Prague

1. ~8:30a●Café breakfast

   A grand First-Republic café — eggs and dark bread, or a fresh koláč pastry, with a strong Viennese-style coffee before the climb to the castle.

2. 9:00a◆Prague Castle at opening

   The largest ancient castle complex in the world — St Vitus Cathedral's stained glass (find the Mucha window), the Old Royal Palace, and the tiny Golden Lane. Go early before the tour groups.

3. ~11:30a→Down through Malá Strana

   The baroque Lesser Town — the Wallenstein Garden, the Lennon Wall, and the lanes spilling down toward the river.

4. ~1:00p●Czech tavern lunch

   A hospoda for svíčková (braised beef in creamy root-vegetable sauce with bread dumplings and cranberry) and a half-litre of Pilsner Urquell poured properly thick-headed.

5. ~3:30p◆Charles Bridge

   The 14th-century bridge of blackened baroque statues — late afternoon for the softest light and the Old Town towers ahead of you.

6. 8:00p✦Field ★Anchor table

   Prague's most celebrated table — playful, art-driven modern Czech tasting with foraged and farm produce. Intimate and inventive; book ahead as the trip's fixed point.

Prague Castle is the one to hit at opening — by mid-morning the courtyards fill. Charles Bridge is impossible by midday and magic at dawn or dusk; this plan saves it for golden hour.

1. ~9:00a◆Old Town Square & the Astronomical Clock

   The medieval heart — the Týn Church's twin spires, and the 600-year-old Astronomical Clock's apostle parade on the hour. Climb the Old Town Hall tower for the rooftop view.

2. ~11:00a◆Josefov, the Jewish Quarter

   The moving old synagogues and the layered, leaning headstones of the Old Jewish Cemetery — one of Europe's most affecting historic quarters. A combined ticket covers the sites.

3. ~1:00p●Lunch & a trdelník

   A modern Czech bistro or a beer hall, then — tourist treat though it is — a hot trdelník chimney cake from a street grill.

4. ~3:00p→Wenceslas Square & the passages

   The broad boulevard of the Velvet Revolution, and the Art-Nouveau arcades and the glass-roofed Lucerna passage hiding off it.

5. ~6:00p✦A classical concert

   Prague is a city of music — a Mozart or Dvořák evening in a baroque church or the Municipal House's Smetana Hall, the Art Nouveau masterpiece.

Old Town Square is busiest at the top of each hour for the clock — see it once, then explore the quieter lanes off it. The Josefov combined ticket is the efficient way through the Jewish Quarter sites.

1. ~9:30a◆Vyšehrad fortress

   The other castle — the hilltop fort south of the centre, with the neo-Gothic church, the cemetery of Czech greats (Dvořák, Mucha), and a crowd-free view down the Vltava.

2. ~11:30a→The Náplavka riverbank

   The revitalised embankment of cellar-bars and, on Saturdays, a farmers' market — where young Prague actually hangs out by the water.

3. ~1:00p●Vinohrady lunch

   Out to the leafy Vinohrady district for a modern bistro or a craft-beer tavern — Czech cooking lightened up, away from the tourist core.

4. ~3:30p✦A Czech beer-culture stop

   A traditional pivnice for a tankové (tank-fresh) Pilsner, or a microbrewery — the Czechs drink more beer per head than anyone, and it shows in the quality.

5. ~6:30p✦Black Light Theatre or a jazz cellar

   A uniquely Prague evening — the surreal Black Light Theatre, or a vaulted jazz cellar like the long-running Reduta.

Vyšehrad is the local's castle — all the atmosphere, almost none of the crowds. This day deliberately leaves the tourist core for the riverbank and Vinohrady, where the city feels lived-in.