A Prague day from Prague Castle to Malá Strana

Book the 08:30 opening entry online — the complex fills up by ten. St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, and St. George's Basilica are covered by the Circuit B ticket. Two hours if you move.

Tiny pastel houses along the castle's northern wall, where Franz Kafka briefly lived at number 22 in 1916. Ten to fifteen minutes. Included in your castle ticket, a separate entry at other times.

A cobbled street of 17th- and 18th-century burgher houses, each with a symbolic sign above the door — the three fiddles, the black madonna, the red lamb. Walk slowly down to Malostranské náměstí.

A 16th-century beer hall where the writer Bohumil Hrabal drank every day. Pilsner Urquell served tank-fresh, which is a different beer from the bottle. Basic Czech food — goulash, svíčková. Cash only, shared tables.

A funicular takes you up Petřín hill from Újezd. The small Eiffel-style tower at the top has 299 steps to a viewing platform. The view from the gardens around it is almost as good without the climb.

Cross back across the bridge at golden hour, starting from the Malá Strana tower. Fewer crowds on the western end going east. Thirty statues of saints line both sides, added in the 17th and 18th centuries.

A modern Czech restaurant on the Kampa island with a riverside terrace — Charles Bridge right above you. Duck breast, beef cheek, a Moravian red. Book a river-facing table.