Prague/New Town and Vysehrad

The New Town of Prague (Czech: Nové Město) is in the east bank area to the east and south of the Old Town. A large part of New Town that borders Old Town from east (Republic Square lies on the border) and south belongs to Praha 1 district. This area contains Wenceslas Square, the main boulevard in Prague, and the National Theatre.

Vysehrad is a district of Prague where there is a historical fort. It was probably built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River.

Understand
When the Přemyslid dynasty settled on the current site of Prague Castle, the two castles maintained opposing spheres of influence for approximately two centuries. Like this the second seat of the Czech sovereigns was established on a steep rock directly above the right bank of the Vltava river, in the 10th century. The zenith of Vyšehrad was during the second half of the 11th century, when Vratislav transferred his seat from Prague Castle, and the original fort was remodelled as a complex comprising a sovereign's palatial residence, church and seat of the chapter. The period of growth ended around 1140 when Prince Soběslav moved his seat back to Prague Castle.

Under the hill, there are several stunning looking cubist buildings, constructed by architect Josef Chochol in the 1910s.

Get in
The New Town is well served by all three Metro lines. The following stations are in New Town or on its border:


 * Interchange stations (upper Wenceslas Square),,  (lower and middle Wenceslas Square)
 * Line B: (Republic Square),  (close to National Avenue, National Theater), and  (Charles Square, Palackého Square, close to the Dancing House and the university area).
 * Line C: (Main railway station, on border with Vinohrady), and  (on border with Vinohrady).

The New Town is also accessible by many tram lines. The tram network is much denser than the metro network and can be useful to get around within New Town if you do not want to go on foot. Line 17, goes along the river and connects New Town (Palackého nám. near Charles Sq., National Theatre) with Old Town (Staroměstská, Právnická fakulta). Line 22 connects the New Town with Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and other tourist hotspots.

After midnight, when the metro is not operating, use night trams to get in or out of New Town. Lazarská street, just north of Charles Sq., functions as the central hub for all night trams in Prague. Many night tram lines cross Wenceslas Square in the middle (Vodičkova). There are also several night bus lines connecting I. P. Pavlova Sq. with other parts of the city. Another important station of night buses is Náměstí republiky (Republic Square).

Vysehrad is not located in the center of the city but it is well connected by metro line C (Vysehrad stop) and tram lines 6, 18 and 24 to Albertov stop.

Do

 * Walk around the Wenceslas Square in the evening.
 * Sit and relax amongst the greenery in the Botanical garden of the Charles University.
 * Small walk in the calm of the morning to observe the city waking up from the castle.

Buy
Wenceslas Square is one of the best places in Prague to buy books. There are two big multilevel bookstores. One is Palác Luxor, Václavské náměstí 41, it has great selection of foreign language books, including English, on the first underground floor.

In the north around the train station Praha Masarykovo nádraží
The supermarkets Lidl and Penny both a goof value bakery.