Picture this: we're sitting in a wine bar, the last stop of our tour, our guests are full and happy. Then, suddenly, someone asks: "So, what else should we do in Prague besides the food and sights and shops you've mentioned? Do you know any guides that could take us to some sights or perhaps let us see Prague from a unique perspective?" Well, as a matter of fact, we do.
We always recommend a private tour or a tour in a small group to get the best experience. The free walking tours are fine if you want to get a general feel for the city and be entertained for a few hours but boy-oh-boy, those guides tend to make stuff up. (Which is quite logical: they work for tips so theatrics and showmanship are a big part of the experience. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not our cup of tea.) We think only a small group or a private guide will give you the opportunity to immerse in the local culture and understand the history. Here are our favorite ones in Prague:
Biko Adventures
Filippo, the owner and also our friend, is such a pleasure to be around - his team do several experiences from hiking to biking and running, always adjusted to abilities of their guests. We hate cliches but "Italian passion" really describes the eagerness Filippo shows in everything he does. If you want an extreme mountain bike ride outside Prague or an easier stroll inside of Prague or just simply rent a bike in Prague, Filippo is your guy. All our guests who rode bikes with him absolutely loved the experience (and bought the t-shirts, too).
I Like Ebike
Now, there should be a disclaimer here first: Jan, the owner, is our friend and we did cooperate shortly in the past. If you want to see Prague from a local perspective and save some sweat, e-bikes are great. Jan and his guides are friendly, knowledgeable locals and really care about what they do. Jan especially puts a lot of effort and heart into his business. We'd recommend the "Real Prague" route: you get to see a lot more than you would have otherwise.
Praga Caput Regni
Marketa and her team are really great if you want to visit the sights with a knowledgeable private guide. Marketa (a mom of three small kids, by the way) is really passionate about what she does (she keeps buying books about Prague and history for her guides and forces them to read them) and pampers her guests, too. They do private tours only and all their guests who joined us later just raved about them.
Prague Steps
Betty is an arts history major and it shows. If you want a private guide who will walk you through the museums in Prague, explain the architecture or visit the studio of a local artist (she wants to move her tours in that direction), you will love what Betty does. She is really nice and has a strong passion for arts in Prague and for Prague in general. She does private tours for small groups only.
Prague Extra
Kamil and Petra are our guides to go to for our German speaking clients. Cooperating with them is a joy: they are always prepared, on time and ready, and we got nothing but great feedback on them in the past. They do tours in English, too, and they are not afraid of bigger groups, either.
If you are interested in recent history and especially the history of WWII in Prague, we think you would love this tour. The history is fascinating and the fact that the centre of Prague remained nearly untouched by the war helps to recreate the history. You don't book the tour. You just show up and the guide takes you on the tour, so the sizes of the groups may vary. That said, we have heard good things about them from our guests.
Taste of Prague
Oh, have we mentioned we do pretty cool tours, too? Our experiences, designed for small groups (we will limit the size of the group to four from May on), really aim to be a supplement to your regular guidebook. The Prague Food and Culture Tour focuses on the local life and food, the Private Moravian Wine Tours want to show you the beauty of the Moravian wine country and the wines, and we actually have another awesome experience in the pipeline, so stay tuned! :-)
No matter what experience you choose in the end, we wish you a fantastic time in Prague!