There are so many places to visit in Prague and so many things to see that you can’t visit the same exhibition, church or palace twice. There is one place, however, where you’ll find all sorts of excuses to return again and again. It is, of course, the famous Mysak Sweet Shop.

It isn’t the kind of shop where you can stuff your pockets full of Mars bars or bubble gum. It is a beautiful “dessert” coffee shop that serves wonderful cakes, pastries and other goodies that melt in the mouth and make you forget all about dieting!

Located on Vodickova Street a short walk from Wenceslas Square, the sweet shop first opened its doors in 1910 and until its collapse in 2006, it sold its delicious wares to the people of Prague and attracted Presidents and actors alike.

After its collapse, the Rondo-Cubist building was carefully reconstructed from photos of the original coffee shop. Today only the marble stairway, the doors and stuccoes and the wooden alcoves remain from the initial building.

Today’s sweet shop is an elegant mixture of retro and modern, with black and white walls, round mirrors with elaborate candelabras, counters up against the walls, tables for two and comfortable booths with high-backed armchairs. The equipment is top notch and conforms to all hygiene regulations, but has been especially made in Retro style.

If you ask anyone who has visited the shop what you should try, they will all say the Caramel Cup – and they are quite right; it is excellent!

This is the largest toy store in the entire Czech Republic. Children of all ages will love visiting this place. House of Sparkys is simply 4 floors of entertainment, joy and fantasy.

During your stay in Prague you might see a lot of children heading purposefully towards the Old Town Square clutching drawings and paintings. If you follow them you will find yourself at the Children’s Drawings Museum, not far from Kinsky Palace.

The museum is situated on the first floor of the House of the Green Frog and has five halls dedicated to children’s drawings and paintings. Children of all ages bring their artistic efforts here to see them hung alongside hundreds of others. There are also young women in 19th century dress who offer cakes and sweets and arts and crafts activities where green frogs are made from wire and beads.

The museum was opened by Darina Martincova and she works with various adults who have creative art experience and who offer various activities to the children besides painting and drawing. The paintings come from all over the country and from a Czech school in Croatia. A lot of the exhibits are executed by handicapped children and some are done by adults, as Mrs. Martincova says there is no age barrier and even grown-ups were once children. You might also see a group of paintings, mostly of houses all brightly coloured. These come from some of the Czech refugee camps for women and children.

If you like puppets, you’ll love the National Marionette Theatre which is to be found a minute away from the Old Town Square. The performances are mainly based on Mozart’s works and the most popular is Don Giovanni.

The theatre is small, about 100 places with wooden seats that can be raised by a crank for children. The puppets are life-sized and the “stage” is richly decorated. The stories unfolded during the two hour performance are mostly visual, so that they are easy to understand.

Don’t expect to see modern puppets, these marionettes are based on the puppets from the 18th century, the strings are clearly visible and while it’s true that you can see the puppeteers, it doesn’t stop the show from being magic. There is also a playful version of the Beatles film “Yellow Submarine”.

Do make sure that you buy tickets either from your tour operator, or from the theatre itself at Zatecka 1, because a lot of other marionette theatres have sprung up in the area and often the shows they put on are very disappointing and you can’t ask for your money back.

No visit to Prague Castle is complete without taking in the Toy Museum, which is the second largest of its kind in the world.

The museum’s seven exhibition rooms take up two floors with stunning displays of toys from Ancient Greece to the present day. There are Czech and Bohemian traditional toys by the score and also a collection of the film-maker and cartoonist Ivan Steiger’s wooden and tin toys. You can admire a model of a mountain village beautifully crafted out of tin, and models of the first Marklin trains from 1918 – 1947, complete with a Marklin railway station.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the museum is its collection of Barbie dolls. Here you can see Barbie from her creation to today. There are black Barbie’s, Princess Barbie’s and even a pregnant Barbie, which is rather rare. Of course there are a few Ken’s and Barbie’s sister Skipper. The best thing about the collection is the clothes which give a clear view of how fashion has changed since the 1950s.

If you aren’t a Barbie fan you will find the huge collection of tin soldiers more interesting. These represent armies from various countries and various epochs. The only sad thing about this fascinating museum is that you are not allowed to touch the exhibits.

On Petrin Hill you will naturally come across a curious building. A replica of the Spicka gateway of the 10th century Vysehrad Castle, it is the home of the Mirror Maze, which was introduced at the Jubilee Exhibition of 1891 and moved to Petrin Hill in 1892.

This is a really fun way to spend a couple of hours and it isn’t only reserved for children! First you must make your way through the confusing labyrinth of the maze itself which comprises 31 ordinary mirrors. There were once 35 mirrors but four of them have been broken over the years and haven’t been replaced.

After the maze you will come to a room with a wonderful diorama depicting the Battle of Charles Bridge of 1648, where invading Swedes were repulsed by the citizens of Prague. This beautiful painting is 80 square metres and was executed by Adolf and Karel Liebscher in only 50 days.

Another room has 14 convex and concave mirrors that will distort your reflection into many very funny shapes and sizes. It has well earned its name: the Laughter Hall. The Mirror Maze is open daily from April to October and the entrance fee is a reasonable price.

Mirror Labyrinth was built especially for children. It is a small replica of a castle with a wooden Gothic gate. Your kids will laugh a lot and you will enjoy this thrilling place.

No, you haven’t had too much good Czech wine and you haven’t been transported to Paris by magic! What you are seeing on top of Petrin Hill isn’t the Eiffel Tower, but Petrin Tower – an excellent replica of the famous Parisian monument.

In 1889 the Club of Czech Tourists visited the World Exposition in Paris and fell in love with the newly built Eiffel Tower. Once back in Prague they pooled their money and grants from the Ministry of Culture and built their own Eiffel Tower in 1891 in time for the Jubilee Exposition. Although Petrin Tower is only 60 metres high, it stands on top of Petrin Hill and therefore from a distance, looks as tall as the real thing.

The tower was used as a look-out point and gives an excellent view of the Prague skyline. It is said that on a clear day you can see the Snezka Peak 150 miles away. A television antenna was fixed to the top of the tower in 1953, which greatly improved reception in the city.

To get to Petrin Tower you’ll have a long walk up the pretty steep hill, but if you are feeling lazy, you can take the small train on the cable railway. There are two sets of stairs that serve the top of the tower – one for going up, the other for coming back down and there is a lift for disabled people.