Travel Russia Today

I have so much respect for parents who have the stamina and patience to travel with their small children. Dividing your attention between bags, strollers, passports and children who run around, throw temper tantrums or annoy other travelers, seems like no vacation at all. I have to trust that experiencing a new destination and seeing it through your child’s eyes must outweigh all the above. Here is my contribution to make your trip easier: a few tips for touring Prague with your children.

Prague is so picturesque that your kids may at first believe you took them to Disney Land. Even the usual sites like the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter are so impressive that your child will surely enjoy them as much as you will. But when you are up at the Castle, you may want to stop by at the Toy Museum. This wonderful museum has a large collection of toys from Ancient Greece, through medieval wooden toys to the first barbies. If you have daughters that like sparkly things, you should not miss the Loreto, a monastery near the Castle, with a nice collection of heavily adorned ritual objects including the famous diamond monstrance. Before you leave this side of the Vltava River, you could take a short funicular ride to the Petrin Hill, a wonderful public park where you will find a replica of the Eiffel Tower (made for the World Exhibition in 1891) and a small Mirror Maze – it never gets old seeing yourself in various distorting mirrors.

Two sites for the more scholarly children: the Technical Museum on the Castle side of the town and the National Museum on the other side. The Technical Museum has several collections but the most impressive one is the one about transportation as it contains real historic planes, steam locomotives, cars and bicycles. The National Museum, located on top of the Wenceslas Square, is despite its impressive and serious neo-renaissance building probably the quirkiest museum in Prague. While they have many interesting temporary exhibitions, their main focus has always been the Natural History and Anthropology. Whenever I went there as a child, I felt transported back to times when geeky European scientists and explorers traveled the continents and brought their exotic discoveries back to the enthusiastic public eager to learn about the far worlds. The most popular item in the zoological collection is the huge whale skeleton that hangs from the ceiling above the displays of other animals. Although I find the museum interesting, be warned that the zoological collection consists mainly of dissected animals, so it may not be suitable for every child. The Prague Zoo is a good alternative and a trip there can be made by boat from the city center.