Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and some bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 3- Prague.

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Second full day in Prague – awoke early and tried to finalise some blog.

Slow start with breaky and then Tram back to Lesser Town side.

We arrived early to hunt for the well hidden entrance to Vrtba gardens. We found it, only to find we had to wait till 10. Checked out a souvenir shop (tacky) and I lucked on art gallery next door.

The gallery was actually closed despite the open sign and open door. It was a little family gallery and I’m guessing Anna (the daughter) lived upstairs. Anyway she chatted to us about the art and was very passionate about the art/ceramic sculptures that she has sent to customers from Australia. I picked a print and she was excited. 
The Baroque VRTBA gardens were established as a private garden in 1730 on an irregular shaped hilly piece of land by Jan Josef , Count of Vrtba František Maximilián Kańka. Interesting fact – the maintenance and management of the garden is provided by the Acasus company!

The gardens were extremely well manicured and were terraced across several levels.

The top level provided top views across the city skyline. The city of towers as Anna, our new friend from the gallery told us.

After the Vrtba gardens we grabbed a Bolt up the hill to the Prague castle and hopefully the changing of the guard. We have landed on the opening day for a rare exhibition of the Crown Jewels. There are lots and lots of
Tour groups everywhere we’ve been and the castle is no exception.

Here’s a snippet of a Facebook post that popped up the morning after we’d visited.

“Before you visit Prague Castle, read this…

Prague Castle is one of the most iconic sights in Prague and one of the most misunderstood.

It’s the largest castle complex in the world (yes, it’s in the Guinness World Records Book), with over 1,000 years of history. Founded in the 9th century, it carries every architectural style imaginable: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and more.

Inside, you’ll find St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica, and Golden Lane, with kings and queens buried here, coronations held here, and the legendary St. Wenceslas Crown kept here as well.

We waited in the wrong place for changing of the guard but got to see a little of the pomp…

…before finding a cafe for lunch in the grounds- the lady serving our meal is from Sydney – nice to speak to someone from home who gave us some tips. Try traditional Czech Pastry – Kolac. So that’s on my list, but we are running out of time.

Next adventure was our 1:30 Small Group Prague Castle Tour

We had some time to kill, so had a look around outside Palace Gates – the Prague Castle District. An incredibly ornate building – Schwarzenbersky Palace. Then a men’s pop up choir started singing in the square. Sounded awesome. Then they were joined by some women from the crowd (obv choir members) joined and sang in English.

Viera our guide met us with pink umbrella, in front of Tomas G. Masaryk the first President. The group of 10 were all early so we started the tour 10 minutes early.

The Palace is not your typical palace. It has been being constructed and renovated since 824!!! It’s made up of 5 major courtyard. No one lives here other than the President and family who live in a garden area outside the main busy area.
The moat is the Stag Moat – Moat of deer which supports the fortification of the castle.

The St Vitus Cathedral started with Charles IV (seems most everything old in Prague was down to him.) Architect Matthias was responsible for the building and architecture of the Cathedral. It is neo- gothic style. It looks medieval but actually some parts were built as recently as 1999 and remains unfinished. The whole castle precinct is like a patchwork of architectural styles.

The black colouring of the cathedral is the natural colouring and aging of the sandstone material. Lots of Gothic gargoyles who act as gutters to direct rainfall away from the sandstone material. I love those gargoyles – but wouldn’t want to be standing below on a rainy day! There are over 200 gargoyles around the Cathedral.

Four Saints including St Wenceslas, St Veit (or Vitus), St. Albrecht and St Sigmund along with many others (saints, bishops etc) along Charles and his four wives (he lived to 64 a a good age evidently) are buried here in the chapel.
There are many organs with the stainless steel one installed as recently as December last year and others dating back to Gothic times.
The ceiling is 36 metres high.
Ferdinand the first and family from Vienna are buried here in a white crypt. Charles the IV was a collector of relics of Saints, hence some are buried here who have no particular relevance to Prague, just part of his massive collections of bones and bits from dead people.

We visited the five courtyards, the fortification wall and then the Basilica of St George. The oldest church of the castle. Est. 920. With a Convent for the Nuns next door.

Again the Basilica is full of different ages and styles of architecture and design/decoration.

We’ve heard several times the story of St Ludmilla, grandmother of Wenceslas, was strangled with her scarf while she prayed. The assassination was arranged by Wenceslas’ mother in law (who hired thugs/noblemen (Tunna and Gommon) because her daughter was unhappy with Ludmilla’s control over Wenceslas – bloody complex and complicated history. (Not sure I got it right tho).

The Golden Line was the final part of the tour. A small street within the castle. It runs along the fortification wall of the 14th century. There are houses along the way – originally belonging to four families. Now houses contain shops or artisans stores. Some show how the interior would have looked. Tiny little houses.

That was the end of the tour. Our feet were pulsing. We had quite a few steps and ramps down the hill to exit the area. Not easy on the joints!!!

We dropped into a little square for some refreshments. It’s been quite warm this arvo.

The whole Palace precinct was pumping with people today – maybe the Crown Jewels exhibition and the fact that it’s Saturday. Anyway we managed the crowds and Viera filled our heads with information – recalled as best I can above. Such a patchwork to create the various components that make up Prague Castle.
We have ticked off most of what we had on our hit list and seen a heap of additional stuff.

We jumped on a 22 Tram just to have a look. It does go past our place but we took the other direction to see what we might see. Back up past the Castle district then out into the burbs into more modern Prague. Still lots of greenery and neat and tidy buildings and houses. Out and back trip to the end of the line. Boy did it get chockers on a busy Prague Saturday arvo. We met a bunch of Canadians on board. They are off to their Danube cruise/bus tour tomorrow. Lovely people.
Back home for a bit before heading out to our local for tea.

I was keen to try a Czech staple – Pork Knuckle- it was delicious accompanied by a pile of bread, sauerkraut and mustards/horseradish, with a refreshing crisp cider to wash it down.

Home to a bit of pre-departure packing, organising an Uber and some washing before hitting the hay.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Prague.