Let's Go Europe 2019. Harvard Student Agencies

original. Take a 30-minutes walk from the base of the hill to its peak, a 299-step hike to the tower’s viewing platform for stunning panoramic views of the city. Alternatively, use your public transport ticket for a ride up in a funicular.

       i Funicular free with public transport ticket, tower 150Kč, reduced 80Kč; wheelchair accessible

       FOOD

       CAFÉ LOUVRE ($$)

      Národní 22, Nove Mesto; 224 930 949; www.cafelouvre.cz; open daily 8am-11:30pm

      Café Louvre is fantastic, but don’t just take our word for it—take Albert Einstein’s and Franz Kafka’s. Back in the day, this café was a favorite amongst Prague’s intellectual community, and when these geeks and nerds weren’t discussing nuclear physics and the futility of man, they were most likely chomping on some very reasonably priced traditional Czech food. Enter under the “Café Louvre” marquee, follow a long hallway and head upstairs, where you’ll encounter a scene straight out of your Gatsby nightmares. The ceilings are high, the tablecloths white, the lighting fixtures unusual, and the walls covered in a mix of old-school advertisements and black-and-white photos.

       i Entrées from 139Kč; vegetarian options available; no wheelchair accessibility

       PARALLEL POLIS ($)

      Dělnická 475/43, Holešovice; 702 193 936; www.paralelnipolis.cz; open M-F 8am-8pm, Sa-Su noon-9pm

      Parallel Polis is the world’s first bitcoin café, which means you can only pay with, you guessed it, bitcoin. If you’re some kind of Luddite who doesn’t have a healthy stash of bitcoins already saved in the cloud, don’t worry. There’s a bitcoin ATM inside the café that’ll sort you out. What’s with this café’s obsession with bitcoin anyway? Is it, like, run by some sort of crypto-anarchist hacking collective? Yes. Yes, it is. Above the café is the Institute of Cryptoanarchy, which aims to promote personal privacy, liberty, and all those other things that make people enemies of the state. But don’t let all this cyber mumbo-jumbo distract you from that fact that the café, equipped with fancy V60 and aeropress filters, knows how to make a damn good cup of joe.

       i Coffee from 40Kč, cash and credit cards accepted for bitcoin exchange; vegetarian options available; wheelchair accessible

       CHOCO CAFE ($)

      Red Chair, Liliová 250/4, Staré Město; 222 222 519; www.choco-cafe.cz; open daily 10am-8pm

      If you gave this hot chocolate its own Instagram account, you’d be guaranteed to have at least one hundred dudes commenting “thicc af (peach emoji)” on every single post. But when a drink’s this creamy, rich, and, yes, thick, what else would you expect? Even calling it a drink is a bit of a stretch. It has much more in common with a chocolate bar left in your pocket on a summer’s day. If this is your first rodeo at Choco, stick to the most basic options, lest you risk a cardiac arrest of the senses. But if you think a trip to your sensory cardiologist is long overdue, then go for one of the chili, ginger, or alcoholic varietals.

       i Hot chocolate from 59Kč; wheelchair accessible

      CRÊPERIE “U SLEPE KOCICKY” ($$)

      M. Horákové 600/38, Holešovice; 233 371 855; www.slepakocicka.cz; open daily 11am-11pm

      While any restaurant with the word “crêpe” in the title will inevitably catch our eye—which, in the past, has led to heartbreak and stomachache—these crêpes are a cause to celebrate. With a comprehensive range of both sweet and savory pancakes and crêpes at very affordable prices, you can order everything from salmon, sour cream, and chicken to banana, chocolate, nuts, and eggnog. Beyond the food, the restaurant looks like it’s straight out of a fairytale about a nice, old woman who’s obsessed with cats. The wood-paneled interiors are decked out with feline-themed paintings, statues, and lampshade decorations. Luckily, the flowerpots dangling from the ceiling provide a merciful counterbalance to the cat-holism.

       i Savory crêpes from 139Kč, sweet crêpes from 69Kč; wheelchair accessible

       FERDINANDA ($)

      Karmelitská 379/18, Mala Strana; 257 534 015; www.ferdinanda.cz; open M-Sa 11am-11pm, Su 11am-5pm

      If your money’s about as tight as a nun’s budget to buy school supplies for the poor orphans she looks after, look no further than Ferdinanda. The restaurant’s underground setting deprives it of the street-side seating common to most Mala Strana eateries, but when a bowl of goulash and a half pint of beer cost a mere 148Kč, we couldn’t care less. The locals and tourists that regularly pack the place don’t either. The menu also includes a vegetarian section, which isn’t always guaranteed in most Czech cuisine places. Seeing as most of the nearby restaurants in Malostranske Nam. charge 200Kč or more per main, it’s best to remember the unofficial Trump motto of “When they go high, we go low” and seek out the budget-friendly underworld of Ferdinanda.

       i Entrées from 85Kč; vegetarian options available; no wheelchair accessibility

       FOOD OF LOVE ($$)

      Nerudova 219/32, Mala Strana; 736 633 098; www.foodoflove.cz; open daily 11am-10pm

      With the overabundance of meat-heavy Czech cuisine restaurants, being a vegetarian in Prague can sometimes make you feel like the only free-range chicken in an industrial slaughterhouse. Thankfully for everyone who found that simile in poor taste, there’s Food of Love, a quaint vegetarian restaurant situated in a courtyard just below Prague Castle. Beyond the vegetarian options, the menu is loaded with raw vegan and gluten-free meals. It also offers vegetarian goulash and over 20 varieties of tea. To find the restaurant, walk up Nerudova street, and about 20 meters before a more obnoxiously signposted vegan restaurant, turn into a small art gallery to the right and continue into the courtyard.

       i Entrées from 165Kc; gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options available; wheelchair accessible

      LOKÁL DLOUHÁÁÁ ($$)

      Dlouhá 33, Staré Město; 222 316 265; www.lokal-dlouha.ambi.cz; open Su-F 11am-1am, Sa 11am-midnight

      While most people are rightfully suspicious of Old Town restaurants that make a big deal about their local cuisine, you can let your guard down at Lokal. A huge beer hall populated by locals and tourists alike, this restaurant serves a wide array of traditional Czech cuisine that’s as tasty as it is filling. After one plate of fried cheese and a helping of sausages, we felt simultaneously at one with the universe and practically comatose. The Old Town location is just one of many scattered across Prague, but thankfully the fact that it’s a chain doesn’t detract from the quality of the food or the restaurant’s authentic feel, the latter of which is bolstered by the 40Kč mugs of beer.

       i Entrées from 115Kč, starters from 85Kč; wheelchair accessible

       THE CRAFT ($)

      Náměstí Míru 1221/4, Vinohrady; 306 577 4230; www.thecraft.cz; open Su-F noon-midnight, F-Sa noon-2am

      When your beers are microbrewed and you treat burgers as an artisanal practice, there’s no better name for your restaurant than The