The Rough Guide to Prague 5 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

~ Rob Humphreys (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRACTICAL, OPINIONATED, AND REFRESHINGLY DIRECT...ROUGH GUIDES CAN'T BE BEAT

Chicago Tribune

Product Description

INTRODUCTION

First things first: Prague is a very beautiful city. With some six hundred years of architecture virtually untouched by natural disaster or war, few other cities, anywhere in Europe, look as good. Straddling the winding River Vltava, with a steep wooded hill to one side, the city retains much of its medieval layout and the street facades remain smothered in a rich mantle of Baroque, Rococo and Art Nouveau, all of which successfully escaped the vanities and excesses of postwar redevelopment. Of course, while the Iron Curtain was still in place, Prague was seldom visited by westerners – since the 1990s, however, all that has changed. Prague is now one of the most popular city break destinations in Europe, and is enjoying the sort of economic boom not seen since the 1920s.

Prague’s emergence as one of Europe’s leading cities, capital of a country poised to join the EU, has come as a surprise to many people – but not the Czechs. After all, Prague was at the forefront of the European avant-garde for much of the last century, boasting a Cubist movement second only to Paris, and, between the wars, a modernist architectural flowering to rival Bauhaus. With a playwright and human rights activist as their president, the Czechs easily grabbed the headlines in the 1990s. Even today, the country’s athletes and models enjoy a very high profile, and its writers, artists and film directors continue to exert a profound influence on European culture, out of all proportion to their number.

Naturally, not everybody is happy with the changes. Like most central Europeans, Czechs love to moan, especially over a glass or two of beer. Prices have gone up dramatically over the past ten years, with ever-increasing rents pushing locals out of the centre, and ever more expensive restaurants making the old town a no-go area for the average Praguer. Some argue that over-zealous restoration has turned central Prague into a theme park, that the arrival of the multinationals has made Prague like every other European city, and that the smartening-up of the city centre has made the place just like Vienna (a city universally disliked by Czechs).

Certainly, the exhilarating popular unity of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and the feeling of participating in history itself, have now gone for ever. Few Czechs refer to the events of 1989 as a "revolution". Disorientation at the speed of change, disillusionment with modern politics and the first real taste of Western vices in the capital have taken their toll. The lifestyle gulf between Party and non-Party members has been replaced by the Western malaise of rich and poor. There’s nothing new in this, but it does serve as a sobering footnote to the city’s glowing image in the West.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; 5th edition (November 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858289009
• ISBN-13: 978-1858289007
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,338,860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book., July 24, 2003

By	Timothy Darsey (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Spot on and incisive. Great advice on what to see and do in Prague. And very thorough. From restaurant recommendations to finding that out of the way laundry, this book has it all. If you're going to Prague for a weekend or a month, I can't imagine a more valuable item tucked away in your suitcase.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect orientation book for getting to know the city of Praha (Prague), July 27, 2005

By	Michael A. Fenichel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like most people, I guess, I'd researched Prague, Czech Republic online, and via some travel articles I'd saved. I had heard of the Rough Guide series (just as I also skimmed through the "Hip Guides" online), and thought to give this a try, in addition to an updated Michelin guide of Europe. A great choice! The section near the beginning, featuring city highlights, offered beautiful photos, and was inspiring just as the captions were enticing.

The book's organization into different "contextual" components can be a bit un-ergonomic at times, and other times was useful. There's more info than will probably be needed for a short stay, but still my walking tour guide was very impressed by my historical knowledge of the city and country, and much of the credit for that belongs to this book.

While the Michelin Guide covered more cities (and countries), this guide is dense-packed with "everything you might want to know about Prague", and probably much more. Focusing specifically on the city of Prague, it covers not only the streets and customs, but larger historical context and suggestions for excursions outside the city. (e.g., to nearby Kutna Hora)

Interestingly, I ran into a friend in Stockholm who expressed disappointment in the book she had with her -- Rough Guide to Sweden, and I suppose it's a bit like the case of Michelin -- covering so much territory it's bound to suffer in the detail it can provide on any one city when its covering an entire country or continent. The same may be true of the Rough Guides in that they excel in zooming in on a particular city, but may not be as completely satisfying in covering a given city when the book covers an entire country. I can't generalize, but I do know that for this city, at least, the Rough Guide was full of useful information, interesting background and context, and enticing photographs of some of the architectural highlights.

I'd definitely recommend Rough Guide to Prague for anyone comtemplating a vacation in this very unique, beautiful, and historically rich city. It's a photographer's dream, as well as a city made for lovers of architecture, history, or Pilsener beer. This book and a quick sampling of photos and travel articles online, offers all you need to know to begin enjoying the treasures of Prague.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of information but hard to navigate, June 3, 2004

By	J. Jacobs - See all my reviews

This book is packed chock-full of information, but its strength is also its weakness. The dense text is good for those who want detailed information, but is harder to flip through and to use for quick planning or decisions. Most useful for those who may be in Prague for a longer period and want in-depth information. The restaurant and accommodation listings are helpful.