How we spent two days in Prague and only spent 150 CZK on the first day – Prague doesn't have to be expensive.

They say Prague is expensive — that for the price of a single lunch at Old Town Square you could practically buy a studio flat in the Highlands back home. 😀

We went there for two days with my husband and a friend — partly for work and partly to explore — and this time we wanted to skip the most famous sights. We also wanted to avoid the tourist crowds and discover places we hadn’t been to before.

A hotel in a great location

On Wednesday we set out from the Bohemian Highlands on the motorway, and for our stay we chose a hotel with a great location right at the edge of Prague — Iris Hotel Eden in Vršovice. 🏨 The hotel is situated right at the Slavia football stadium and everything you could need is close by.

It wasn’t our first time there, so we already know that the staff are very helpful and that we can, by prior arrangement, leave our car in their car park as early as ten in the morning and go off to explore the city. At reception we picked up our Prague Passes, which come free with the stay and offer discounts at various attractions in Prague.

Because we had planned the trip in advance, we knew we’d use a one-day (24-hour) transit pass for 150 CZK, and we bought it straight away. We wanted to spend the day outdoors because the weather was supposed to be nice, while the following day was forecast to be rainy. 🌞

Iris Hotel Eden is right next to Slavia's stadium

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A sightseeing tram ride to Prague Castle

Essentially right opposite the hotel is a tram stop, from which we headed towards Prague Castle — a tram ride of about 45 minutes. Tram no. 22 is essentially a sightseeing tour of Prague on wheels. 🚋

We had of course visited Prague Castle before, but we had never been to the Royal Garden. We walked through the park all the way to the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace 🏰, which offers a beautiful view over Prague.

The Royal Garden and Queen Anne's Summer Palace

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Vojan Gardens — a peaceful oasis with peacocks

From the Summer Palace we took the tram to the Malostranská stop and from there headed to Vojan Gardens, where, as we had discovered in advance, peacocks roam completely freely. 🌳

We turned off the street as if into some kind of courtyard, and suddenly an entirely different world appeared before us — a peaceful place, a park where time seemed to have stood still, even with a little pond.

Birdsong surrounded us, the sun shone warmly, people sat on benches resting. It was a true oasis of calm in such a busy city. We strolled along slowly and somewhere in the distance we could already hear the peacocks. Then suddenly one appeared before us in all his glory — he was magnificent, as were the beautifully coloured tits that fluttered cheerfully around us together with a black-and-white magpie. A little further on there were more of them, and some were peacefully resting in the grass — it was a truly lovely experience. 🦚

Vojan Gardens — peacocks roam here freely

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Kampa Island and the Vltava

From Vojan Gardens we walked to Kampa Island, which was buzzing — lots of people sitting either in the grass or with a glass of something good. And there’s a beautiful view of the Vltava and Charles Bridge, which we had actually walked under on our way here.

Of course I took lots of photos everywhere, because I love photographing and capturing memories. 📸

Čertovka, Charles Bridge and Kampa

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We always carry drinks and a small snack in our backpack. And since we were already hungry, we ate our own packed lunch — the day before we had made toasts at home and had a banana as a sweet finish. 🥪

Náplavka and the swans

From Kampa we wanted to see the Náplavka riverbank — we had never been there before. It was really lively. Lots of people were just strolling around, some sitting with a drink and others cycling past. We even saw a rower and also a few swans who immediately swam over to us, thinking we had something tasty for them. 🦢

Náplavka — a lively spot by the Vltava

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The Dancing House and the National Theatre

We walked through many places we hadn’t known before and covered quite a few steps, but it was absolutely worth it.

From Náplavka we walked past the Dancing House and took the tram to the National Theatre, then rode all the way back to our hotel to finally check in.

Dancing House and National Theatre

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Evening at the hotel

We had wanted to use the fitness centre as well, since it came free with our stay, but it was completely packed. We had dinner from our own supplies that we had brought from home.

At the hotel we also received vouchers for welcome drinks, so we sat in the hotel restaurant for a while and chatted about what the next day had in store.

It will probably be a little bit of an adventure, because my husband won’t be with us due to work — my friend and I will have to navigate Prague on our own, just with a map. Hopefully we’ll manage. But you’ll find out all about that in the next post, along with what we visited when it was raining in Prague. 🙂

So — would you enjoy a trip to Prague for 150 CZK? And which places in Prague do you think are worth visiting?