In Prague, all eyes might be on Staroměstské Náměstí — the city’s Disney-esque Old Town Square, whose dark Gothic spires, frescoed façades and candy-hued Baroque buildings make a dream backdrop to any photo — but it’s just a sliver of the whole picture.
Look further into the neighbourhoods that kaleidoscope out from the centre and you’ll witness the kind of dynamism and bohemian spirit that propels the country; in exciting, emergent art enclaves and dining that riffs on the traditional, dispelling any dumpling fatigue. We’ve navigated the cobbled streets and curves of the Vltava River to bring you a weekend-break itinerary to make the most of 48 hours in Prague.
FRIDAY EVENING
The Julius
The bus-metro combo that brings you into Prague from Václav Havel Airport may be easy, but hop into a waiting Uber and you’ll get a taster of the city’s style enroute, passing Jugendstil (aka Art Nouveau) and art deco villas and glimpsing the castle as you cross the Vltava. Your destination: Almanac x Alcron hotel in Nové Město (the New Town). This 100-year-old stay’s original features and updates are equally glamorous, with a cool cache of modern Czech artwork, too. The seductively low-lit bar’s cocktails are inspired by its colourful past (royal guests, exotic pets, prima ballerinas…), so drop your bags and grab an apéritif. Other notable New Town stays include tech-forward stay The Julius, which has apartment-like suites with kitchenettes; or BoHo Hotel, set in an art deco former post office.
Prague’s dining scene is devotedly nose-to-tail, so Výčep, where they butcher and smoke their own meat, is worth the 15-minute cab ride. Jars of ferments and nostalgic farm ephemera aren’t just for show: they make breads, cheeses, pickles and preserves in-house, too, and reimagine lost-to-history dishes for a new fanbase. Afterwards, at Twist listening bar (a 10-minute walk north) cool-kid DJs, impeccable styling, niche natural wines and craft cocktails all strike a chord. It’s open till 4am and its vinyl and print drops make worthy souvenirs, too.
SATURDAY MORNING
Old Town Hall tower
Grab a to-go matcha from Elias Coffee House by the hotel entrance and tick off the sights of Old Town Square (a 15-minute stroll away) early. You’ll get a clearer view of the 27-second mechanical show starring the Apostles and Death that the 15th-century Astronomical Clock puts on every hour, and early-bird tickets (from 9am to 10am) are half price for the Old Town Hall tower.
Catholic maximalism is sublime and ridiculously OTT in the Church of Our Lady Before Týn and St Nicholas Church close by. The Basilica of St James has a darker feel with its wooden carvings — and because a mummified thief’s hand hangs as a grim morality-check in the chancel. If that doesn’t kill your appetite, join the queue outside photogenic brunching spot Venue or indulge in Cubist cream puffs at architectural dreamboat Grand Café Orient, ensconced in the shapely symmetry of Josef Gočár’s 1912 House of the Black Madonna.
During the Middle Ages, Prague leant into its ‘magic city’ nickname and got really into alchemy. The elixir of youth remains at large, but the 30-minute guided tour of the chemical-lab catacombs of the Speculum Alchemiae might spark a reaction (take cash for the CZK200 entrance fee). Nearby, Vězeňská Street’s glamorous boutiques transmute gold into designer wares; and you’ll slip into the surreal — passing Jaroslav Róna’s curious Kafka statue — as you approach the Charles Bridge. Take a glimpse in the Rudolfinum Gallery before crossing. It’s said rubbing the bridge’s statue of St John of Nepomuk will bring you good fortune; but it’s unclear why, as he was unluckily thrown into the Vltava.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Malá Strana — the left-bank ‘Lesser’ Town — goes big on charm with ice-cream-hued antique houses and green stretches, such as the genteel Waldstein Garden. Prague Castle is a village in itself, with the artisan houses of Golden Lane and the tomb of St Wenceslaus — of the carol fame — in St Vitus Cathedral. But with limited time, admire it from below and swerve for the contemporary attractions of the Design Museum and the objets in its shop. Nearby, the former Herget Brickworks is now home to the Kafka Museum, worth the entry fee for die-hard fans; otherwise, it’s a chance to snigger at David Černý’s controversial Piss statue, snack on gingerbread at Perníkový Panáček bakery and sip a beer flight on Tkalcovský Dvůr’s little terrace.
From the Malostranská tram stop, ride to Čechův Most and stroll through Letná Park, glancing at the giant, functioning Metronome that replaced the world’s largest Stalin statue. If it’s sunny, stop at the park’s beer garden and viewpoint. If not, head straight to Sandwich Rodeo for super-sized, US-diner-style eats. Gritty, graffiti-splattered Prague 7 flips the city’s cursive script — here you’ll find vintage stores with motherlodes of Nineties clubwear (Kuzmarkt, Deja Vu); indie and sustainable brands (Tvorba, Freshlabels, Dark Concept, with a fortune-teller vending-machine); and graffiti stores stocking shouty vinyl (Molotow, Graffneck).
SATURDAY EVENING
Once a slaughterhouse complex, Holešovice Market’s choice cuts are now of the white-cube gallery, experimental-theatre sort. It’s a hive of happenings, which attract crowds from the surrounding art schools and foundations. Join the post-co-working crowd for Budvars in plant-strung, industrial hangout Vnitroblock, before dinner at The Eatery — all serious clean lines and stainless steel. Dishes such as curd gnocchi in aubergine purée and veal in forest-mushroom sauce are delicious, but the Insta-friendly lighting means you can make it look as good as it tastes, too. Not ready for bed? Cross Club, whose steampunk doors open to even zanier, neon-flecked interiors, parties till 7am.
SUNDAY MORNING
National Museum
Start slow, with brunch in Karlin or Žižkov. In Karlin, Eska bakery’s interiors are as beautiful as its brunch dishes and fermented pastries — bag some buchta buns, filled with plum jam or poppy-seed paste. In Žižkov, Cafefin’s buzz, stiff coffee and chilli eggs will wake you up; chase with a kolache (a cult doughy pastry with sweet or savoury fillings) from Kus Koláče.
Then tram it to the New Town (which was new when Emperor Charles IV founded it in 1348), from the Perunova stop to Štěpánská. Stroll up to Wenceslas Square, which is headed up by the National Museum’s Neo-Renaissance beast of a main building and home to a statue of its namesake saint — before you reach the square, duck into Lucerna Passage and you’ll see David Černý’s irreverent take: the saint riding a dead, upside-down horse.
Go west and find Bata department store, then head through the covered passage to its right to see the only Cubist lamppost in the world by Emil Králíček; then turn right off Jungmannovo Náměstí and you’ll see NaFilm, a hands-on intro to Czech cinema, with exhibitions on animation, the avant-garde and more. After mastering foley and your own 35mm shorts, stop for coffee at converted, 600-year-old monastery Café Truhlárna next door.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Dancing House
Do a circuit of New Town shops — Lula Vintage is tricky to find, tucked into the entrance of a close, but look out for its sign (by the McDonalds) and buzz for floor two to visit its showroom. The Room by Basmatee, with its directional menswear, and 3Some with its funky vintage fits are worth staking out, too. Your choices for a pit stop include historic beer hall U Fleků’s dark, house pivo or a coffee at riverside A(Void) Café behind its huge, lens-like window entrance.
On the way to lunch you’ll pass Dancing House — the work of Canadian and Czech architects Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić, so called for its ‘resemblance’ to Fred and Ginger. Cross Jirásek Bridge for season-led eats (kimchi cheese toasties with plum-chilli sauce; cinnamon pancakes with caramel apple) at Srnky Smíchov, which you’ll soon walk off with a hike up Petřín Hill to the Magic Cavern. Part of painter Reon Argondian’s five-decade, Continent-spanning art project, it’s a little off the winding path (you may need to ring the doorbell), but seek it out and you’re rewarded with three storeys of wildly imaginative creative expression. Fatigued aesthetes can take the gentler, flatter stroll to modern-art gallery Kampa.
SUNDAY EVENING
Fall further for the city’s historic romance on your last evening, with dinner at Café Imperial, an art nouveau masterpiece where every corner has been daintily mosaicked or panelled. Its restored, 1914 decor is truly classic, but TV-famous chef Zdeněk Pohlreich (the Czech Gordon Ramsay) has polished up the menu for modern palates. Back in the day, punters could pay to throw day-end doughnuts at fellow diners here, but the ambience is more refined now.
Then float over to Karlin, via the number 12 tram, to try tasters of Pálava and Frankovka wines for as little as CZK25 (around £1/€1) at Wine List. Here, wine-whisperer Róza will plot out a map of pours suited to your tastes. Or sip gin cocktails and Pilsner on tap in culture-hub Kasárna’s two bars: one in an art gallery, another in an abandoned swimming pool.
NEED TO KNOW
Transport On arrival at Václav Havel Airport, you have a few options. Bus 100 runs to metro stop Veleslavín (on Line A), the 59 to Zličín (on Line B), from which you can ride to the city centre. If you go by taxi, the Ubers are cheaper than regular taxis (around €25–30, one-way). For navigating the city, download the PID Lítačka app so you can buy a ticket for all tram and metro routes for up to 72 hours. Beware, you must validate your ticket, or you’ll face a fine. You can do it in-app and you only need to do it once.
When to go Prague’s Christmas markets are huge crowd-pleasers — and drawers — visit around mid-November, and you’ll get that festive feeling without the crush. Summer lets you make the most of the city’s rooftop bars and viewpoints; but, if you’re willing to gamble with the weather, crisp autumn days in Prague are the serene sweet-spot.
What to buy There are beautiful bookshops in Prague: Antikvariát Dlážděná with vintage tomes, art-and-design-led Kavka (not to be confused with the Kafka Bookshop, which has stylish jackets, too). Knihobot’s ‘blind date with a book’ is the cutest, where you gamble on a pre-wrapped novel with doodles hinting at what’s within. Choose Dlúhé Grefty’s natural wines — in shades of Alphonse Mucha-esque orange and gold — over bottles of absinthe; grab Piknik (a condensed-milk paste you suck from the tube) in a supermarket; and commemorate your time with a strip of photos from the Fotoautomat booth by U Nováků arcade.
Good to know The Czech language may seem tricky with its many accents and preference for consonants, but throw in a ‘dobrý den’ (good day), ‘prosím’ (please) and ‘děkuju’ (thank you) and it’ll be appreciated.
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