Prague or Copenhagen

[SocialistSally]

Planning a trip in early/mid-December and narrowed it down to Prague or Copenhagen. This is due to flight availability from our local area (so please don't suggest alternatives!).

I was worried that Prague might be stag do central, but perhaps that isn't the case anymore. On the other hand that Copenhagen is very expensive to eat and drink.

It is just me and DP, we tend to like walking around a lot, looking at architecture, and we do love food and drink :)

Anyone been to either recently and have a preference.

Haven’t been to Copenhagen, but we were in Prague pre pandemic. Loved it. Easy to stay away from the stag dos, so much more to the city than that. Ate/drank where the locals ate/drank, architecture is absolutely amazing. If into history, be sure to watch Anthropoid (recent remake, there’s been various versions), then visit the museum in the basement of Church of St Methodius and St Cyril.

I’ve been to both and might just prefer Copenhagen overall, but at that time of year, I’d go to Prague. Copenhagen is best experienced when you’ve got lovely long summer evenings. The Christmas markets at Prague make the city even more magical than it already is!

Prague around Christmas for sure!

@Fivemoreminutes1 we lived in Copenhagen- it has beautiful Xmas markets. Personally I much preferred Copenhagen and the food is way better- but as you say it's not cheap- if you are on a rightish budget I would go to Prague. You can easily spend £200 a day as a couple in CH if eating and drinking out .

@Crikeyalmighty I must admit, Tivoli is stunning at Christmas time but tbh we still preferred it sitting on the grass on a warm summers day with a cold beer!

Copenhagen over Prague every time. But I'd always recommend Budapest as a better option than Prague and would do that over Copenhagen.

@Fivemoreminutes1 ah I agree- and some of the great and fun cheaper options for food such as Broens beer garden and Reffen are summer places!!! Can't beat a Danish soft ice with chocolate powder walking along the river and canals !!! I do miss it!!! Particularly in summer

Copenhagen! It's a fantastic city and the Tivoli Gardens will be beautiful at Christmas.

@SocialistSally Been talking to dd about Copenhagen. She was there last week and we are going shortly. It’s VERY expensive at the moment. £5-6 for a coffee and £15 and more for a sandwich. Prague attracts hen/stag dos for a reason! It’s much cheaper. So if money is an issue, there’s only one choice. If you are willing to spend, then you have both cities for choice. I’ve not been to either yet but looking forward to Copenhagen. It probably has more of what we like.

Budapest doesn’t have the range of museums or palaces that Copenhagen does. But it’s cheap!! The OP didn’t want a third alternative.

Copenhagen in stunning in December! Tivoli is beautiful with all the lights and just walking around is nice. There are plenty of good places to eat that aren’t that expensive.

Thanks! I’d love Budapest but flight days and times don’t fit around work and childcare schedules.

This has helped me think a bit.

We went to Prague at Easter this year and had no issues with stag/hen dos. We run into organised tour groups all the time though.

Food and drink was cheap compared to the UK and you can get a great variety of restaurants. We were glad that we book each evening in advance, it definitely is busy.

Years ago we went in December and there was a lovely Christmas market in the main square.

@TizerorFizz @SocialistSally having lived there till recently--here's my tips

Coffees- if you use the espresso house chain which are lovely (and everywhere) a large one there at around £6 is enormous. I used to carry round a washed takeout container and split one. It sounds enormously mean but honestly was just the right size then for 2.

If you go in the summer/early autumn, places like Broens beer garden (by Nyhavn and just over bridge in Christianshavn - or Reffen (you go on bus or boat ) are brilliant- huge outdoor food stall areas with seats and DJs etc and not drastic . Outside of those times Tivoli food hall is good - an indoor food stall place- you get something decent for about £12

The aforementioned Espresso house do fabulous ham cheese and mustard focaccias - they are huge and around £7 -

The hot dog stalls are amazing - especially the one at the round tower- big and come with crispy onions, pickles and remoulded at around £5 to £6

I recommend the following for meals

Magasasa - (meatpacking) - around £28 each will get you a massive high quality oriental meal

Mother- fantastic Italian- again about £28

The chain Vivaldi - pub/bar type food in nice setting. The Frederiksberg one is good - about £30 for 2 courses - good standard

The madklubben chain (they have about 10 all themed differently) do great set meals - I like Tony's down by Nyhavn. 2 or 3 courses around £32 . High standard

Mad&caffe (3 or 4 branches) do fantastic breakfasts for around £12 - you can pick a set number of items from hot stuff to pastries or eggs etc - great coffee too.

In theNorrebro area
There are lots of good ethnic restaurants- we've had good quality meals for around £15

I cannot deny wine is expensive out but I've never had a rubbish glass- about £12 a glass or £45 a reasonable bottle. It is suprisingly cheap though in supermarkets and you are allowed to drink your own outside - so can be suprisingly nice to sit by canal etc or park- and you rarely see anyone plastered - even though it's allowed.

Beer isn't cheap either but not much different to London prices and reasonable in supermarkets

Hope some of this might help.

Copenhagen that time of year was great. Wrap up warm but the Xmas markets are great. Loads of mulled wine and snacks as you sightsee, you can still go to the food halls and eat inside quite reasonably.
It’s not cheap but is a great city.
I do like Prague too!

@Crikeyalmighty Thanks very much. We are staying in Vesterbro so have already looked at restaurants. Even some you have mentioned! DD said Denmark is currently more expensive than Sweden! Exchange rate doesn’t favour the £. But it is what it is. I’m telling DH to have his coffee at breakfast.

We visited Prague Valentines day 2022. Not a stag do insight. They have absolutely cut down their appeal to that crowd and don't tolerate them in bars and restaurants.
We fell in love with Prague, it's absolutely romantic and took our breath away.
The locals are friendly and warm, humorous and thankful.
There's so much to do.
The old town, the castle, the bridges, churches, art, music, theatres, buildings, shopping, parks. Zoo is good too.
It can be super cheap and relaxed or expensive and high end!
Just beautiful.

Nothing really useful to add as I haven't been to Prague for years, but have just come back from Copenhagen and wasn't paying £6 for coffee or £15 for sandwiches - no doubt you can but I didn't and had a lovely time and enjoyed pretty much everything I ate and drank!

I d not been to Prague, but went to Copenhagen earlier this year and LOVED it. Can't quite explain how fantastic it was. Lovely places to eat and drink, and walk about, super friendly people, very clean, lots to look at.
Was superb.

Yeah, Sweden has been full of Danes this summer.. 🙃

@mrscatwoman So where did you go? DD is a bit of a foodie so I suspect chose really nice places.

Both are great but love the vibe in Copenhagen and both are gorgeous at Xmas time

We went to Prague for DD's 21st. It's horribly tourist/tacky in the main squares/christmas market areas but we loved the area around the castle/cathedral with it's cobbled streets and amazing views. We didn't notice a lot of stag/hens to be fair, but both Dh and I commented that we wished we'd gone 20 years previously. There were also a lot of annoying hawkers selling segue tours/tourist tat that got annoying too.

We stayed in the Hilton and it was a lovely hotel, food was fantastic and it was well away from the town centre. The Sky Bar was amazing at night, well worth the price of the cocktails for the views.

@TizerorFizz yes it was always more expensive than Sweden when we were there. We used to sometimes pop to Malmo for stuff!!

The Madklubben branch in vesterbro is great

There is also a fantastic bar a few doors up from Madklubben you have to go through a courtyard to get to it .

Another great place for a meal in that area is Maple - And there is a beautiful street there called Vaernedamsvej - beautiful French style cafe called Granola , lots of lovely bars, old school butchers shop etc

@ethelredonagoodday so glad you enjoyed it- must admit I do miss it a lot- the beach in summer too and that coastline is wonderful