Prague bars

Bars open from 10am until 11pm but pub gardens close at 10pm. You are served at your table. Always use a beer mat and pay the bill when you have finished. A beer mat on top of your glass shows you've had enough.

Famous bars include the 500-year old U Fleku, a true European beer hall. U Fleku has served generations - Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have visited. There's live accordion music daily.

U Cerneho, or the Black Ox, is small beer hall serving Kozel beer, but not food. U Medvedku, which translates as The Bears, has excellent Budvar beer. Potrefena Husa, meaning The Wounded Goose serves Staropramen and good food.

Prague cafes

The famous Grand Café Slavia oozes central European atmosphere. It's across the road from the National Theatre and opened in 1881, as did the theatre. The cafe has been restored to its 1930s Art Deco look. Fabulous pastries and coffee.

The Café Louvre is an elegant and large Art Nouveau cafe on Národní. It dates to 1902 and has attracted the like of Kafka and Einstein. It reopened in 1992.

The Kavárna Obecní is one of Prague's most beautiful Art Nouveau style cafes with mirrors, crystal chandeliers and nightly piano music.

The Café Milena is on the first floor in the Old Town Square with views of the Astronomical Clock.

Prague sex clubs

Prague stag weekends have become increasingly popular in recent years. Prague is peppered with strip and lap dancing clubs, brothels and massage parlours. It's one of the reasons - the other is cheap beer - why Prague is popular on the stag party circuit.

Beer is another of the Prague's big attractions – the Czech region is where pils-style lager originated. Meals and drinks are reasonably priced and good quality.

Czech Restaurants

Best value is found in pubs where a traditional Czech dish can be washed down with beer.

Prague restaurants

In Prague, most restaurant menus are in English and German as well as Czech. Prague is packed with pizza and fast food joints but it would be a pity not to indulge in local cuisine. Eateries in Prague range from pricey international restaurants to cheap cafes.

U Fleku is well-known and found at Kremencova 11. Popular dishes include roast duck, sauerkraut and dumplings; smoked pork neck with red cabbage and dumplings and the U Fleku speciality - roast duck, pork fillet and sausage.

Pravda is highly rated but expensive. Cajun crawfish and marinated salmon in mustard sauce are typical dishes. It's at Parizska 17 in the Old Town.

HOT restaurant is on Wenceslas Square. It's a stylish, modern place with fine international food, especially steaks, pasta and risotto, plus local dishes like roast duck and goulash. The decor is a bold mix of red and white.

Triton is near Wenceslas Square and is Prague's première Art Nouveau restaurant. Dating from 1912, the interior resembles a stalactite cave and is ideal for a romantic meal.

Flambée restaurant at Husova 5, in the Old Town, has live piano every night. In a Gothic candle-lit cellar, Flambée is an intimate, romantic restaurant.

La Degustation serves fantastic local dishes with a modern twist. The seven-course tasting menu is top quality with dishes like Prague ham with autumn apple foam.i The sauces may be rich but the dishes focus on intense flavors in well presented portions. It's at Hastalska 18, Prague, 11000

King Solomon is a kosher restaurant in the Jewish quarter with favourites like gefilte fish, chicken soup and carp with prunes and potatoes. It's at Siroka 8 in Prague Old Town.

 

Prague nightlife

Prague is a wonderful city for classical music with the likes of Dvorak, Smetana, Janacek, Mahler and Martinu closely associated with city. Mozart often performed in Prague and few cities have a stronger musical tradition.

You can hear live music in churches and halls throughout the city centre but major venues are the Dvorak Hall in Rudolfinum; the Smetana Hall in the Municipal House and the Prague State Opera House.

Prague Information Service - at Staromestske namesti 1 and Na Prikope 20 - has an excellent 'What's On' service for a city break stay. Cedok, the state-run tourist office, also provides useful information. The Prague Post newspaper (in English) also has guides to events and latest news.

Prague opera

Opera is a real bargain in Prague. Seats sell at prices rarely seen in western Europe for top quality performances in the beautiful Prague State Opera House. It was built in 1888 and many stars have performed there, including Mahler, Strauss and Enrico Caruso. It's located between the National Museum and the main railway station.

The Prague State Opera hosts a wide programme of Italian, French and Czech operas and there are top-flight performances at the Prague National Theatre. The Prague Estates Theatre, near Wenceslas Square, is the third main opera venue. It hosted the world premier of Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Prague's Opera Gala is held in the Emmy Destinn Hall of Kaiserstein Palace across the Charles Bridge at Malostranské náměstí 23/37.

Prague classical music

The Rudolfinum is home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and was finished in 1884. The Dvorák Concert Hall is the largest in the building and one of the two largest in Prague - the other being the Smetana.

The Municipal House includes the Smetana Concert Hall, a wonderful Art Nouveau building. It hold exhibitions, has a first-class restaurant and is home to the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

Klementinum in the Old Town also has concerts. Founded in 1232, the Klementinum is an architectural gem with concerts held in the Mirror Chapel, where Mozart once played the organ. Tours are available before the concerts.

St. George's Basilica in Prague Castle was founded by Prince Vratislav in 915-921 and is the best preserved Romanesque church in Prague. Hardly surprisingly, it's also the oldest church in Prague Castle and is a fine concert hall, with early evening performances of Mozart and Beethoven.

Other concert locations include St Vitus's Cathedral; St. Nicholas' Church on the Old Town Square; the Bertramka Mozart Museum with summer concerts; St Jilji church and the Bethlehem Chapel on Bethlehem Square, both in the Old Town.

Prague nightclubs

There's a wide range of clubs to suit most tastes. Lucerna is a music bar on Wencelsas Square that hosts big names in jazz while its 1980s nights are huge dance events. At the other extreme, U Maleho Glena at Karmelitska 23 is possibly the smallest jazz venue in Prague.

Rock Cafe hosts tribute bands - it's at Narodni 20. Radost is a chic disco that's open until 5am. Featuring hip-hop, funk and disco, it's in the New Town at Belehradska 120. If you fancy dancing the night away in an old bath-house, the pools at Karlovy Iazne now serve as the dance floors - they have been drained!

 

To go further

praguepost.com... - The Prague Post

ticketpro.cz - Ticketpro: music, theatre, sport, etc. in the Czech Republic