If you ever wanted to walk through a fairy tale city then Prague is the place to go.

Home to the world’s largest castle, Prague Castle which took 700 years to complete and is like a whole town in and of itself. It is really remarkable!

The castle was the seat of countless princes, kings and emperors and is now the seat of the modern Czech government. The city was founded in the 9th century and in the 14th century the city really came into it’s own thanks to Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor. King Charles turned Prague into the imperial capital even refusing the Catholic Church’s request to move the capital to Rome. He is responsible for building Pragues most famous landmarks like Charles University (oldest university in East Europe). Talk about history!

The Charles Bridge, Charles Square and much of the mega huge Cathedral of Saint Vitus in the castle area which overlooks the whole city in impressive panoramic view.

A short stroll down from the castle and over the Charles Bridge will lead you right into the eye catching Prague town square. The main attraction of the town square is the famous Astronomical clock (the 3rd oldest in the world and the only one from that era that still works).


       Another fascinating part of the city is the Jewish Quarter (a neighborhood now called Josefov) which is remarkably preserved including the oldest synagogue in Europe that is still in service which is called the Old New Synagogue built in 1260 and is one of Prague’s first gothic buildings. There are six synagogues in the city, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall (now all part of the Jewish Museum in Prague and described below). With the Nazi occupation of WWII it could have been expected to be completely destroyed but the area was preserved in order to provide a site for a planned “exotic museum of the extinct Jewish race”.

The Nazis gathered Jewish artifacts that they stole from their victims from all over Europe for display in Prague so ironically they are responsible for leaving the Jewish buildings untouched here. The 15th century Pinkas Synagogue alongside the Old Jewish Cemetery is famous for being the world’s first Holocaust Museum and memorial started in 1954. The names of the 77,297 Jewish Czechoslovak victims of the Nazis were written on the synagogue’s walls to keep forever the names of the Jews who were murdered. Prague is a must do city to visit next time you find yourself in Europe, it is easy to get to and full of stuff to do and visit, I loved it.

The Saints bar is a small but perfectly-formed bar located right in the heart of the Prague gay quarter of Vinohrady, around the corner from Termix gay club and in close walking distance to several other gay bars and nightclubs.

“We aim to provide a fresh and distinctive twist to the Prague gay scene and pride ourselves on our warm atmosphere, friendly service, excellent drinks and great music. We also offer free wifi and a selection of gay magazines.

If you are new to Prague, drop in and see us and our friendly barmen will let you know what’s going on and where to go on the Prague gay scene.”

The owners also run Prague Saints –  a  leading British owned gay-run travel company providing accommodation and tour services for gay visitors to the Czech Republic. They offer great rates on Prague hotels, beautiful apartments, private tours of Prague and the Czech Republic, private airport transfers, river cruises and  of course, their own gay bar, The Saints.



 When we go to Prague next month, we’ll be staying with The Temple. Ran by Jospeh Brewster from the US, It is actually three separate venues. Club Temple, Temple Hotel and the newly-opened Coffee Bar. 

Temple hotel has some beautiful rooms –  suites and standard rooms,  something for everyones budget. And you can stumble upstairs, after a night of drinking with the boys! The club is huge and totally remodeled.  I CAN’T WAIT!

Right next door to the Temple complex, used to be a little Herna Bar called Monty.  (FYI a Herna Bar is place with slot machines).
Local boys would hang out here by play and play the slots. It closed the first of the year, but now has re-opened as Little Temple.             

(Photo above shows a cemetery were bodies literally stacked on top of each other)

And a bit of interesting information…. In the back of the Temple building is a small hill .. 400 years ago it was the place for guillotine  (sp) executions..  Because it was the highest part of the city away from the castle.. The Nazi occupied the building during the war…this city is filled with stories with like that!

Prague and the Czech Republic have earned a (generally accurate) reputation of being more liberal than its neighbours to the east like Poland or the Baltic States, and Czechs’ attitudes towards issues like gay rights or drugs are far more tolerant. The biggest example of the Czech Republic’s progressive policies towards the homosexual community would be its passing of historic legislation legalizing registered partnerships for same-sex couples in July 2006.

This means that Prague has far more gay and gay-friendly clubs than most Eastern European cities, and has quickly becoming a popular travel destination for gay tourists, over the last 10 years.

Two decades after the fall of Communism, Prague’s gay community seems to be making up for lost time.

The NY Times travel section covered the Prague gay scene last year.  

“Every gay friend I have lives here in Vinohrady,” said Grant Maxfield, a student from Connecticut who moved to Prague two years ago and now helps run Come2prague.com, a gay-oriented tourist site. The maple-lined streets of Vinohrady, are peppered with gay-owned businesses.

“People don’t care what other people do in private,” said Petr Vostarek, a drag queen who goes by the stage name Chi Chi Tornado. Mr. Vostarek performs several nights a week at Tingl Tangl (Karoliny Svetle 12; 420-224-238-278; tingltangl.cz), a restaurant cabaret in Prague’s Old Town. And while some social stigma remains, especially among the older generation, that, too, seems to be fading.

“From the eastern part of Europe, Prague is the place where there is the most freedom for gays,” said Mr. Vostarek, who bills himself as the first drag queen in the post-Communist Czech Republic. While touring in Poland and the former Yugoslavia, Mr. Vostarek says, he encountered considerable homophobia. But in Prague, he added, “I don’t have problems when I go to expensive restaurants. With or without makeup, I do whatever I want.”