"Prague never lets you go… this dear little mother has sharp claws" Franz Kafka

Prague might be the new party town of Europe, but it has a lot more to offer. Famous beer aside, the old capital of Bohemia has been a magnet for over 1,000 years.

Thanks to state planning after the Second World War, Prague has kept its visual beauty even as it’s become a modern continental city. The Baroque palaces and countless churches have earned Prague the nickname “city of a hundred spires”, and the centre is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the modern visitor, the city’s strengths are its museums and theatres, but a surge in tourism has also sprung excellent restaurants and bars.

At the turn of the 20th century, Prague was an artistic hive. Buoyed by Bohemian coffee-house culture, it was home to writers, artists and designers. Franz Kafka, sometimes called the greatest author of modern times, lived here, as did fashion legend Hana Podolská and composer Antonín Dvořák. Something of that creative atmosphere remains in the winding streets, the annual Spring Music Festival, and the grand Palace of Culture, completed in 1981. Intense or laid back, low or high culture, Prague can mould itself to any trip.