PRG to Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí)

Prague's main boulevard and commercial center with the National Museum, shops, and restaurants.

Wenceslas Square is not actually a square but a grand 750-meter boulevard that serves as Prague's commercial and social backbone. Dominated at its upper end by the imposing National Museum — a neo-Renaissance building reopened after extensive renovation — the square slopes downward through a canyon of shops, hotels, restaurants, and Art Nouveau and Functionalist architecture.

The square has been the stage for the most pivotal moments in modern Czech history. It was here that Czechoslovak independence was proclaimed in 1918, where citizens protested the 1968 Soviet invasion, and where hundreds of thousands gathered during the 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule. The memorial to Jan Palach, who self-immolated here in 1969, and the equestrian statue of St. Wenceslas remain powerful symbols.

Today, Wenceslas Square is Prague's main shopping and nightlife district. International brand stores line the boulevard, while the side streets (especially Vodičkova and Štěpánská) hide traditional Czech restaurants, hidden beer gardens, and art galleries. The Lucerna Palace, a stunning Art Nouveau shopping arcade, contains a cinema, music venue, and David Černý's satirical sculpture of St. Wenceslas riding an upside-down horse.