assuming it's dried out by now, of course.

I believe that prices are still comparatively cheap in the Czech Republic. The 'must-see' in Prague, is of course Wenceslas Square, where there is a statue of King Wenceslas.

Agreed, Prague is definitely worth the time and travel; all the more so, now that the city has faced and come through such a drastic situation.
The positives are the fantastic architecture, particularly in the Old Town, the food (mostly, veggie friends, of the "dead animal and creamy sauce" variety -for decent vegetarian cuisine try the Lotos cafe and their fab banana ragout) and the beer. The beer lives up to its rep, big - style.
There's also the Castle, Slivovice brandy, Cafe Slavia, the Charles Bridge (you really have to), potato dumplings, wee dugs galore, the sight of Czech people reading anywhere and everywhere, the concerts in the Municipal Hall, climbing the steps of the "Rozhledna" tower and the pleasant (although sometimes dour) Czech people.
The negatives are the National Museum, extras on cafe/restaurant bills and the universally dodgy coffee.
Go,I beg of you, go!

When I went to Prague about 10 years ago I hung around Wensleslas Square (which is not much more than a boulevard) for a couple of days. Don't do this. Head immediately for the Old Town. The Old Square (Stare Mesto) is fantastic and only about 10 minutes walk away. Also, the environs of the Castle (Hradcany) are stunning. The beer is cheap and very good as well.

If you go to Prague, make sure to get to the front of the Castle at midday to see the changing of the guard ceremony. It's well worth it...

The Stare Mesto has a cool 'astronomical' (can't remember the Czech for it, sorry) clock.

When I went a couple of years ago, everything was quite frighteningly cheap - specially stuff not aimed at tourists.

The trick is to get someone Czech to show you around. I had a friend from my academic days who was a lecturer at the Technical University. He knew all the old watering holes. One afternoon we were walking along a nondescript street and all of a sudden he went towards an anonymous house and pulled open the front door. Inside was a huge pub full of lager-swilling Czechs having a great time.
I think it was midnight when I eventually got out. Don't ask me what the day was, though.

And don't forget to try some of the Dark Beer too. (The Czechs may have invented Pilsener, but it's not the only thing they do well.)

There is a *huge* pub called U Fleků, where they sell nothing but the dark beer. It's very touristy (with a brass band) and generally overrun by Germans, most of whom are very nice, but some of them seemed to regard Prague as being exclusively for their entertainment when I was there. Still, they know how to have a good time and the atmosphere is great.

The day my friend and I visited the Castle (which has, fortunately, an admission ticket covering 3 days - and you need the three days), a fleet of gleaming blck Merc limousines swept into the castle grounds. An excitable security attendant managed to let us know that it was Bill Clinton. We hung around for a while, but didn't see him; he was probably hidden away chewing the fat with President Havel.
Incidentally, on the tourist maps, Wenceslas Square is "Vaclav Namesti" - please don't spend half an hour looking for it, as we did, before discovering we were actually STANDING ON IT...

The Square is really nothing but a big boulevard and rather boring, I thought. Its recent political significance is more important than its architecture.
If you get a chance, take the walk along the Vltava. There are some good bars there as well.

lol it's well worth mentioning that Wenceslas Square isn't. It's rectangular.

there's the Narodni (National) Museum at one end of it, though. I didn't go there when I visited Prague - is it any good?

If it's anything like their other museums, probably not. I went to Konopiste Castle where Archduke Ferdinand lived. It was interesting in as much as the house of any rich intellectually-challenged lunatic is interesting.

For anyone interested in classical music and opera, Prague is a particularly good location for a city break. There are two opera houses, one of which, the National Theatre, concentrates on the works of Czech composers like Dvorak, Smetana and Fibich. It's a few years since I was there, but I remember that there always seemed to be loads of classical concerts being advertised by handouts. There is a Marionette theatre which is great fun (I saw a version of Don Giovanni done with puppets which was great). There is also the Black Theatre, which is rather hard to describe but is a combination of mime, lighting effects and movement by actors dressed in black which is very dramatic but mostly wordless, so is very popular with tourists.

Two souvenirs from Prague that were particularly successful were marionette puppets and garnet jewellery.

Azara

When I was there we managed to find some little crystal figures playing musical instruments, in one of the shops just off Wenceslas Square.

Speaking as someone who makes a beeline for any city's museums and galleries, the National Museum needs a bit of work - a BIG bit of work. Think back to the bad old days of British museums, when they seemed to be glorified storage bays for paintings, sculptures and stuffed animals, rather than institutions of entertainment and enlightenment, and you're on the right lines. If fossils and minerals are your thing, great; if not...

While I was spending a day nursing the Mother of All Hangovers (run up on plum brandy), my travelling companion went off to Kuntna Hora on the train, which he says is a delightful town. Well worth a visit.

Also, we got on a bus and went to the Czech Alps, aka the Krkonose, which is nice (apart from the acid rain damage). There I got way over my head into a conversation in pidgin Russian with a Polish soldier at the border who could speak Russian a bloody sight better than me.

If you do get a chance to visit during the Prague Spring festival, do so. We went to a concert in the Cathedral for a Dvorak mass which was excellent. The tickets are cheap too.

In fact, I was so impressed with Czechoslovakai that I bought a Skoda.

Skoda? Excellent! (I even like the old ones).

Did you see any of the big old Tatras ? Amazing Cars with a huge air-cooled V8 in the back!

Yes, they had me puzzled for a while. Apparently, they are incredibly well engineered, and the T603 is a very stylish beast.

Me, I've got my eye on an Octavia RS next year.

Incidentally, a colleague of mine has just returned from Prague and says that it has recovered very well from the recent flooding. There was 'evidence' that it had happened but it didn't spoil her enjoyment of the visit at all.

near Charles Bridge is also the "biggest discotheque in middle europe", as they call it themself. (i forgot the real name)

it has 4 floors, a chill out room and on each floor a nice bar, where the music is not too loud, so you can talk to each other easily.

the night there was really great, as if you have enough of one style of music, you just switsch to another floor...

If I remember correctly that big disco you are referring to is called
something as imaginative as Music Club... Nice place, but if you
want to go to a smaller disco ( I prefer calling it disco rather than
club ) there is this place on Pstrossova street ( no there's a mouthful ).
The place is full of beautiful czech women . Actually there were so many
of them that it made me doubt that what kind of girls they really are...