The Jetpacker

Petřín Hill is a public park in the center of Prague that’s impossible to miss yet often overlooked.  The hill has something for both young and old alike: recreational trails, a lookout tower in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, and even a mirror maze.

We get winded walking up a flight of stairs, so our preferred method of getting to the top of the hill was from the funicular in the Lesser Quarter.

Next to the Újezd funicular station at the bottom of the hill is the Memorial to the Victims of Communism, a series of seven bronze people frozen on a flight of stairs.  The memorial serves as a symbolic reminder of how political prisoners were stripped of their humanity and freedom during the Communist reign between 1948 and 1989.

The Petřín funicular whisks up to 100 visitors at a time up the hill in a matter of minutes for only one metro ticket.  There’s a stop halfway up the hill that no one ever seems to get off at.  One of the enjoyable moments on the ride up is when the funicular cars go through the passing loop and everyone waves at the car traveling the opposite direction.

At the top of the hill, the most obvious sight is the Hunger Wall, which stretches from the base of the hill in the Lesser Quarter all the way to Prague Castle.  This 20-foot high defensive blockade was commissioned by Charles IV during the 1361 famine to provide work for Prague’s starving citizens.

Beyond the wall is the Petřín Tower, a 197-foot lookout tower that makes you wonder why they couldn’t just build it 3 feet higher to get a nice round 200-feet (oh, right, that metric system that everyone else uses besides America).  For about $3 you can climb to the top to witness one of the best views Prague (disabled people or lazy people pretending to be physically impaired can use an elevator).

Next to the tower is a mirror maze housed inside a castle that looks like a fun house at a fair.  I’m 6’4″ and always curious as to what it’s like to be a tiny person, so I got a kick out of looking at myself in the mirror that squeezes you into Oompa Loompa form.  The maze is a quick jaunt, but you’re rewarded at the end with a giant painting commemorating the battle between the people of Prague and the invading Swedes on Charles Bridge in 1648.  The mirror maze costs about $3, plus another $1 to take photos.

Petřín Hill is also home to the Štefánik Observatory.  For about $2 you can peer into the heavens from one of three telescopes if the sky is clear.

On the other side of the park, about half a mile away, is the Strahov Monastery.  There’s not much to do here, but it’s worth a visit and a small fee just to check out the monastery’s unbelievable collection of 100,000 philosophical texts that are housed in two giant and beautifully designed rooms: the Theological Hall and the Philosophical Library.

We were starving after our visit, but instead of working on the Hunger Wall to earn food, we followed signs up a hill adjacent to the monastery.  At first, we didn’t know if we were in the right place; there was only a white structure the size of a closet lodged in the hillside.  No name.  No markings.  No windows.  And certainly not large enough to be a restaurant.

After we saw someone exit, we went inside and followed a long, brick corridor to a dim cave illuminated by just a few candles and lights from the bar.  This restaurant wouldn’t work for a claustrophobic person or someone who fears vampires because this place has “The Descent” written all over it.  Fortunately, the restaurant was mainly monster-free (except for the lady at the bar who brought her massive, matted dog with her) and the food was tasty and inexpensive.