Prague is roaring under the influx of tourists, the guides are a woman on the periphery, they are luring to Letná, for example
Queues at Prague Castle or Petrin Cable Car and crowds on Charles Bridge. Seven million tourists come to Prague every year, most of whom depict only the most famous monuments of the metropolis. In recent years, projects that try to show even the lesser-known face of the Czech capital have been on the rise. Whether it’s special walks, non-traditional guides or alternative maps.
Tourists usually spend an average of two days in Prague, and the most frequently visited destinations include Prague Castle, the Petrin cable car and lookout tower, the zoo and synagogues in the historic center.
Almost two and a half million people visited Prague Castle alone last year, and you must also visit the security check, which causes long queues at the gates of the most famous Czech monument. Those interested in a ride on the Petrin cable car will also stand up. According to CzechTourism, more than two million people gathered last year. A walk through the park can also be reached.
In recent years, the Prague historical center has been under the onslaught of tourists from all over the world. According to data from Prague City Tourism, which cares about the promotion of the Czech capital, up to five times more foreigners go to Prague than Czechs. Last year, the most frequent visitors were Germans, British, Americans, Russians, Italians, Chinese and South Koreans.
“We feel the need to cultivate tourism so that it does not develop at the expense of Praguers. Therefore, we continue and intensify the promotion of districts outside the center, which also have tourists what they need and relieve the congested center,” said Prague Councilor Hana Třeštíková in February this year.
The alternative face of Prague in recent years is shown by a number of independent projects, whether they are special walks, non-traditional guides or maps.
Walks into the unknown with the homeless
“Because of writing, I set out on the royal road after fifteen years and found it to look crazy. Any authenticity disappeared when you moved the street to London, Paris or anywhere else, it would work out the same,” says Matěj Černý, one of the co-authors. a three-year-old guide to 111 places in Prague that you must see.
In it, together with his partner Maria Perinova, they write about little-known places in the metropolis, which an ordinary tourist overlooks. Instead of the royal road or synagogue, it encourages readers to discover the Bohnice cemetery, Cubist attractions or the now popular districts of Karlín and Holešovice.
However, even in the historical center of the city, according to Černý, authentic places can still be found. “I like places that are close to tourist attractions, but not many people go there and you feel that you have found yourself somewhere else. In this respect, the Josef Sudek Gallery is fascinating, because it will take you from the ‘roaring city’ to an oasis of calm. It is similar with the playground in the New World, “he gives several examples.
There are several guides working in Prague, from the certified ones offered by the Prague service to the providers of so-called free tours. In addition, there are a number of specialized agencies and organizations that focus on alternative thematic areas and places that tourists do not normally go to. Pragulic is one of the most famous.
The social enterprise employs homeless people, who take people around places connected with the Prague underworld, drugs, the lives of the homeless, but also railway sleepers. The tougher ones can also try a day in the skin of a homeless person.
The concept has been running for seven years and is backed by three female students. Since 2012, around 60,000 people have taken walks, says co-founder Tereza Jurečková. “The biggest interest is in night tours with Karim,” he adds, adding that they are also interested in a number of foreigners.
Other alternative walks are offered, for example, by the Prague Unknown organization, which was founded by Petr Ryska. The concept started in 2013 as a blog about interesting corners of Prague, and books and thematic walks gradually emerged from it.
“It turns out that Prague is not just a center, such as Prague Castle or Charles Bridge. It is a beautiful and respectable monument, but we have seen them a thousand times and there is nothing to discover. On the contrary, I try to introduce people to other places, such as “It is necessary to look at Prague as a set of different city districts, villages and nature in between,” Ryska said in an interview with Aktuálně.cz years ago.
Get up early and go beyond the classic routes
Janek Rubeš and Honza Mikulka, among others, are trying to do this, drawing attention to the tourist pitfalls in Prague and also promoting places that the crowds avoid. They are making videos under the title Honest Guide, and the first book of the same name was published in May this year.
“When I first ran around Prague at six in the morning, I shouldn’t have known her. The metro is packed with people going to work, but the main tourist ‘attractions’ are empty. By the way, if you read a review of places like Charles Bridge, most people complain about overcrowding, but the solution is so simple.Police probably lacks common sense, but I often count myself in the group of “tourists” when I travel somewhere.It is hard to throw ten million people who visit Prague every year to Tourism in Prague mainly needs proper management than marketing, “Janek Rubeš told a recent interview for Aktuálně.cz.
However, you can also use the alternative non-commercial Use-it map in Prague. Young volunteers take part in it every year, this year it was published for the ninth time in May. “We want to direct the steps of tourists outside the classics, show a different kind of entertainment, appeal to their sense of sustainable tourism and influence their behavior. The absolute ideal is that they move as if the routes were not tourists. so local, “said map coordinator and founder Eva Křížová.
On the map, for example, volunteers invite you to visit panel housing estates in Jižní Město, Nuslí or taste the sandwich. The alternative map is also supported by the City District of Prague 1 and the already mentioned Prague Information Service.
Tourists walk like in limbo, you need to be more attentive
According to Matěj Černý, tourists are annoyed by Praguers just like anywhere else in the world. “I realized this when I was in Edinburgh when I was 20. I was hit by a lady who went to work, she could see how badly she got on her nerves as a tourist. It’s because tourists seem to be in They are bumpy, they usually don’t look in front of each other, but up to the houses and they move badly between them, “he describes.
However, he adds with his second breath that tourists have brought a lot of positive things to the capital and that they simply belong to the current life in Prague. “But it bothers me that sometimes the city doesn’t regulate something a little more. Maybe it could pay more attention to what the shops in some houses are like or what their signboards look like,” says Černý.
He himself will probably continue to avoid the Royal Route or Charles Bridge in the main tourist destinations. But he thinks that while wandering around the capital, you can still discover a number of interesting places that you won’t read about in traditional bedboats. Just be more careful.