Europe - One night in Prague: stay at airport or old town?

I need some advice from those in the know.

Two of us will be on a short tourism visit to Prague, first time there. We will be arriving at PRG on a Sunday at 9pm, departing Monday at 7pm. We plan to get a flavor of Prague during the day Monday. We will have some luggage (3 pieces, probably).

I am trying to decide whether to stay at the airport Courtyard or in old town. And I have three Qs below to help me decide.

Airport Courtyard is ~ 80 USD. Hilton Old Town is ~ 140 USD.

I am inclined to stay at the airport. Presumably we would be able to check the bags with our airline (LH) in the morning before heading into the city. Q1: Can anyone confirm whether LH allows check-in 12 hours in advance?

Advantages of staying at the airport:
- no carrying the bags to/from the city
- cheaper (?)

Advantages of staying in town:
- opportunity to see some of the city at night. Q2: Is there anything going on at 11pm on a Sunday that would compel us to go there?
- avoid Monday morning traffic into the city. Q3: Is there much traffic/long delays on a Monday morning from PRG to old town?

Thanks in advance for your insight and advice.

If you have never been in prague stay in the city center get up early take a nice breakfast and walk around the old town for a couple of hours before taking a taxi to the airport not more than 25 euros.

If you have never been in prague stay in the city center get up early take a nice breakfast and walk around the old town for a couple of hours before taking a taxi to the airport not more than 25 euros.

I would hope to have a lot more than a couple of hours. For a 7 p.m. flight I should have a solid 8 or so hours, right?

May I ask why you recommend staying in the city center? If there something to see late at night or very early in the morning? Or some nasty traffic to fight going in in the morning? Or some other reason?

I am maybe not in the know, but I'd say that if you are already contemplating to stay at the airport, I think it is a good choice. My opinions on that are:

You should be able to do online checkin for LH 23 hours before, however I am not sure you can drop bags at that time. Maybe you can store them at hotel?

It is easy getting into town, bus 119 is running frequently and will easily take you to the metro station Dejvická in half an hour. I don't know the specific traffic situation, but I don't think it will be a problem.

If there is something compelling in town at 23:00 on sunday is more a question of your interests... Even if you decide to stay at airport, you can get into town in the evening. 119 runs until after 23, but less frequently.

I need some advice from those in the know.

Two of us will be on a short tourism visit to Prague, first time there. We will be arriving at PRG on a Sunday at 9pm, departing Monday at 7pm. We plan to get a flavor of Prague during the day Monday. We will have some luggage (3 pieces, probably).

I am trying to decide whether to stay at the airport Courtyard or in old town. And I have three Qs below to help me decide.

Airport Courtyard is ~ 80 USD. Hilton Old Town is ~ 140 USD.

I am inclined to stay at the airport. Presumably we would be able to check the bags with our airline (LH) in the morning before heading into the city. Q1: Can anyone confirm whether LH allows check-in 12 hours in advance?

Advantages of staying at the airport:
- no carrying the bags to/from the city
- cheaper (?)

Advantages of staying in town:
- opportunity to see some of the city at night. Q2: Is there anything going on at 11pm on a Sunday that would compel us to go there?
- avoid Monday morning traffic into the city. Q3: Is there much traffic/long delays on a Monday morning from PRG to old town?

Thanks in advance for your insight and advice.

Prague city center is very nice at night with the lighted buildings and gives a different feel than during the day. If you are especially interested in going to any bars, it might be a good idea to stay in the city center for convenient access.

Otherwise, it might be best to stay at the airport as you are arriving at night.

Q3: Bus/Subway combo will have you into the old town in little time flat. Stay at the airport and enjoy a full day in Prague without worrying about checkout. Wherever you stay, they will let you store your luggage there until you are ready to check it in. Staying close to the airport sounds smart in this case.

Prague city center is very nice at night with the lighted buildings and gives a different feel than during the day. If you are especially interested in going to any bars, it might be a good idea to stay in the city center for convenient access.

Otherwise, it might be best to stay at the airport as you are arriving at night.

I agree. By staying in City enter, you get to see Prague at night, which you would either miss, or have additional expense and time traveling into the city center twice.
You can wake up early or at your leisure in the morning.

When are you going?

When are you going?

August

August

So what are your interests? A night-time summer walk through the middle of Prague can be awesome. There's definitely something to be said for that...and I understand the appeal of earning/spending points, but you don't HAVE to spend that much to be in a good location and still be more central than the airport.

So what are your interests? A night-time summer walk through the middle of Prague can be awesome. There's definitely something to be said for that...and I understand the appeal of earning/spending points, but you don't HAVE to spend that much to be in a good location and still be more central than the airport.

+1

In the summer, the night time walk is very appealing. There's plenty of people out and it's very safe in my opinion.

Midday August can be draining considering the temperature and the crowds. You may want to hang out in the hotel for a little bit during lunchtime before heading back out to explore.

BTW, re bags: from the airport you could take the Airport Express bus that goes to the main train station where there are lockers for rent, if you didn't want to take the bags to the hotel.

So what are your interests? A night-time summer walk through the middle of Prague can be awesome. There's definitely something to be said for that...and I understand the appeal of earning/spending points, but you don't HAVE to spend that much to be in a good location and still be more central than the airport.

Where would we recommend we stay in town? Best would be some hotel with easy access to the airport.

BTW, re bags: from the airport you could take the Airport Express bus that goes to the main train station where there are lockers for rent, if you didn't want to take the bags to the hotel.

Are there lockers at the airport too? If so, we would even cpnsider leaving the bags there.

I don't think any airports have lockers anymore because of the security issue.

There's a Courtyard at Flora which is just steps off of the green metro line (that one that meets the airport bus at Dejvicka).

I like local hotels better, like the Orion and the Anna, which are a couple blocks from Nam. Miru metro stop (also on green line).

IF you want to stay more in the center, hotel Liberty is right next to Mustek (also green line) as is Hotel Friday. Hotel Hoffmeister is both next to Malostranska stop and right under the castle.

I know Orion and Anna, they are both nice local style hotels. Not familiar with the others aside from location....check tripadvisor.

Are there lockers at the airport too? If so, we would even cpnsider leaving the bags there.

Any decent hotel will let you store your bags in their storage room, so you could leave then at the hotel, and then pick them up before heading to your flight.

While I like the idea of Prague by night (and have some photos from my trip last year), I think I like the idea of staying at the aiport better, and just spend the day in town.

BTW, the bus / metro works great. After staying in town for a couple of days I wanted so save some money and used points for Holiday Inn at the aiport and wen to / from town each day.

EmailKid

I don't think any airports have lockers anymore because of the security issue.

I know several that do (but don't know if Prague is one of them, one would need to check the airport's web site for that)

As for hotels in town - I stayed at Hotel Josef last year, and can highly recommend it. Nice rooms (but make sure they don't put you right underneath the top floor gym), very helpful staff.

Thanks for all the recommendations and viewpoints.

After weighing all opinions, we decided to stay at the airport Courtyard. This was to avoid carrying the bags on two buses + two metro trains just to see Prague at night. We'll leave Prague at night to another visit.

Thanks for all the great advice.

It is easy to book a room on Priceline. I paid $63/night at the Hilton Old Town, and it is right next door to the Czech Airline office with a 130 CZK bus to the airport. I would not want to spend the time going into the city during the day, and suggest staying in town instead. The walking in the Old Town vicinity is safe and other posters are correct in saying that the night views are spectacular, and different from day views. Crystal shops like Erpet are open late (10 or 11 PM). There is a little show at the Astronomical Clock every hour on the hour. And the square is bustling until at least 11 or midnight! The airport is ~ 30 minutes away from Old Town.