Charles Bridge and surroundings

Half kilometer long Charles Bridge is “protected” on both sides by two beautiful towers – Lesser Town bridge tower and the Old Town bridge tower. The Old Town tower is more interesting for tourists due to the fact that there is a great view of the whole bridge and panorama of Prague Castle from a distance from it. It is a wonder that only a few tourists climb it and even most locals have never been on it.

The beginning of the Charles Bridge lying on the Křížovnické square is just opposite the “promenade” of Charles Street connecting the bridge to the Old Town Square. During the long wait for the green light in the traffic light you can thus also admire nice church of St. Salvator.

Definitely the most peaceful atmosphere on the Charles Bridge is early in the morning. You usually only meet photographers taking amazing panorama of the Prague Castle during the best light /see the introductory slide of the photoreport /.

The most classic view from the bridge – Prague Castle and the Lesser Town panoramas.

You can see a lot of trip vessels cruising the Vltava river from the Charles Bridge – another interesting leisure time activity in Prague. Above significantly less interesting Manes bridge (from which, however, you can nicely see the Charles Bridge :-) thrones Kramář´s Villa – the seat of Czech prime ministers of the government. Around it leads another nice walk through Prague across Letna. You can see also Straka Academy in the photo – the seat of the czech government. So czech prime minister does not have it very far from work :-)

Right on the edge there is a cluster of buildings, which provide a roof not only for the museum of famous composer Bedrich Smetana, but also for two famous music clubs – Karlovy lázně and Lávka.

Before you set off across the Charles Bridge to the Lesser Town and probably further to the Prague Castle, it is a good idea to climb the Old Town Bridge Tower and enjoy the beautiful view of the panorama of the Prague Castle, Petrin hill and especially of the entire bridge. The entry is not very well visible, so there are not many tourists inside.

Nice view is also towards the Strahov monastery also standing on an amazing outlook point.

Panoramic view of the whole castle, which is dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George´s Basilica and the Black Tower right on the right.

The view of the „other“ side from the Old Town Bridge Tower is also not bad at all – there are towers everywhere you look.

So it's finally time to go to the other side of the bridge in the direction of Lesser Town – the bridge is full of not only tourists, but also of all kinds of painters of landscapes and portraits.

There are beautiful views to all directions from the bridge, such as of Smetana embankment and Novotny bridge.

You can see the monumental building of the National Theatre in the distance.

Another interesting building is Rudolfinum lying in the north direction – the seat of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and gallery.

Woody and grassy Petrin hill with the famous tower contrasts to the built-up Lesser Town. Two interesting buildings also dominate this side of the river – Liechtenstein Palace and Sova's mills.

Just before the entrance to the Lesser Town overcomes the Charles Bridge also Čertovka – an artificial river channel creating islet Kampa with a nice park. There is also an ancient Velkoprevorsky Mi­ll.