Prague's Old Town Square is a Gothic stage set that still works, and the only trick to it is arriving before the audience does. This is two and a half kilometres of the medieval core — the clock, the spires, the memorial, the gate — walked early, so the square is a square and not a scrum.
Come up from Staroměstská and walk east into Staroměstské náměstí. At eight in the morning the cobbles are damp and half-empty; you can actually see the Orloj, the astronomical clock that has been keeping its strange medieval time since 1410. The hourly apostles disappoint everyone equally — the dial is the real thing. Climb the Old Town Hall tower while the queue is short, then cross to the twin spires of the Týn kostel (church) and the dark bronze of the Jan Hus memorial, the country's conscience standing in the middle of its prettiest square.
Then take Celetná east — a straight medieval line of pastel facades — to the Prašná brána, the Powder Tower, with the Estates Theatre a half-block south. Náměstí Republiky metro is right there, and the crowds you dodged are only just waking up.
