Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, along with Venice, is one of the two most photogenic cities. Both are very compact and can be toured entirely on foot.
The original settlements of Prague comprised of 5 boroughs, Old Town, New Town, Castle (Hradčany), Little Quarter (Malá Strana), and Jewish Quarter along both sides of the River Vltava. Now, they form the center of a much larger modern metropolitan of 1.3 million people.

For two brief periods in history (under Charles IV and Rudolph II), Prague was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and flourished as the political center of Central Europe. Otherwise, from 15th to early 20th century, Prague and all of Bohemia were ruled by the Hapsburg dynasty from Vienna. Revolts were brutally suppressed, such as the defenestration of 1618, which sparked the Thirty Years' War. The Hapsburg rulers banned the Czech language from schools and publication. By 1800, only the peasants spoke Czech. The intelligentsia class only spoke German. The reawakening of Czech nationalism began in the 19th century. That dream was partly realized at the end of WWI with the dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. However, throughout most of the 20th century, the Czech homeland was occupied by Nazi Germany or Communist Soviet Union.
Please click here to see photos from our visit back in 2007.