Prague

Opera: Command Performances

To see Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the exquisitely compact, 18th-century Estates Theatre—the opera house that premiered it—gives it another dimension. The theatre itself is a riot of rococo gilt against a powder-blue ground; the acoustic is warm; and the standard of performance exemplary. Only the sightlines in the narrow horseshoe auditorium are a problem, so insist on centre stalls.

If jazz is more your bag, then check out JazzDock in Prague 5 right on the river.

Beer: Pubs and Breweries

Lokal is an excellent Czech pub, simple, easy-going and with a good line in traditional Czech draft beers. It’s also an exercise in nostalgia, for its retro restaurant is redolent of the dark days before the Velvet Revolution, right down to the fake graffiti, surly service and a menu that’s only in Czech. For something more historic, try Klásterní Pivovar in the Strahov Monastery at Prague Castle, which dates back to the 13th century. For something new, check out Novomestsky Pivovar—400 metres from Wenceslas Square—the first brewery to open in the New Town, where it was founded as recently as 1993.

Food: Best Italian

We’re not bragging when we say that Allegro is the best Italian restaurant in town. Indeed it was the first in Central/Eastern Europe to win a Michelin Star. It has marvellous river views, a great wine list, and, yes, there are some Bohemian influences on the menu. Gnocchi are only a variation on dumplings, after all.

Aromi is an inexpensive alternative, a neighbourhood Italian restaurant well off the tourist track in Prague, that’s well regarded for its great home cooking.

Itinerary: A Perfect Prague Day

Prague Castle may be on most tourist itineraries, but for a different spin on it walk through the old area of Novy Svet, just beyond it. You’ll find very few people in the narrow cobblestone streets, and the gas streetlights give you a feel of how Prague was 200 years ago. Weather permitting, have lunch on the terrace of the Lvi Dvur restaurant, which faces the castle and cathedral. Then walk through Upper Deer Moat, a natural ravine below the castle with beautiful views to Mala Strana to Lesser Town. The Southern Castle Gardens are always worth a look, as are the 17th-century Wallenstein Gardens, another essay in baroque splendour, with dancing fountains, a loggia, ornamental carp pond, box parterres, peacocks and astonishing curved grotto wall made of artificial dripstone, carved with stalactites, petrified (and petrifying) snakes, frogs and monsters. And round off the day with a night at the opera or a recital at the Rudolfinum Concert Hall.