Prague is a destination well known but this year the Czech Republic shares the honour with Austria as a host of the European Volleyball Championship. It adds to the natural charm of the city for all volleyball lovers who, like me, are planning to go and watch the games of their favorite team. The tournament will start on September 10th and will end on September 18th in Wien where the final game will be played. Here is a detailed schedule of all stages from the official championship website: http://www.volleyeuro2011.at/en/schedule.html . On the home page the hosts have started offering accommodation packages as well: http://www.volleyeuro2011.at/index.php . You can also purchase tickets via the website partners, click Tickets at the left menu. However, I spoke to friends of mine in Prague who are well experienced volleyball travellers :))) and they said tickets were always available prior to the games even if they were not for the best seats in the venue. It's up to you to decide if buy well ahead or go and check when already in Prague. I personally choose the second option because it gives me flexibility to combine sightseeing with watching volleyball.
The games in Prague will take place in O2 Arena: http://www.o2arena.cz/O2arenaEN/default.aspx . Unfortunately, it's not a central venue and it's a bit challenging when one wants to explore the river banks and the old town during the same visit. However, there is regular bus, tram and subway transportation to the hall, I'm told by friends. The website offers good info on how to get there too: http://www.o2arena.cz/O2arenaEN/docDetail.aspx?docid=19033722 . The picture above is courtesy of another great website offering lots of info about the venue (and other things): www.livenation.co.uk .
In addition to the accommodation offered on the championship website, you may want to check again the home exchange websites (if you have a home to offer to Prague residents and exchange) or, which is my choice, to rent an apartment. I've said it before, to me the best way to visit a place is to have a "home" of my own, even only for a week. It also matters that I'm a parent and it's much more comfortable to me to cook my son's favorite meals and spare myself browsng the restaurants for appropriate food, if nothing else. And in general, I feel more relaxed when renting. Some options to rent can be found here: http://www.praguecentralapartments.com/ or here: http://www.homesweethome.cz/en/ .
Prague has also tons of hotels, pensions, and hostels. You can go to any big and popular website and find both good and not so good offers. In my opinion, the city has become quite expensive lately compared to about five years ago. One more reason for me to rent - the rent of the apartment won't be much cheaper than a cheap hotel but you can save the food cost. Also, if you travel with more friends (we'll be four or five people) or children, the rent of a big flat with 3-4 bedrooms divided between all of you will actually come quite cheap. A website I liked with many hotel and other accommodation options is this one (aside from the most popular ones): http://www.tvtrip.com/cih9Cc4-prague-hotels . It checks a couple of big websites for you, like Venere, Booking, etc. Another good website is the one the picture above belongs to: www.hotelprague.us .
A couple of official tourism websites: http://www.praguewelcome.cz/en/ , http://www.czechtourism.com/Homepage.aspx , http://www.pragueexperience.com/information/tourist_information.asp - this one offers tons of info and useful tips, as well as this one: http://www.prague-guide.co.uk/ . The expats in Prague website http://www.expats.cz/ is another interesting destination and offers a different look at the city, quite useful for other people who come from abroad. Finally, this interactive guide can cover almost all your needs, including tickets for sightseeing and events: http://www.allpraha.com/ .
Tips and hints: don't rent a car except if you are a very experienced driver, the traffic is huge and parking spaces hard to find; don't exchange money outside banks regardless how tempting the rate seems; change your debit/credit cards PINs to four digits, many ATMs in Europe don't accept longer PINs; don't forget the unified 112 emergency European number where you can talk to an English speaking operator; don't eat anywhere and anything, especially dairy and meat, cook or eat at the hotel is safest; if you're into calm and quiet vacation, Wenceslas square may not be your first choice; the peak season in Prague lasts till October, book and plan in advance; for sightseeing and events, use an online or local tourist agency/website to get your tickets.
I hope you find these useful. I'm already planning my trip but will welcome any inside information, if you'd like to share. :)
