Looking for things to do in Prague when traveling with older people? Prague is a stunningly beautiful city and well worth visiting if you are looking for an affordable European city break. With stunning architecture such as Prague Castle and the famous Astronomical Clock, the number of visitors is ever-growing earning the city a good reputation as an affordable travel destination and a thriving food scene.
Prague is a small city full of cobble-stoned streets, a very walkable city, but this may be a little challenging for seniors who have difficulty walking long distances. Prague has an excellent public transportation system with trams and subways so this makes getting further out of the city center a lot easier. We took a short trip to Prague in early summer with my parents for a relaxing city break and this is everything we got up to!
1. Where we stayed
We opted for the Pytloun Boutique Hotel Prague – a hotel and bar right in the center of the Old Town of Prague, on Wenceslas Square. It was ideally located as it is close within walking distance to many tourist attractions, and shopping areas and had good restaurant options nearby. The closest metro station was a short 10-15 minute, slow, walk away to get to attractions further afield.
We arrived at the hotel after midnight due to a stressful journey of delayed flight and lost luggage. But the staff were on hand to check us in and show us to the room. In the haze of the moment, I forgot to take photos of the room but we were in a family suite with two double rooms and a shared bathroom, and we opted for breakfast to be included in the room rate.
The rooms are modern and clean, and there was a balcony off one of the rooms which had a small table and chairs to sit out on. But the view was only of the opposite building as we were at the back of the hotel, not on the Wenceslas Square side.
The breakfast is a standard European-style buffet, there is an egg station but it’s very slow and they avoid eye contact as much as possible! I made use of the fruit juicer and enjoyed fresh grapefruit juice every day. The food on offer was the same each day so we were pretty bored of the food by day 3.
Staying in the Old Town is a bit pricier but it offers direct access to amenities on your doorstep and is ideal for older people who may struggle with walking long distances during city breaks.
Location: 9/10 (we could easily go back to the hotel for mid-day breaks and everything necessary was within easy reach)
Cleanliness: 8/10 (The hotel was clean but we had an issue with the shower door screen which caused the bathroom to flood.)
Service: 7/10 (the breakfast hospitality team was great but there weren’t enough table spaces for the number of hotel guests)
Value: 7/10 (The bathroom issue wasn’t resolved during the stay so they gave us a 50 Euro refund as a gesture of goodwill, but the price of the room was still on the higher end for the city)
2. Our Activity Highlights
Old Town Square and Astronomical Clock
Prague’s Old Town Square is probably one of the most visited highlights of the city. On the southern side of the Old Town Hall, you can find the famous astronomical clock. Every hour on the hour (between 9 AM and 11 PM), the 12 apostles start moving around. There was quite a crowd forming in anticipation for the hourly show, but in our opinion, it didn’t live up to the hype!
Prague Castle (Pražský hard) and Gardens
One of the 12 UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Czech Republic, we took the 30-minute tram ride to wander around the gardens and the grounds. My parents now struggle with walking long distances so we opted out of going inside the palace, instead most of the time in the gardens and admiring the building’s architecture and the views. It’s free to walk around the grounds, payment is required for entrance into the building only.
Wenceslas Square
Our hotel base, and somewhere we would go back to and spend a lot of our downtime. In the Old Town area of Prague, the architecture is beautiful so the street is an attraction in itself. Walking down the street you can find many shops, hotels, restaurants, and street performances at weekends. It was a lovely place to sit in the early evening and people-watch whilst enjoying the sun and soaking in the city vibes.
Charles Bridge
Connecting the Old Town with Lesser Town, this popular pedestrian bridge is filled with musicians, painters, vendors, and tourists. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues, which are all unique so it is interesting to stop and look at all the details.
Illusion Art Museum Prague
We had an hour of fun in this small museum whilst my parents took an afternoon nap. Great for photo opportunities and the staff were very helpful.
3. What we ate
We must admit that we weren’t totally in love with traditional Czech food. We tried a restaurant that was highly regarded for their traditional food and we found it wasn’t to our taste as the food was very heavy. This is by no means a reflection of the food on offer! However since Prague is a cosmopolitan city, there was plenty of international cuisine on offer and great bakeries to have light lunches at too.
Other meals we enjoyed on our 4-day stay included a Middle Eastern family-run restaurant named ‘Jaffa’, a 10-minute walk from the hotel, and a beautiful belly dancer for entertainment throughout the meal.
We also enjoyed a modern Vietnamese meal in one of Prague’s many Vietnamese-run eateries. Fun fact: Vietnamese are the third-largest minority of foreigners in Prague, just after Ukrainians and Slovakians. the Vietnamese came to former communist Czechoslovakia for work and studies. With the fall of communism in 1989, the majority of them decided to stay and made the Czech Republic their permanent home.
Things To Consider When Travelling with Seniors
- There are a lot of cobbled roads, so may be difficult walking terrine for people who are more unsteady on their feet.
- Old Town is the best location for accommodation if walking a long distance is an issue.
- There are a lot of seating areas around for rest time and to watch the world go by.
- Public transport is free for those over 65! ID is required and you still need to ‘purchase’ a ticket.
Hopefully, we’ve given you an idea of what it’s like to spend a few days in Prague on a city break with older people. If you do decide to go we’d love to hear what you thought of the city and your favourite places to visit and eat!
40s Wanderlust
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