The Old Town (Staré Město) and Malá Strana (Lesser Town) form the two essential poles of a Prague honeymoon. Old Town's medieval square — Staroměstské náměstí — anchored by the Astronomical Clock (installed in 1410, one of the oldest working mechanical clocks in the world) is the city's iconic center, ringed by Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings representing seven centuries of architectural history in a single coherent space. The square at night, when the tourist day-trippers have retreated, with the Týn Church's twin Gothic spires illuminated against a dark sky, is one of Europe's most beautiful urban tableaux.
Malá Strana — the Lesser Town on the left bank below the castle — is where Prague's most romantic hotels are concentrated. The neighborhood's Baroque palaces, cobblestoned streets, and the Vrtba Garden (one of the most beautiful formal Baroque gardens in Central Europe, closed to most visitors who walk past its gate unaware) provide the most characterful environment for a honeymoon stay in the city. Hotels here include former palaces and aristocratic residences converted with care for architectural detail.
Prague Castle (Hradčany) is not merely a castle but an entire district — a fortified hilltop city containing St. Vitus Cathedral, three royal palaces, gardens, a medieval lane (Zlatá ulička, Golden Lane), and terraced gardens descending to the river. For honeymooners, the South Gardens of the castle in the evening — particularly the Rampart Garden with its views over the red-tiled rooftops of Malá Strana toward the Petřín hill and tower — are the most beautiful free viewpoint in Prague. The castle's evening illumination from across the Vltava, reflected in the still river from the Smetanovo nábřeží embankment, is the city's most photographed romantic image.
Czech cuisine has undergone a quiet revolution in the past decade, and Prague's restaurant scene has matured from heavy goulash-and-dumplings fare into something more sophisticated. La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise (one Michelin star, an extraordinary tasting menu of Czech haute cuisine in the Old Town), Field Restaurant (one star, creative contemporary Czech), and Café Savoy's all-day Viennese café culture in Malá Strana represent a city taking its food seriously. Czech wine — especially Moravian Pálava and Ryzlink Vlašský whites — is exceptional and essentially unknown outside the country; Monarch Wine Bar in the Old Town provides the best education.
Day trips from Prague open additional romantic chapters. Kutná Hora (1 hour by train) contains the extraordinary Sedlec Ossuary — a church whose interior is decorated with the bones of 40,000 people, a macabre masterwork — and the St. Barbara Cathedral, a Gothic monument that rivals Prague's own. Český Krumlov (3 hours by car), a UNESCO-listed medieval town in South Bohemia, is one of Europe's most beautiful and least visited historic centers, worthy of an overnight stay for honeymooners who extend the trip.
