A Medieval Night Out in Prague

When you travel, everyone says its best to aim for an 'authentic' experience - immerse yourself in the culture, eat where the locals eat.... and I like to do that, I really do. But I also really love tacky activities designed to appeal to daft tourists! I may not have had an 'authentically Czech' experience at U Krále Brabantského's Medieval Night, but we sure had fun!

Now, I'll start by admitting I'm a bit of a medieval nerd... KC finds it quite funny, and he's not wrong. So when research showed plenty of medieval fun was to be had in Prague he knew he's be dragged along to something with swords. He's a good lad. 

There's a couple of options for medieval nights in and around Prague, and will admit that we picked U Krále Brabantského primarily for location. Found just below Prague Castle, the tavern was only a ten minute walk from our hotel. (At least it was theoretically, it took us longer than that to find it - and I made sure I always had a map handy for the rest of the trip!)

There is an 'all-inclusive' option, where you pay a set price (currently 1200kc), which covers the evenings entertainment, unlimited drinks, and more food than you can shake a stick at. Alternatively, you could just pay a cover charge for the show and order food and drinks straight from the menu. We went a la carte, which worked out best for us (I couldn't have possibly eaten or drank more than we did, and still came in a fair bit under the all-in cost).

As you'd expect, the menu was full of hearty Czech dishes and good beer - I enjoyed both very much! The beef goulash was good, but the delicious home made 'beer of love' was better... a little too good!

Full of goulash, it was time to sit back and enjoy the show, with another beer (or four). There were a number of performers demonstrating fire-eating, sword fighting, belly-dancing, juggling and music. Instead of one big show, the performers wander round different areas of the tavern (two rooms upstairs, and more downstairs) with plenty of gaps between individual performances, so it was a little more informal that a 'proper' show, cosy and intimate, but with time for chatting, eating and drinking instead. 

Though the performers were for the most part very professional, they did enlist the help of an 'amateur' fire eater - poor KC was dragged up to join in, and he accepted his task with much more bravery than I would have done, this was hard to watch!

It was a ridiculous and brilliant way to spend an evening, filled with laughter, food, drink and swordplay - everything you could want on holiday!