Prague – quick travel guide

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Most aesthetically beautiful eastern European city, and popular expat location.

Prague’s status has gone up so much higher than I expected since I’ve first visited here in 2009. If you haven’t stayed updated on Prague lately, I think you’re missing out. It is absolutely the scene right now. I think it’s one of the best places to live for many reasons. But also because it’s very centrally located to many other awesome towns. Great for a dynamic social lifestyle.

I consider Prague to be something like a perfect combination of Paris, Rome, Berlin, London, Budapest. It’s beautiful, posh, cultured, but also chill, hipster, small, cozy, walkable. It’s the absolute best of both worlds of big city and small city. There’s lots to do but yet cozy enough to walk and relax instead of feeling like you have to jump all over town to get anywhere. Green space, buildings, bridges, parks, cafes, clubs, bars, arts…there’s something for everyone. Many cool people I know have already lived here and/or been traveling here for events and things.

You can see the highlights in 3 days, but you seriously might want extra time to really enjoy its beauty.

Where to stay:

  • Stare Mesto (Prague 1, Old City) – anywhere in the old town or near here would be highly ideal as you’re right smack in all the action and historic stuff. The less time you have in Prague, the more you should be here to reduce your walk time to get around. If I had a preference…try to get closer to the water so it’s faster to cross the bridges and reach the other side.
  • Mala Strana (Prague 1, Lesser Town) – yes, the Prague districts are huge. This other side of the water is full of action as well. Can actually feel even more touristy and crowded than Old City. It has hills, castle, many historic buildings and with elevated viewpoints to enjoy panoramic views of Prague. Although many people like it, I feel it’s not a balanced area. The busy areas are way to crowded and the chill areas are way too dead/empty. It’s also feels far and isolated from everything else.
  • Nove Mesto (Prague 2, New City) – my favorite area that feels close to tourist stuff but also the cool local vibe. You have access to everything here. Walkable streets and fast transportation routes for Uber drivers, right next to old town, also right next to bridges and the other side. Of course…I prefer staying close to the north and close to the water. If you still want tourist stuff, pick here.
  • Holesovice (Prague 7) – often referred as the “coolest district in Prague, or even Europe” and where many hip locals and expats live. I’d probably like to try this spot on my next visit. It’s still close enough to the tourist stuff but also totally has its own vibe. I haven’t explored much so I can’t say. But I’ve heard great things.

The general idea is that you want fast access to old town and bridges to cross the water (on the west side of old town). Since those are the main areas with things to see. The less time you have, the more you should stay right in old town IMO.

And yes of course, you can read some online guides about the different Prague Districts (aka Praha 1, Praha 2, etc) and what things are found in them.

Hostels:

  • I forgot all the ones I had but there are many great ones. Prague just has such a chill friendly vibe in general.
  • Onefam Míru Hostel – nice vibe of both social and chill. Big enough hostel to house 20-30 people which I think is the sweet spot (any more and people start to split off). One cozy kitchen and common room to house everybody. Easy enough to meet people because you’re in such close proximity. Friendly staff and daily activities. Spacious rooms, comfy beds with curtains and light/outlet, big lockers, all sturdy furniture that doesn’t make noise. Only 2 bathrooms and 2 showers and they were always clean and available. Fast reliable internet for working.

Neighborhoods & Walking areas:

  • Walking tours – I highly HIGHLY recommend walking tours in Prague. It’s such a huge city with so many things and tons of people everywhere. Tour guides will walk you through the most important bits, points out things that you probably wouldn’t notice through the noisy over-stimulated environment, and also help you make friends to help explore all the stuff the tour doesn’t cover.
  • Prague 1 (central & water) – start in old town around the square, astronomical clock, and powder tower. Then walk across Charles Bridge to the new city and head straight up to the castle. You’ll see a billion things along this way. Then you can spend a sunset on one of the two big parks…either the Prague Metronome in Letna Park or the Petrin Tower in Petrin Hill (aka “Petrin Park”). I think most people would say Letna Park is more beautiful and less touristy and also has better views of the bridge (most tourist postcard shots are from Letna Park).
  • Prague 2 & 7 (parks & bridges) – depending on which park you chose, I recommend you cross back on the bridge closest to you back to old town. So if you chose Letna Park, then cross back on a bridge north of Prague 1. And if you chose Petrin Hill, then you cross back on a bridge west of Prague 1. So you can do one side one day and then the other side the other day. Nice water area around here.
  • Prague 1 & 2 (away from water) – if you have extra time then you explore the areas further away from the water. But you could also back to just the other areas above. There’s lots to do there already.

Activities to do:

  • Buildings & architecture – there are too damn many. Some are meant just for pictures outside. Others for going inside and seeing stuff (decor, artifacts, city views). Some are actually beautiful, others only for historical value. You gotta take your pick. The walking tour will walk you past many and point them out for you. Narodni Museum, Astronomical Clock, Powder Tower, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, Vysehrad Castle, and all the spaces and things in between these buildings are lovely.
    • Astronomical Clock – pretty for photos from outside during daytime, there’s also a little show a couple times everyday (usually timed with all walking tours). But my local friend said don’t miss climbing up in the clock tower…that it’s worth it, and to do it at sundown.
    • Zizkov Tower – cool looking retro-design tower. In daytime you see the statues of metal babies crawling up, at nighttime you see the red and blue lights. Nice for a photo op from outside, but local friend said it wasn’t worth it to go up. The area around it is a park with some restaurants. Not as much worth it to go up. It’s a good stop if you’re riding by Riegrovy Sady. but rent some scooters via phone app (can’t remember the name, might be lime scooters) and get there, see it, then ride to Riegrovy Sady. That neighborhood is BEAUTIFUL. Don’t forget the beers!
    • Residential architecture – the 3 areas with the nicest residential homes I saw were by Riegrovy Sady park (south side streets like Manesova), Sady Svatopluka Čecha park (southeast end like Hradesinska & Estonka), and in south end of Mala Strana area on west side of the river.
  • Parks, gardens, green spaces:
    • West side (of river) – nice parks with great views of the city, or nice seating by the water.
      • Letna Park – big park right on the water, best postcard views of the Prague from here.
      • Petrin Hill – big touristy park with tram to climb the hill), many people come here for the tower.
      • Waldstein Garden – small and beautiful, easy visit. Something like a manicured garden with decorative bushes, flowers, statues, and pond. Some peacocks and fish, rock wall, and other picture-worthy things.
      • Park Kampa – nice place to hang around the water. Walk around the art installations, outdoor bar and cafe seating, or sit on the grass with your own beer.
    • East side (or river) – convenient parks to chill or find peace in the city.
      • Riegrovy Sady – really cool, has a nice hills for sunset and bar/music area for drinks and many locals. It’s very lively in the late afternoon and evening. The residential neighborhood nearby is very beautiful with many decorative buildings. Great for checking out residential prague architecture.
      • Grebovka Park (aka “Havlickovy Sady Park”) – big park with a nice overlook, check out the nice pavilion area.
      • Sady Svatopluka Čecha – just a plain one, all flat ground and close to the city. The neighborhood nearby (on SE end) has many nice big houses if you want to see fancy house architecture.
      • Night parks – not officially parks, but are green spaces with benches and lights to hang out. You’ll often find people relaxing or drinking with friends here. The official parks are usually closed and dark/unlit at night.
        • Čelakovského sady – basically the little green space behind the Narodni Museum.
        • Bazilika sv. Ludmily – green park with concrete space right in front of basilica.
  • Bridges & water-points – All of the ones I tried are beautiful and give beautiful views of the city, you’ll also see statues and tourist vendors and street artists as well. Try to check out at least 3 while you’re there. The green spaces around the bridges and water are also very nice.
    • Manes Bridge –
    • Charles Bridge –
    • Legion Bridge –
    • Czech Bridge –
  • Art & museums – I haven’t been to many. Just didn’t have time because the stuff outside was so beautiful already.
    • Kuntshalle Prague – art gallery and modern art museum…felt kinda basic and small to me. Good for a 45-minute walkthrough in rainy weather, but totally skippable for me.

Restaurants & Cafes:

  • Prague restaurant, cafe and foodie scene is very strong. You are encouraged to try everything everywhere. No shortage of nice places to go with delicious food and IG-worthy ambiance.
  • T-Anker – everybody usually goes to the rooftop in old town square, but the locals say it’s overrated and to go here instead. Terrible reviews regarding service but really amazing view.
  • Vietnamese food – Prague has a huge Vietnamese population and therefore many authentic and delicious Vietnamese food places.
    • Hanoi Square Restaurant – really really good Vietnamese food! Nice decor and service. Fancy vibe.
    • Mr Pham Vinohradska – really amazing taste, good pricing and big portions. Vibe is something between fancy and casual. You won’t be disappointed. Run by nice Viet family.
    • Ngo Restaurant – small fancy gastro with western vibe. Mix of Vietnamese staff occasional Czech waitress…not that it matters but to help you understand the vibe.
  • Cestr – largely considered best fancy steakhouse in Prague.
  • Beth’s favorite restaurants:
    • MUST HAVE breakfast at Marthy’s kitchen on Francouzka!!!!!! So cute so quaint so good.
    • Mezi Srnky is equally as healthy/ yummy and quality
    • Clear Head aka Lehka Hlava is so cool/ unique/ yummy. Vegan I’m pretty sure but you wouldn’t know it!
    • cafe savoy! Sit upstairs if you can so you can people watch and enjoy the ceiling art lol
    • ARTIC BAKEHOUSE! Best pastries in town, yummy yummy in my tummy. Go here before you head up to Perrin tower in the MORN if you go. Bakery sells out/ later in the day means more tourists up at Perrin.
    • Cocovanka is the cutest lil’ spot perfect for an afternoon espresso. If you go here you can’t skip the park across the way! Vojanovy Sady borders my old uni. This park has peacocks that roam the grounds and live in the trees lol. Walk all the way to the back of the gardens to find them.
    • Waldstein Garden is just up the block and definitely worth seeing if you’re on your way to Metronome for sunset! (These are parks, yes)
    • Bistreet (Late night pizza) +420 722 720 609 https://goo.gl/maps/ZvpQYTrBNVvGZBMJ8
  • Beth’s favorite cafes:
    • CafeDu – favorite ever is CafeDu for ample natural light, good food, wifi, two stories
    • la boheme cafe
    • Cukrárna Myšák
    • academia bookshop to sit outside on the ledge and people watch over Wenceslas Square
    • Kavarna Trieste is great on weekend daytime especially if the Naplavka market is happening
    • globe bookstore & cafe

There are amazing places to be found all over prague. The ones I list are iconic ones (usually for gimmicky reasons) or local favorites, but really…there are tons. Prague is like a big city foodie scene.

Bars & Clubs:

  • Karlovy Lazne – popularly referenced everywhere as the biggest club in Central Europe, 5 floors and all types of music, epic partying, blah blah blah. Literally every local tells me not to ever go here. And also everybody I ever heard that went here regretted it. They all said it was stupid and waste of time, and only lame tourist crowd. So I will tell you the same…DO NOT GO HERE!
  • Vzorkovna (aka “Dog Bar”) – definitely visit this one. Cash only and built and built like an underground maze of rooms. Each with their own weird eclectic style and music. And rapidly alternating DJ’s throughout the rooms as they take turns going on & off. It’s hard to explain but you have to go. Yes, it’s touristic too but still a lot of fun to see. You could go during prime hours, or you can also go during the later hours (where there’s less people). All depends what vibe you’re in.
  • CrossClub – good one!
  • Moon Club – if you like latin music, check their FB events (I think they do IG too).
  • Hard Rock Cafe – worth visiting if you’re by the astronomical clock in Old Town Square. The bar inside is beautiful and has 4 stories decked out with memorabilia. Look for the swastikas in the banisters. Used to be occupied by the nazis!
  • Cobra, Groovebar – some of the many nice local bars. Hip classy vibe.
  • Roxy – gets going on the weekends depending on the show but it’s over priced & super hit or miss.

Holy hell, Prague has quite the night life. Honestly one of the best nightlife out there. You can party till late on just about every night of the week. There are many good clubs and different options for all kinds of music tastes, and catering to posh vs hipster or alternative crowds. All the ones listed were given to me by friends who lives/lived in Prague (one even being a DJ).

Also, the Prague nightlife is famous for pub crawls. Pay 35-40 euro and you get unlimited drinks in some places, roam through several bars, and ultimately let into a big club at the end.

Miscellaneous tips:

  • Transportation – everything is walkable, but you also have good public transportation, rideshare, and e-scooters (my favorite).
    • Public transpo – trams, buses, metro will easily take you everywhere. They’re all reliable and cheap and accept contactless tap pay card (VISA, etc).
    • Rideshare – Bolt, Uber are available. And they come very fast. I rarely had to wait longer than 2 mins.
    • E-scooters – probably my favorite way to explore the city since Prague has bike lanes and the city is flat. And the city is so pretty, you want to look at everything and stop and take photos. The scooters can be super cheap. I saw Bolt & Uber/Lime here.
    • Airport – public transport is really easy and cost-efficient to get to and from the airport. A metro and then tram or bus would be all you need. Takes an hour or so.
  • Safety – just about everywhere is safe. The most sketch area I noticed is Zizkov over by the Lipanska metro and even then, it’s really not that bad. Just some drunk homeless and maybe some druggies but I never felt like I could get robbed or attacked. With that said, some single ladies may not feel safe walking alone at late night.

Nearby towns:

  • Vienna – love it or hate it. It’s nice, it’s smallish, very modern and great city for living. Has a solid amount of touristy things as well. But I personally find it boring. Reminds me too much of Germany…clean, safe, sterile, similar to America in culture, boring…so I don’t like it.
  • Bratislava – very small town that’s nice for a day visit or even just a few hours.
  • Budapest** – awesome city, unique language, and modern city culture. Language, food, people, hilly terrain on one side of the water and crowded city on the other.
  • Krakow** – great city, beautiful colorful charmy old town.
  • Berlin* – awesome big city with lots of hipster charms and big city things, restaurants, clubs, parks, many different neighborhoods to explore.
  • Nuremberg – chill city area around around a German castle. Kinda boring to me.
  • Munich* – fun and charmy German town with much more old-town and historic type of architecture. Different from big city vibe like Berlin.
  • Zagreb – a little farther than the rest. Zagreb is one of those nice-to-live but not much for tourists, places to me. It has its charm but not distinctly unique enough to visit if you’re visiting many places and wanted to see something super unique and different.

Unfiltered notes:

Beth’s notes (she lived here for a year recently and knows it well, her recs line up with Sebastian who still lives here and is a DJ here for 8 years already):

  • Sunsets:
    • MUST go to the Metronome (take beers from market up there, the seasonal bar might still be open though). Take the tram to Chechuv Most and walk up the stairs. (Best on a Friday)
    • Petrin tower is cool but more of a daytime thing and pretty touristy/ pricey but if you go make sure to do the mirror walk around where the base is and take the cart up from Ujezd Újezd https://goo.gl/maps/YbMJrH95KFR49JtT9
    • Don’t do a sunset at the castle. Do the castle early in the morning if you must go, but I suggest taking the tram to Albertov and going to Vyšehrad instead!
    • If you want the local thing to do (def recommend) sunset with a picnic at Riegrovy Sady Park is where it’s at!! People gather on a big west facing hill and have beers, cigs, music, etc out till the sun goes down. (Best for Thursday)
  • REAL prague nightlife is going to be:
  • Bars:
    • USudu (wine bar upstairs, downstairs cave network)
    • Sad Man’s tongue for GREAT burgers, local feel, stiff drinks, retro feel
    • Vzorkovna- go. (Aka dogs Bar)You have to go. Cash only, underground, live music most nights, eclectic, weird, fun, slightly touristic but worth seeing.
    • bullerbyn is cute and classy without being posh. Great cocktails, great atmosphere
    • Café Bar Pilotů for some swanky vibes and to see a different side of the city.
    • U Zlatého tygra is local, fair priced, chill and easy to grab a beer between sights
    • Kasárna Karlín might have something cool going on!
    • Honestly the Hard Rock Cafe is worth checking out while you’re seeing the clock in Old Town Square. The bar inside is beautiful and it’s 4 stories decked out with memorabilia. Look for the swastikas in the banisters. Used to be occupied by the nazis!
  • If you take anything take this:
    • Marthy’s kitchen
    • Renting scooters via your phone to get around (best tram from your place to zizkov tower, hop on scooters to Riegrovy Sady to cafedu to museum, down Wenceslas square and into old town)
    • Metronome
    • Riegrovy Sady from afternoon- sundown
    • One of those Prague clubs
    • CafeDu
    • (National Museum is so worth it if there’s a sick exhibit inside, otherwise just take pictures at the top of the steps outside)
    • Střecha Lucerny (cocktail hour sunset, yes I forgot it earlier)
    • Dogsbar
    • Ponton Cafe on the river, just remembered

Notes:

  • Thank you Beth & Sebastian for all the amazing tips.

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