Auburn Scallon

- Co-author of the Moon Guide to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest

- Author of the Moon Guide to Prague & Beyond

Recommendations for Sights, Food, Nightlife, Accommodation, Day and Weekend Trips, and Essentials to give travelers honest advice from authors on the ground.

Founded in 1973, Moon was one of the first advocates of independent travel. Our authors are experts who have a passion for their destinations—they are women and men who are politically and culturally minded, informative, adventurous, inspiring, and have great stories to tell.

“When we moved here six years ago, Karlín wasn’t so popular,” recalls Standa Soukop, manager of the Veltlin wine bar. “Everyone said, ‘Karlín’s amazing,’ but it wasn’t reflected in the business. The first three years were very, very difficult.”

Getting outside of the capital, as lovely as Prague is, gives you a much wider look at the landscape of life in the Czech Republic, and it rarely disappoints.

Hospital staff and rescue workers in the Czech Republic’s Liberec region got an unexpected token of appreciation for battling the COVID-19 crisis: bottles of non-alcoholic beer from the nearby Svijany brewery. This could be written off as a PR stunt, but it also reflects the expected integration of beer into every facet of local living. In the eyes of many Czechs—who claim the world’s highest per-capita beer consumption rate—“pivo je lék” (loosely translated “beer is a cure”) to ease the stress of daily life.

A stroll over the Charles Bridge, a trip to the castle, a love lock... stop right there, says Auburn Scallon, and do as the locals do in Prague, with tips from the Honest Guide guys.

Expats and Czechs speak out against this increasingly problematic Prague tourist trend.

Ieva Ozola, originally from Latvia, is studying graphic design at Prague College. She has committed to doing a sketch every day for a year – she is currently on day 124 – that captures some of Prague’s most famous places and quiet corners.

Seattle has a bit of an underdog spirit, a lesser-known city in the Pacific Northwest. Some may know as a tech hub, the birthplace of grunge music, or the backdrop for Grey’s Anatomy. For others. it’s the coffee-loving home of Starbucks where it “rains a lot” (though maybe less than you think), or the home base of football fans so loud they once created an earthquake.

Climb every mountain or find a Bavarian village - all just outside of Seattle. Here's our guide to the best day trips to take when you're staying in town

As the world becomes more globally connected – through a combination of travel, migration and basic awareness of the world – cultural education is stepping into the spotlight. In Estonia, a new programme from the Estonian Institute called Culture Step is helping educate and connect foreigners to local traditions and cultural character.

Gritty. Powerful. Complicated. Real. There are multiple words I would use to describe Võta või jäta (Take It or Leave It in English), which is a new Estonian drama from writer/director Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo. I would also call it a powerful feminist film.

The men and women in Game of Thrones are strongly connected to their homelands, from Winterfell to the Iron Islands, Highgarden and King’s Landing to the Vale of Arryn or the shores of Dorne. But where would this cast of characters end up if the story took them on a journey to the Czech Republic?

Reviews of a selection of Prague Fringe shows from the 2019 festival, including theater, music, and performance art.

I think it’s important to remember that, as travelers, we’re in someone else’s home, and we don’t get to be “locals” just because we want to be.