Our Favorite Tours in Prague

Picture this: we're sitting in a wine bar, the last stop of our tour, our guests are full and happy. Then, suddenly, someone asks: "So, what else should we do in Prague besides the food and sights and shops you've mentioned? Do you know any guides that could take us to some sights or perhaps let us see Prague from a unique perspective?" Well, as a matter of fact, we do. 

We always recommend a private tour or a tour in a small group to get the best experience. The free walking tours are fine if you want to get a general feel for the city and be entertained for a few hours but boy-oh-boy, those guides tend to make stuff up. (Which is quite logical: they work for tips so theatrics and showmanship are a big part of the experience. Nothing wrong with that, it's just not our cup of tea.) We think only a small group or a private guide will give you the opportunity to immerse in the local culture and understand the history. Here are our favorite ones in Prague:

Biko Adventures
Filippo, the owner and also our friend, is such a pleasure to be around - his team do several experiences from hiking to biking and running, always adjusted to abilities of their guests. We hate cliches but "Italian passion" really describes the eagerness Filippo shows in everything he does. If you want an extreme mountain bike ride outside Prague or an easier stroll inside of Prague or just simply rent a bike in Prague, Filippo is your guy. All our guests who rode bikes with him absolutely loved the experience (and bought the t-shirts, too).

I Like Ebike
Now, there should be a disclaimer here first: Jan, the owner, is our friend and we did cooperate shortly in the past. If you want to see Prague from a local perspective and save some sweat, e-bikes are great. Jan and his guides are friendly, knowledgeable locals and really care about what they do. Jan especially puts a lot of effort and heart into his business. We'd recommend the "Real Prague" route: you get to see a lot more than you would have otherwise.

Praga Caput Regni
Marketa and her team are really great if you want to visit the sights with a knowledgeable private guide. Marketa (a mom of three small kids, by the way) is really passionate about what she does (she keeps buying books about Prague and history for her guides and forces them to read them) and pampers her guests, too. They do private tours only and all their guests who joined us later just raved about them.

Prague Steps
Betty is an arts history major and it shows. If you want a private guide who will walk you through the museums in Prague, explain the architecture or visit the studio of a local artist (she wants to move her tours in that direction), you will love what Betty does. She is really nice and has a strong passion for arts in Prague and for Prague in general. She does private tours for small groups only. 

Prague Extra
Kamil and Petra are our guides to go to for our German speaking clients. Cooperating with them is a joy: they are always prepared, on time and ready, and we got nothing but great feedback on them in the past. They do tours in English, too, and they are not afraid of bigger groups, either. 

WWII Tours in Prague

If you are interested in recent history and especially the history of WWII in Prague, we think you would love this tour. The history is fascinating and the fact that the centre of Prague remained nearly untouched by the war helps to recreate the history. You don't book the tour. You just show up and the guide takes you on the tour, so the sizes of the groups may vary. That said, we have heard good things about them from our guests.

Taste of Prague
Oh, have we mentioned we do pretty cool tours, too? Our experiences, designed for small groups (we will limit the size of the group to four from May on), really aim to be a supplement to your regular guidebook. The Prague Food and Culture Tour focuses on the local life and food, the Private Moravian Wine Tours want to show you the beauty of the Moravian wine country and the wines, and we actually have another awesome experience in the pipeline, so stay tuned! :-)

No matter what experience you choose in the end, we wish you a fantastic time in Prague!   

Czech wines you should explore in Prague

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When we were scouting the locations for our new route (coming soon), we spoke to the manager of one of the best Czech restaurants in town and in the course of our nice little talk, he complained that sometimes their customers would opt for foreign wines over the Czech ones because they did not understand them. Their sommelier and the entire staff were quite saddened by that fact - they thought that Czech wines deserved the attention.

That discussion gave us the idea for this post. In an effort to get more visitors to Prague go out of their comfort zone and try some typically Czech wines, we have approached Zuzka Vesela, the manager of the “big” Vinograf wine bar at Senovazne namesti, one of our most favorite bars in the city, and asked her if she could describe some of the local wines that can be tasted in the Czech Republic and nowhere else. She was happy to help and here are some of her comments. We discussed seven grapes in total: five of them are white and two reds; five of them are purely Czech, while two come from Germany. 

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Let's start with the whites:

“Mopr” (also known as "Muškát moravský” - or “Moravian Muscat”)
Crossed from Muscat Ottonel and Prachttraube (which comes from Germany), this white grape boasts nice aroma that is not as powerful as that of a Muscato. It is often dry and aromatic and has low acidity; therefore, it is a “pleasant” wine that tends to be mineral in Bohemia due to the stony soil. It is a grape that will make mostly novices happy, but more demanding drinkers may like it, too.

Pálava
A white grape crossed from two aromatic grapes: Müller Thurgau and Gewürtztraminer. As such, it has been adapted to the Moravian soil and is rarely grown in the northern, Bohemian wine region. Heck, even the name is inspired by the Palava region in the south of Moravia. The resulting wine can be anywhere on the dry-to-sweet scale, but sweeter wines are more common, and even the drier wines tend to feel sweeter than they really are. The acidity and fruitiness are low, replaced by notes of traditional Christmas spices and rose tones. The Palava is very popular and some bottles are very good. The wine can appeal to a wide range of consumers from social drinkers to experts.

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Kerner
A crossing of Riesling and Trollinger, the motivation of this crossing was resistance, better sugars and taste. This is for those who love sweeter, uncomplicated wines: Kerner wines offer a nice floral aromas and fruitiness, almost like hard candy in a bottle. The wines are also juicy and sweet. This is a simpler grape that tends to get a simpler treatment but has been loved by some of our guests who are new to wines.

Hibernal

Hibernal is an originally German crossing of Seibel and Riesling that produces full-bodied white grapes with nice acidity and higher alcohol content. The flavors are dominated by black currant notes and fruitiness. Just like rieslings, it often produces semi-dry wines.

Solaris

The very recent result of crossing the Merzling grape and Gm 6493 (crossed by Mr Kraus in Melnik), Solaris is grown mostly in the Bohemian wine region, especially at Kutna Hora. Known for its tropical and citrus notes and good acidity. It is fairly full-bodied, tends to be drier and more fruity than a Hibernal.  

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And now for the two reds:

Neronet
This grape, crossed by Mr Kraus, a giant of Czech enology and the founder of the eponymous winery seated in Melnik, some 20 miles north of Prague, is a crossing of St Laurent, Blauer Portugieser and Alibernet (which itself is a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Henri Bouschet). It combines the characteristics of these wines: the tannins and the edginess of a Cab Sauv, and the fruitiness and juiciness of a St Laurent (which is a Pinot grape). It has nice acidity and is fruity, but is a medium-bodied grape. It is successfully grown in Prague, too (by the Salabka winery).

Cabernet Moravia
Again a typically Moravian red crossing that combines the characteristics of Cabernet Franc (spicy, heavier paprika tones) and Zweigeltrebe (fruitiness and an easy-drinking character). It produces medium-bodied wines that are known for a nice blend of spicy and fruity notes. Look for bottles from the Slovacko region (Benes or Glos wineries in particular).  

Where to have them?

That's easy. The biggest selection can be probably had at the Vinograf wine bars (they have two branches - a small, intimate one near the Charles Bridge, and a bigger one in the New Town area). If you wish to taste strictly organic wines (called "bio-dynamic" here) from the Czech Republic, definitely visit Veltlin, a fantastic and popular wine bar in the Karlin district. Finally, some fine dining restaurants in Prague may have a great selection. We know that the good people at La Degustation really take great pride in serving Czech wines, for instance. 

Things to do in Prague: independent cinemas

We always love to see a movie when we travel. It's a great way to get a break from all the walking, exploring and eating and actually enjoy a movie we haven't seen yet. It's also a great way to blend in with the locals. Many times, we are the only foreigners in the movie theatre. Cinemas are a strange mix of the familiar and the new: you are totally off the beaten track but in a familiar environment of a movie theatre, and vice versa: movie theaters are similar all around the world but with small differences: what are the seating arrangements? Are there trailers before the movie? What do people eat and drink? Do they talk during the movie?   

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We encourage you to go see a movie in Prague. Czechs absolutely love movies, or at least the ones we know. You do not need to learn Czech to enjoy a movie here: due to cost cuts, most movies are not dubbed but subtitled only (with the exception of family movies and some 3D movies), so if you understand the original audio (English, French, Spanish and so on), you just disregard the subtitles and you'll be fine. 

We also want you to visit the smaller, independent movie theaters in Prague. While you can see a Hollywood blockbuster in a huge, multiplex movie theatre, but why? They'll have the same things you are used to from home. Popcorn? Check. Soft drinks in ridiculously large cups? Yep. Bored teenage attendants? Yes sir. Instead, we suggest you visit an independent cinema here in Prague - there's more local life here than you would imagine. 

Here are our six most favorite independent cinemas in Prague: 

Svetozor cinema

If you want to see a great movie but don't want to venture out of the centre, head over to the Svetozor cinema. This cinema offers a great selection of new and older movies in two screening halls. Svetozor is also home to many film festivals so if you like a great documentary or movies from other parts of the world, this is the place to go. This is also an "English friendly" cinema (just like Bio Oko and Aero below): if the original audio is English, it will be noted in the programme.

The Svetozor also includes a really great shop called Terry's Posters (Terryho ponozky in Czech), which sells vintage Czech and Polish posters for American and other movies that were shown in the Czech Republic and Poland under Communism and after its collapse - the perfect souvenir from Prague in our mind!

When there, make sure you stop at the bar to buy a glass of Kofola, the Czech answer to the Coke. Many Czechs have very fond and warm childhood memories associated with Kofola: it is often sold on tap and served in beer glasses, so even the kids had "their own beer" to drink, just like the adults. However, no popcorn is served at Svetozor, as clearly shown in this cute advertisement: 

What to do before and after the movie? If you want to grab a quick meal before the movie, make sure you stop at Home Kitchen at the Jungmannova street nearby. One of our favorite bistros in town, Home Kitchen really does look like a home kitchen: two large tables do not sit more than a dozen people or so, but still, their great soups and breads lure people from afar. You can take something to the Franciscan rose garden at the end of the street and have it on a bench when the weather is fine. The movie theatre is just next door. After the movie, you'll want a drink (or at least we do). Walk up the Wenceslas Square and turn to Krakovsta street, the last on the right. You'll find Parlour, a small but great cocktail bar, in the middle of it. There's nothing like talking about a movie you've just seen over a nice drink. Trust us.

Bio Oko

Nestled in the same building as our rental apartment, Bio Oko is one of the few old-school cinemas with a balcony remaining in Prague (they also offer "alternative seating" - a few beach stretchers and even a car that you can sit in for that drive-in feel. It is seated in a 1930s Czech Bauhaus (functionalist) residential building and features a great bar in the entrance lobby, which can be very lively at nights. You can get some beer or our favorite Fentimans soft drinks before (or after) the movie. Bio Oko is the natural center of the district and attracts young and independent crowds. 

What to do before and after the movie? Well, for culture, you can head over to the National Gallery just around the corner. From there, you can visit Page Five, an independent bookstore and publishing house at Veverkova street, and Bistro 8, a local favorite for younger and artsy types that offers homey dishes throughout the day. After the movie, walk back to the centre through the Letna park that offers fantastic views of the city and a popular beer garden during the warmer season.

Kino Aero

The mother of all independent cinemas in Prague, Aero is the place to go for a truly serious movie lover. Again, you can have Kofola or beer at the bar and there's a fast food stand right in the courtyard of the cinema. The feeling is relaxed but the movies shows are all top quality. 

What to do before and after the movie? Definitely visit the National Memorial at the Vitkov hill before the movie for the best view of the city and a great exhibition about the recent history of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia. The park virtually leads to the area that houses the cinema. After the movie, we recommend you take tram no. 16 to the Namesti Miru stop and finish the day off with some Czech cuisine and beers at Vinohradsky Parlament, a Czech pub where Staropramen, a Prague-based brewery, really wants to replicate what Pilsner Urquell did with Lokals - a great pub with great beer and honest Czech dishes.

Evald

Evald cinema has a special place in our hearts: we went there for one of our first dates (and boy, what a memorable date it was: we chose the White Ribbon, and let us tell you - it's not a date movie. The movie theatre is very small but cosy inside with nice and comfortable seats. Very small cafe inside, so we'd suggest you bring your own drinks and food. Again, the movies shown in Evald are higher quality movies. The location is very convenient, right next to the MyTesco store at Narodni triad street.

After the movie, we would head over to RedPif for a nice dinner and some wines. If you like modern design, you will love RedPif: bare concrete and minimalist interiors with custom-made, wine-inspired window blinds and nice staff make for a great atmosphere. After that, cross the river and have a walk through the Kampa park.

Kino Mat

The smallest cinema in Prague with only 46 seats, the Mat feels more like a bigger room than a smaller movie theatre. Housed in a functionalist building from 1934, the cinema was installed in 1994 in the former nuclear bomb shelter in the basement. The building also includes a small cafe and restaurant. We don't recommend either, but the cafe will do to buy something to drink or eat inside.

What to do before and after the movie? We would start at the Vysehrad fortress, a place loved by locals and neglected by tourists, then walk down to the river, walk on the embankment to the next bridge and walk up to have some coffee at I Need Coffee, a lovely café owned by the former co-owner of Leeda fashion house. It feels like a bit of Berlin in Prague and we never miss the opportunity to go there when we are in the neighborhood. The Mat cinema is then a few minutes away by walk. After the movie, we would take the 22 or 6 tram to I.P. Pavlova and finish the day with some nice Czech dish and beers from microbreweries at the popular Nota Bene restaurant.

Kino Atlas

The victim of two floods in the past two decades, the Atlas movie theatre has always risen partly thanks to the contribution of its fans. The Atlas is located right at the border of the historical centre and the Karlin districts. Two cinemas (a large and a small one) and the cafe are housed in a listed functionalist building from 1942.

What to do before and after the movie? You should explore the Karlin district: have coffee to go at Muj salek kavy, something small to eat at Mozaika Crystal Bistro and some Czech sweets at Simply Good and walk towards the centre and the cinema. After the movie, have a great Asian-fusion dinner at the nearby Sansho restaurant, or enjoy some beers at Pivovarsky Klub.

The tickets to all these smaller art house cinemas will cost around CZK 100 (USD 5, EUR 4), but the experience will be, as they say, priceless.

Fin.

Jogging in Prague - our favorite Prague jogging routes

The temperatures outside are reaching 10C/50F and we've just read in the newspapers that the birds are returning to the Czech Republic after the winter, which means two things: (1) the spring is nearly here, and (2) it's time to kick it up a notch and catch up on some of these New Year's resolutions we have been neglecting so far. It's time to get a run. (A disclaimer here: we do run in two stages: stage 1: accessorize [buy shoes and apparel] - stage 2: run. We have mastered stage one nearly every year but we have found, through empirical research, that stage 2 is actually much harder to initiate. We don't know if your experience has been the same.)  

But the joking aside, let's be honest here: you cannot spend all your days just eating and drinking the mostly delicious food that can be found in the streets of Prague (assuming that you follow our advice). Sometimes, you have to make sure you also run off some of those calories you took in eating Czech food. And let's face it: Czech food packs lots of calories. And the calorie intake does not stop at food. The category that the Czechs love to call "calorie bombs" (which includes  virtually anything that's good) definitely includes something that accounts to a religion here: beer. Yes, in addition to panthenol and lots of B-vitamins, beer packs in an unholy amount of calories. Finally, we also must admit that Czech love big portions. When we visit the pastry shop as part of our tasting walks, our guests cannot believe they are eating the "mini" versions.

Our guests have often noted that given the type of cuisine we have here, they don't see many people who would be overweight in Prague. Two factors play role in this: first, Czechs do not eat Czech cuisine on a daily basis. There's only that many schnitzels and head cheeses you can eat in a week. We do eat lighter foods, although they may not be necessarily Czech. Second, Czech love sports (of course, there are exceptions): from the Small Football Prague Association (a 5-a-side amateur Prague soccer league that is incredibly popular among Prague men, including Jan) to skiing or trekking and inline skating, almost every Czech likes to move. As one of our friends recently said:

Everyone owns a pair of trekking boots, right?

(To which we politely nodded, too scared to confess that we actually don't.) But anyway, you get the point. Czech love sports. The two most popular sports (at least for viewing) are soccer in the summer and ice-hockey in the winter.

With the winter nearly behind us, we have decided to start jogging again, especially since Jan has, admittedly, let himself go a bit over the holidays and the winter months, indulging in way too much food recently (he blames Zuzi, of course). We think Prague is a great jogging town: parks actually make up for one fifth of its area, so you don't have to run through traffic unless you have to or want to. The cobblestones may pose a problem for those who are not used to it, but they are present only in the centre and are easy to avoid. The terrain in Prague is also very varied: flat areas or hills, asphalt or dirt, we have it all here. The convenient, safe and reliable public transport system helps, too: if you ran too far and don't want to walk back, there's always a tram stop nearby to take you there. Many of our guests say they need a run after the tour. Well, we listen. As a complimentary service to our guests, and a public service announcement to everybody else, we bring you a few jogging routes in Prague we really like. Of course, if you're an experienced runner, you may try some routes that are more local, but we are focusing on those near the centre:

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The "Riverside Run"

This route basically runs along the river. The shortest run (green) just copies the river embankment from the Zofin island to the Vysehrad castle. Please beware that the embankment below the Vysehrad castle hosts farmers' markets on Saturdays, so be careful - you may end up slowing down there, or, even worse, stop for a juicy sausage or a sweet merengue roll ("kremrole"). The middle route extends over to the other side of the river. You have to take the railway bridge under the Vysehrad castle to the other side and then negotiate some rubble on the Castle side behind the bridge, but after that it's all smooth sailing. The longest route is really recommended only in the early morning, because it takes you over the Charles Bridge. But it's a treat if you can summon the will to wake up and go for a run at about 7am at the latest. 

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The Letna park run

We absolutely adore the Letna park: beginning just a few steps from our rental apartment, the park is an oasis of green that offers some stunning views of the entire centre. If you run from the historical centre, you have to cross the Cechuv bridge and negotiate some 200 stairs first (possibly ending with a recreation of the famous Rocky scene) but from then on, all the routes offer a fairly flat profile, save for the longest one, which takes you down to the Expo 58 building past the National Technical Museum. You may meet lots of other joggers and inline skaters on the way, especially in the spring.

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The Stromovka park run

Our home turf (we live just about five minutes from one of its gates). The Stromovka park is the largest and the most popular park in Prague for jogging. We love jogging there in the morning of a sunny day: it just lights you up. The shortest route is the "classic round" - about a mile long, it circles around the inner parts of the park and attracts many joggers. The 5k run is something Jan likes to take at times: the parts around the Tesla Arena have some traffic and include cobblestoned parts, but it really is exactly 5 km - Jan vouches for it. Finally, the longest route actually crosses the river to the Troja district and heads over to the Troja chateau and the Prague ZOO under the Santa Clara vineyards. The scenery is beautiful there, and the Vltava river adds calm to the run.

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We hope you enjoy the routes that we have prepared, but if you don't like to run alone and look for a guided run, definitely contact our good friend Filippo of the awesome BIKO Adventure tours. In addition to really great bike tours, he also offers interesting jogging tours through Prague. Have fun!

Prague souvenir tips: Lemonade Joe

"Alcohol - when served in small doses - does not do harm in any quantity." - Hogo Fogo

If you are a regular visitor of our Prague blog, you may have noticed that we sometimes suggest an unorthodox souvenir from Prague. Something you may not have through of buying but something that says more about the Czechs than the Russian dolls and other tchotchke sold on the streets in the tourist centre. Something fun, something memorable. Today's suggestion is a classic Czech movie that most Czechs can quote line by line. That's also why it is included in the Czech DVD collection in our rental apartment. The movie is called "Lemonade Joe", and it's a Czech country and western comedy.

Yes, a Czech country and western movie. You see, the Czechs (just like the Germans, to some extent) have a strange, romantic fascination with the Wild Wild West. Starting from the Winnetou series by Karl May to modern-day Czech country and western music, the idea of riding a horse through the open range seems to be very, very appealing to many Czechs. Country Radio is one of the most popular radio stations in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region (which is a telling sign of the "high standards" Czech radio stations aspire to in general). And this is a fact that has not changed under the Communist Era, either, although clearly it was a bit suppressed. Still, the "tramping" movement was very popular, giving rise, in many respects, to the environmentalist "Brontosaurus" movement of the 1980s. 

Today's pick from our rental apartment's Czech DVD collection would be, in our opinion, the perfect "weird" gift that would lighten up any theme party at home wherever you may come from: the 1964 Comedy from the genius Czech comedy director, Ondrej Lipsky, "Lemonade Joe", is a true gem. You see, Mr Lipsky was spoofing western movies before it was cool and before anyone has ever heard of the Blazing Saddles.

Shot is very stark sepia colors to add the feeling of an old movie, Lemonade Joe is essentially the story of good and evil: the teatotalling Joe, as the sharpest shooter in Stetson City, persuades the regulars at the Trigger Whiskey Bar that alcohol is not the way. However, the owner of of the bar, and his evil brother, the villain Hogo Fogo, plot revenge. Add romance, heartbreak, never-ending gags and action... and have we mentioned this film is a musical? Yes, the movie has everything. Without trying to give away any spoilers, let's just say the movie ends with a Wayne's World-type of mega-super-happy-ending that even the most cynical of Hollywood producers would find tacky. Yes, this movie makes fun of everything and just does not care.

However, it does include an all-star cast from the 1960s, including sultry actresses Olinka Schroberova (former Miss Czechoslovakia who later escaped the country and married John Calley, the producer of the Superman movies) as the wife-to-be of Lemonade Joe, or Kveta Fialova, one of the most famous Czech actresses of the second half of the 20th Century, as Tornado Lou, the fallen woman and the star of the Trigger Whiskey Bar who is looking for a "champion of her heart" who would "make her better". 

What makes this movie a classic and why is it so loved by the Czechs? The film makes fun of everything: drunkards, dogmatic prohibition types, salesmen, villains, blondes, sharpshooters and femme fatales. Every cliche from your standard country and western movie is exaggerated to the point of parody. Money rules Stetson City. When Mrs Goodman realizes that Lemonade Joe is nothing but a salesperson for Kola Loka soda, she first expresses her never-ending love for Joe but then swiftly demands a cut from his proceeds (in a really cute way, though).

Then there are the songs: "Jo whiskey, to je moje gusto" (which roughly translates as "Whiskey, that's my cup of tea") is a staple song of any party of youngsters, including the high school prom (the legal age is eighteen here, you seniors can and do drink at their prom). The main villain, Hogo Fogo (which is the Czech equivalent of "Fancy Schmancy") is a great source of very funny and smart one-liners, too. But what wins every viewer's heart is the absurd but smart humor and a sense of funny carelessness. The Czechs adore this movie, and so will you. Trust us!

You can but the DVD ("Limonádovy Joe" in Czech) with English subtitles in any bigger music store. We would try Bontonland Megastore at the bottom of the Wenceslas Square or Musicland in the Palladium mall. Have fun!

Meet a local: Akari

Klára Krchová of Akari is not only my (Karolina reporting here) childhood friend, but also one of Prague's young fashion designers who makes the difference by persuading girls and women of all ages to wear skirts. "No trousers!" "Show some leg!" This is how she changes lives... for the better ;-).

Klára’s story is really A-class Hollywood material: it all started seven years ago with an innocent reaction to the bare fact that there were simply no cool skirts around. Cornered by the circumstances, Klára got to work with her grandma's sewing machine and a head full of ideas. Fast forward to today: she has her own atelier (Akarier) in the Letná district and hundreds of customers who color the streets up wearing her skirts. On top of managing, designing and modeling for Akari, Klára is also a brand new full-time mom. But guess what? It's a boy - so chances are Klára might actually make some trousers in the future, too (Naaaah... Not really! :-)) 

Where does such a cool person spend her free time and money in Prague and what are her insider tips? Well, that's what I found out for you in today's episode of our Meet a Local series. 

What are the TOP Prague fashion events no one should miss?

Design Market at the National Theatre piazzetta, which is coming up soon. The great thing about this one is that you cannot really miss it. You just bump into it while cruising the town and there's a great choice of fashion to buy. Then there’s the Fashion Market in the Holešovice market where you can find a mix of fashion, accessories and all the nice stuff. This market takes place three or even more times a year as fashion markets are gaining popularity here in Prague.

Where do you shop for clothes yourself?

Hahaha... I'm probably a bit specific here: there are actually only a few people who do something similar for a living to what I do, and so we all know each other. To be very honest, I usually tell my friends I like something from their last collection… and that's how I shop. :-) I stocked up on legginges from Young Primitive recently, after giving birth (an absolute necessity!), and my latest discovery is Piskacie tricka: crazy hooting t-shirts from Slovakia. I don't know these guys personally yet, but I'm really looking forward to meeting them, haha! I also like Mayda or Pattern, which does great clothes for men.

Where do they have the best coffee in Prague?

When I'm at work, it's definitely Pausa 412, which is only two floors above my atelier (in the fantastic Elektricke podniky Orco building full of independent artists and designers) and it's a total hidden jewel! The guys make really excellent coffee there. When I'm off, I go to café Nový svět. It is a tiny family-owned place in the Castle District, but they have a great selection of coffee and the atmosphere is just amazing. They are open only on Fridays to Sundays from 3:00 pm, so it's a bit of a challenge to actually find it open, but when you do, it's absolutely worth it!

What are your favorite places for eating out in Prague?

My favorite place for lunch is Bistro 8 in the Veverkova street. I have also had a long and friendly relationship with the U Parlamentu pub, which is very nice and local despite its location right in the centre of Prague. Recently, we have started visiting Wine & Food Market on Strakonická street, because we just love their live piano evenings on Fridays, and it is also a very "stroller-friendly" place... Sorry if that is not hipster enough for you! :-)

What is your favorite place in Prague and why?

The Břevnov district! I'm originally from the Dejvice district, but I have recently blended into Břevnov: for me, it symbolizes the perfect combination of peace and great accessibility from anywhere. I have everything at hand in there. I come out of my house with a stroller and I get all I need in a half-mile radius, which is great.

Akari

Where you can get Akari skirts:

• Akarier atelier, Elektricke podniky Orco building, Bubenská 1, Prague 7 - currently not available for shopping with Klára on maternity leave
• Dara Bags, Lidická 35, Prague 5 - TUTU collection (tulle skirts)
• Kuráž, Benediktská 7, Prague 1
• Pour Pour, Vinohradská 74, Prague 3
• Julius Fashion Shop, Ostrovní 20, Prague 1

Kastrol

Anyone who has talked to us or joined one of our tours knows that when we want to treat ourselves to some fine Czech cooking, we hop in our car and drive to the famed Na Pekarne restaurant headed by Mr Fryc, a force of nature both in the kitchen and in the restaurant. We have to confess: we absolutely love it there. The only problem? The restaurant is not in Prague but in Cakovicky, a small village about 20 km from Prague.

Sure, you can get there within an hour from the centre by Prague Public Transport but if you miss the bus from the Letnany subway stop, you are running the risk of freezing to death while waiting for the next one. A few of our guests visited the place and loved it but we will be honest: it takes an effort to get there, which will ultimately be rewarded by fantastic Czech food, but it's an effort nonetheless.

Now there is an alternative that does not require you to travel out of the town: the Kastrol restaurant. Opened in late 2013, Kastrol is a sister restaurant of Na Pekarne: the basics of the menu are nearly identical and both restaurants share some suppliers of meat. The styling is also very similar: a simple, down-to-earth Czech pub that does Czech dishes really well. There are differences, too: while Na Pekarne focuses on Czech cuisine exclusively, Kastrol is not shy to incorporate elements of foreign (and especially French) cuisines into their offerings. Most importantly, Kastrol is located in Prague, although only the bravest real estate agents with the most chutzpah would have the courage to call its location "central": Kastrol is located on the very outskirts of Prague but is still accessible by public transport.

We have visited Kastrol twice recently: first with our friends of Scuk, a group of foodies behind the popular website that tracks good food around the Czech Republic and abroad, and later alone for lunch.

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We must confess that the first visit was a bit special: the chef knew we were coming as a group of foodies and he may have wanted to show off the restaurant's strong points. That's why we got a set menu that consisted of several tasting courses not available to the regular guest in this form. Winter is the season of meat here, so the courses really reflected that: the starters included steak tartare, head cheese and two pates. The next course was pan-seared zander with ratatouille and potato mash, followed by absolutely fantastic spare ribs with coleslaw and sourdough bread and butter with herbs. We were stuffed by the third course but we were not done yet. The next two courses were game meats: wild boar with gingerbread sauce and grilled dear. We finished with a plate of desserts and a classic that we absolutely love at Na Pekarne: potato dough ravioli stuffed with plum jam and covered with butter, sugar, nuts and gingerbread. The version at Kastrol finishes it off with whipped cream.

Yes, it was a special event and the restaurant wanted to showcase what they do best but we think it was representative of what the kitchen wants to do: honest flavors in honest dishes done well. It is rare to find a Czech restaurant that just sticks to a simple concept of honest Czech cuisine without doing things that make little sense just to please everyone. We got the impression from our first visit that Kastrol is one of these rare finds. 

The second visit was for late lunch. The restaurant was nearly empty at that time but started to fill up as we were leaving. We ordered their table wines and were disappointed: the Pinot Gris was nothing special and the rose was way too sweet for us. That's a shame because we were offered a wine pairing with the set menu when we visited with Scuk and we know the staff is quite knowledgeable about wines. Still, beer is probably a safe bet in a Czech restaurant: Kastrol changes the brewery on a monthly basis based on their guests' online votes.

For starters, we ordered potato soup with mushrooms and pate with boar cracklings. We liked both: the soup was rich and fragrant and nicely displayed the flavors of all the ingredients. The boar pate reminded us both of our childhoods spent in the countryside: a very rich and satisfying taste of the meat went well with the sourdough bread served.

For the mains, we ordered the beef shank slow-cooked in red wine and served with potato mash and steamed vegetables, and grilled suckling pig with mashed potatoes and cabbage. The shank was tender and the sauce had a rich flavor, a bit on the sweet side. The pork was perfectly done and paired well with the sides. It reminded us of a dish we recently had at Bellevue, one of the most popular restaurants in town, but the Kastrol dish was actually better: where the Bellevue dish was a bit bland, the Kastrol version packed more flavor and the meat was better prepared with more moisture. We had to finish our lunch with the plum jam ravioli because not having those for dessert would be against Jan's religion. The final bill? You will be surprised by how reasonable (read cheap) the prices are when considering the quality. The whole lunch set us back about EUR 20. 

We definitely recommend Kastrol if you want to sample some really solid Czech cuisine and see how the locals eat their lunch or dinner. It is a bit of a ride from the centre but we think it would be a great "local experience": you will see where the people in Prague really live (hint: it's not the tourist centre) and what they love to eat. They plan to have outdoor seating for the summer months (with a grill and a smoker) in their lovely courtyard, but it can be the experience of your trip even if you visit in the winter.

Kastrol restaurant

Phone: +420 607 048 992

Address: Ohradské náměstí 1625/2

Opening time: daily from 11am to 10pm.

Getting there: Public transport is the best option. See below for directions (provided by Google):

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Meet a Local: Adam and Vojta of EMA Espresso Bar

We've said it many times and we will say it again. We really like EMA Espresso Bar and we knew we would like it from the day it opened in June 2013. In its heart, EMA is an espresso bar: a place to get delicious coffee to go or to stay. But it's more than just that. In addition to the coffee - and they do both espresso-based drinks and drips using coffee from at least two roasters every week - EMA offers great Czech baked sweets (like various kolachees or sweet yeast buns with curd cheese that Jan tends to order more than he should), one or two salads and sandwiches, lemonades made in house or sodas by Fritz Cola, and even some wines supplied by Veltlin. EMA also added a daily soup to their menu a few weeks ago, and has began serving community table-based breakfasts on Saturdays.

What really makes it our favorite spot to grab a cup of coffee despite the sad lack of wi-fi (otherwise a standard in Prague cafés)? Is it the airy interiors with lots of natural light? The decor that is at once modern and reminiscent of the 1930s Czech functionalist architecture? Or the delicious coffee we order there on a daily basis? 

No, our favorite thing about EMA Espresso Bar is the friendly atmosphere, partly created by the team of their skilled baristas. In today's edition of the "Meet a Local" series, we bring you the views of the two baristas we chat with the most every time we get to the bar: Adam, who is also the manager, and Vojta, who creates fantastic latte-art on our cappuccinos and flat whites.

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How would you describe Prague style? 

Adam: A nice coffee scene has been developing in Prague recently. If you know where to go, Prague has many really nice cafés you can visit, each of them unique in terms of design, each of them with their style of coffee and each of them diminutive in size, so they have to make quite an effort to survive :-) In my book, these include I Need Cofee, Pražírna, Můj šálek kávy, Café Jen, Ema, Cafe Lounge, Mezi zrnky, Monolok, Bistro 8 etc. Awareness about coffee has been on the rise among both baristas and guests, which is probably the best scenario.

Vojta: Answers.. usually will bring more questions. I think it is quite difficult to define "Prague style". It depends on daylight, season, time and place, where you are. Because people in Prague, especially in winter, wear lots of black and grey... and the grayness is everywhere. But its going to get better:o).

Where do you go in Prague to be inspired?

A: For me that would be cafés. I like places where you can sit down by yourself and relax, have your own private space but be in the centre of the action. For me, such a place is the bench in front of the Vescovi Café in the Újezd area under the Petřín hill.

V: When I need inspiration, I usually walk through the city and near the river.. or I just sit in some pub alone, but not alone: having many people around is the right atmosphere for me. 

Three favorite places in Prague?

A: I generally like places with some trees and greenery. That's why i like parks, the Vyšehrad fortress which has remained a place that only a few tourists know about, and the Lesser Town for its narrow streets and the aura of ages long past.

V: Three favorite places in Prague are: (1) the Charles Bridge at 4 or 5 am in the summer when the sun rises; (2) crossing the Bridge of Legions in the Ujezd direction drunk at night during a drizzle; (3) and actually about 50% of Prague – that's my last favorite place.. You cannot really tell a favorite place. Each of them is nice at a different time and in different weather.

Describe your perfect Saturday? 

A: My ideal Saturday would start at about 10am-ish. I would visit the farmers' markets at the Jiřího z Poděbrad square. I would follow with a late breakfast at Café Jen, a walk to the Vyšehrad fortress, a book or some drawing, wine and the observatory:)

V: My perfect Saturday starts when I wake up about 11am, then have a brunch somewhere and then...? No-one knows. It's still too early :D

What’s your secret shopping address?

A: The farmers' markets at the Jiřího z Poděbrad square.

V: When I tell you my secret shopping address, it will not be a secret anymore! But it's at the same address as my favorite clothing brands: Carhartt, iriedaily etc.

The best place for romantic/weekend/with friends dinner?

A: Rest, ideally in their outdoor seating area in the summer.

V: For a really nice dinner, I head over to an awesome place called "Rest – sním či jím" (meaning "Am I dreaming or eating?")

Where do you like to grab a drink?

A:. Hoffa bar, Vinograf, Wine and Cognac ("U stare study" near the Malostranské náměstí square in the Lesser Town)

V: If you would like to grab a drink, definitely visit the Hemingway Bar, one of the best cocktail bars in Prague. Or Hoffa, a bit noisy but new, clean and friendly.

Where do you go to relax? 

A: The surroundings of the Karlštejn castle or the small garden in the courtyard of Coffeesource.

V: Best relax? Doesn't matter if it's in Prague or anywhere else.. it will be in my bed.. anytime, anywhere.

You swear they have the best breakfasts at…

A: Café Jen, Cafe Lounge.

V: The best breakfast? There's more options. Try Cafe Lounge or Bella Vida. Or visit the farmers' market, buy some food and go and sit somewhere in one of the bigger parks in Prague, for example Petřín, Ladronka, Stromovka or Riegrovy sady. Of course, that only applies in the summer:D

Top three things that every traveler to Prague should do/see?

A: Have a cup of coffee at EMA, the farmers' markets and the flea market on the river embankment and then renting a paddle boat on the Vltava river.

V: Top three things in Prague... Hmm... Prague Castle and the view, that's just amazing. The Letná park and the view from the Metronome where Stalin's statue used to be. And, finally, EMA and the baristas there :D (Or the sunrise viewed from the Charles Bridge I mentioned already. That's REALLY AMAZING!)

Three tips for Prague with kids...

Some of our guests arrive in Prague with kids. We love kids, pay special attention to them on the tour, and (without bragging too much) we think that kids love us back, at least on the tour…  We always try to provide traveling families with tips that might help them enjoy Prague as a family. Some parents then to avoid the major sights and take the family "out of the beaten path" (gosh, we love that cliche) but that's not a bad thing: we actually think that’s where kids can interact with local kids. (No, there’s not going to be too many local kids playing at the Charles Bridge.) To help parents navigate their way through Prague, we have designed three itineraries that we think your kids (and you, of course) will like. 

Now we should first and foremost issue a disclaimer here: we do not have kids ourselves. However, we grew up in Prague, and still can remember the places and the things we did and loved growing up, and we have many friends with kids who can help us out. We created three full-day itineraries that the whole family could enjoy. You can combine them or do them in parts - it’s all up to you. That said, we don't think you necessarily have to have kids to enjoy these walks. There's lots of culture and fun stuff and food along the way, anyway! We do describe things we like ourselves, so if you are like us, you may like them too.

Itinerary 1: “Everybody loves chocolate, pizza and mirror mazes!”

Everybody loves a cup of hot chocolate, right? If you can subscribe to that notion, start your day at Choco Café. Their hot chocolate is phenomenal and a single cup contains about a whole bar of chocolate. If you want to go local, buy the "Horicke trubicky” rolls (a thin wafer rolled into a large canoli-style pastry and filled with whipped cream) and dip them in the hot chocolate. You can definitely skip lunch if you have this chocolate after breakfast because it is very, very rich. On the other hand, please avoid if your kids tend to go out of control after a substantial sugar intake.

From Choco Café, walk to the river bank, and turn left to the National Theatre. Cross the bridge and stop half way on the Strelecky ostrov island. Kids might enjoy the obstacle course that has been recently developed there. Continue further to the Ujezd area and take the funicular to the very top. It’s a great ride with really nice views of the city. When you’re at the top, you absolutely MUST visit a venue that no Sunday walk with the kids could do without when we were kids: the mirror maze and the mirror hall with the funny (distorting) concave and convex mirrors. We loved them, and we think your kids will, too. 

After the climb to the top of the Petřín lookout tower (a small copy of the Eiffel tower), head over to the Prague Castle via the Strahov Monastery. We actually prefer the walk itself over the Castle itself (but then again, we've seen it already). The walk on the slope to the monastery offers great views of the city and space to run around. Do not make the mistake of taking the shortest route possible from the Monastery down to the Castle. Instead, turn left at the Loretta and walk down to the New World, an absolutely empty but fantastically picturesque area that avoids the crowds, and walk on into the Deer Moat, a beautiful park in the steep valley below the castle. (Deer Moat is usually closed during winters.) Beautiful gothic church or monumental courtyards full of history? Whatever! Your kids may love the Museum of Toys the best out of the entire castle.

We reckon this whole trip tool a few hours, and by the time you’ve visited the castle, you’ll be starving. There is an easy - and very popular - fix for that. Walk down to the Malostranske namesti square (about 10 minutes from the castle), hop on the tram (line no. 5) and go to Pizza Nuova for dinner. Who does not like pizza, right? And you’ll be eating well: the pizza there, praised by the famous Heston Blumenthal himself, is delicious, and the pasta dishes do not lag behind in quality. The restaurant is quite family oriented and kids love to run around the place, chased down by parents and members of staff.

Now, we have another tip after the kids have fallen asleep or passed on to the babysitter. Hemingway Bar. You know that after a day like this, you’ll be in dire need of a drink. And when you’re at it, you should do it well: Hemingay Bar is a local favorite and the place to go to for delicious drinks. Try one of their Becherovka drinks to taste a bit of the local poison!

Itinerary 2: "Walking with Animals”

This walk is more suitable for lovely and sunny days because there is some walking involved, mostly through the beautiful Stromovka park, our “home turf”, if you will (we live just behind the corner). One of the biggest parks in Prague, the Stromovka is a magnet for young families, joggers, dog walkers and even cross-country skiers when the snowfall allows it. Kids are welcome: the park incorporates several playgrounds and offers many activities for kids.

We start the walk at the Holesovice Exhibition Grounds. Built in 1891 for the Centennial State Fair (which also saw the development of the Petrin tower and the funicular to the Petrin hill, among other things), the Exhibition Grounds occupy a special place for all the kids (and adults) in Prague as the venue for the St Matthew’s fair, the annual fair with rides and shooting ranges and hot dogs and balloons and cotton candy etc. that takes place in March and April. Beyond this popular (read "crowded") event, the grounds today seem a bit derelict, especially when compared to their counterparts in Vienna or elsewhere. Still, the grounds accommodate the first stop on our walk: the Sea World ("Morsky Svet" in Czech). The Sea World is basically a series of smaller or larger aquariums showing the Czechs (who sadly live in a landlocked country) what fish and animals can be found under the sea. The Sea World organizes recurring daily events like the “shark feeding” and many others.

Walk into the Stromovka park past the Planetarium observatory and follow on to reach Vozovna, the old-tram-depot-station-turned-restaurant for a small snack. The food or coffee are nothing to write home about and not worth a special trip, but it is great as a stop on your way, and especially if the weather is nice, the visit can turn into a really pleasant experience. Did we mention there is a playground right next to it?

From there, walk past the “big circle”, avoiding joggers and in-line skaters, through the railway underpass and across the first bridge onto the Cisarsky ostrov island. If your kids love horses, they are going to love this place. The Cisarsky ostrov island is home to the Prague stables and features proper competition grounds for parkour competitions (not the hipster urban parkour but the real one, with horses). 

After that, you cross the pedestrian bridge and turn left, waling along the river banks. After a minute, you will reach the gate to the Troja Chateau and their beautiful English garden. When you’re finished walking around the chateau, just cross the street from the side entry to reach the gate into the Prague ZOO, one of the top ten ZOOs in the World according to many surveys. In addition to the animals, the ZOO offers a kiddie train ride, a cable car (yes, the ZOO is set in a mountainy landscape), lots of playgrounds, a mountain walk with an unusual view of the city, and so on. You really don’t have to be a kid to enjoy the ZOO. Well, at least we love it. If you don’t like crowds, though, avoid the ZOO over sunny weekends.

The area offers something for the parents, too: in addition to the Troja Chateau with the beautiful English garden, you can enjoy the Botanic Garden, and the St Clara and Salabka vineyards that offer tastings of their wines. During the high season, you can get back to the centre by taking a steamboat. The ride back to the Jewish Quarter is nice and takes less than an hour.

Itinerary 3: “Sunday with something for everybody”

The third walk avoids the centre completely, and is a great local activity for an afternoon. Just like the previous walk, this one also takes place mostly within the district of Prague 7.  

You will start at the Main Market in the Holesovice district with some food. Now, if it’s Sunday, you must visit the Sunday Family Brunch at SaSaZu. The Asian fusion restaurant, and the holder of the Bib Gourmand award, provides an army of nannies, lots of X-Box consoles and other games for kids, while the parents can enjoy a fantastic meal, get a quick massage and moms can get their nails done by the nail artist provided. In addition, kids prepare crepes for their parents in the kitchen with the chefs. It’s a very lively event with lots of expats visiting, so your kids can play with other kids and understand them, too. If you are not doing the walk on Sunday, we recommend instead visiting Hall 22 where local farmers sell their produce. It can be an educational event. 

From there, walk to the Dox Centre for Contemporary Arts along the Osadni street (possibly buying nice cupcakes at Patissier at Osadni 5). The Dox centre, in addition to their exhibitions and an excellent design shop, organizes art classes for children and a toolkit for kids to turn their museum visit into a treasure hunt-like game. We think you can spend hours there. They also have a cafe inside if you’re thirsty.

After the visit, take the tram from the Ortenovo namesti stop to the Letenske namesti stop. This is the part where itinerary 2 and 3 overlap: if you get off at the second stop (Vystaviste), you can visit the Exhibition Grounds, the Sea World and continue on to the ZOO (see above) from here, if you wish. But you can continue on, up to the Letna district. When you get off the tram, you can ether walk back on the main street for a minute and have great cakes at the Erhart Café, a great 1930s-style patisserie, or turn right and walk to the National Technical Museum, stopping at Dum kavy in the Jireckova street if you crave good coffee along the way. 

Nestled in the Letna park above the city, the National Technical Museum has been one of the most popular places for kids for nearly a century. A great exhibition (with texts in both Czech and English) of old and new cars, aeroplanes, trains, with installations about household products, astrology, photography, household products, TV broadcasting technology and so on. Fun for hours. Don’t forget to visit the small petting zoo behind the National Agricultural Museum next door!

From there, definitely visit the Letna park. Did we mention it has a huge, fenced playground? I guess we didn’t. The park is one of the most popular parks in Prague that offers stunning views of the city and great connectivity to the centre. We would recommend you walk the whole length of the park, finishing at Hradcanska subway stop. 

Once you reach the stop, you can opt for any of the three suggestions we have for a great finish to a great afternoon. First, you can walk to the Prague Castle through the Royal Gardens, which is about ten minutes by walk from there. Second, you can take a tram for two stops to the Vozovna Stresovice stop and visit the Museum of Public Transit, a place we loved when we were kids: a museum devoted entirely to old trams, buses and subways. Third, you can walk for about five minutes and finish the day in a creative way at Vypalene kotatko, a cafe devoted to DYI decoration of porcelain products. Basically, you can buy any product they offer (cups, pottery, hair brushes etc.), use their brushes and paints, decorate the products in any way you desire, and let the staff complete the glazing and baking process of the porcelain with your decoration. We know you may not have the time to pick the products up a week later or so (which is the standard time for that), but we think they might be talked into shipping the finished products to your place. Well. you can at least try, right?

No matter where you end up, we wish you a great time! If you follow any of our suggestions, please share your experience in the comments below! 

Crashing a high school prom in Prague

Jan's prom photo, 1996 (Jan's on the very left. The photo is a clear proof that some things get better with age.)

We think it is clear by now that we absolutely love immersing ourselves into new cultures when we travel, and we want our guests (and everybody else, for that matter) to do the same while they are in Prague. Today, we want you to experience coming of age as it's done here in the Czech Republic. We want you to visit a high school prom at the famous Lucerna dance hall dating back to 1907 because the "ball season" starts today and lasts until March.

"Visit a high school prom? You can't crash a prom just like that, right?" we hear you ask. Yes, you can in Prague. Czech high schools sell tickets to their proms and you can walk in even if you don't know anyone, or speak the language. The tickets are reasonably priced, ranging from about CZK 200 (EUR 7.5 in Jan 2014) to CZK 300 (EUR 11) for a ticket with a table. You can see the program of the ball season in the Lucerna hall here (in Czech only).

But why should you visit a high school prom? There are so many reasons we don't know where to begin. We think it could be the experience of your trip if things go well. As a foreign exchange student in Houston, Texas for a year in the mid 90s, Jan has been fortunate enough to experience two proms in two different cultures. And boy, are there differences! 

Firstly, you don't pick a date for the prom. We get awkwardness and embarrassment from an entirely different source: in the Czech Republic, you go to your prom... with your parents. The students dance with their parents and their teachers but as the night progresses, the adults start to leave and the kids finish with a party. Ballroom dancing is a big part of the prom anyway: virtually all high school students in the Czech Republic take classes in ballroom dancing (which is seen as a part of general education here) so they showcase the skills learnt to their parents during the prom. 

The other stark difference is the presence of alcohol and tobacco. As a senior at high school, you can legally both drink and smoke (the legal age for that is 18). And boy, people do enjoy both plentifully. (We must note that the Lucerna is famous for its entirely ineffective ventilation and A/C system, too. If you absolutely can't stand smoking, you should probably avoid this one, although you can find spots that will be smoking-free, and the dance floor is smoking-free, too.) 

Finally, the Lucerna dance hall is a fantastic place that is closed to public unless you visit a concert or a prom. It surely shows its age but it is a fantastic place for a prom: with a vast dance floor, three stories of balconies, several bars and lots of hidden stairways and corners, you can be both in the spotlight and hidden away, depending on your mood. The dance hall is soaked with history: many great from Louis Armstrong, Jacques Brel or Ray Charles to the Grateful Dead or Marilyn Manson have performed here.

So what are you to expect? We've found a nice amateur video that, the kitsch and quality (and the horrible misuse of an Adele song) aside, walks you through the itinerary of a Czech prom quite nicely. First, the dance show: the more talented students (those who took the advanced ballroom dancing classes) do a small performance for the audience. Then the seniors get on the floor, there might be a speech and lots of photos taken. After that (at about 7:50 mark) the individual classrooms collect money for the booze for the party later. Who's throwing the money? The parents and the grandparents, of course. Finally, lots of ballroom dancing and, ultimately, a party.

What you should expect, food-wise? Not much, really. Chlebicky, the Czech open-faced sandwiches, are likely to be sold on the spot, perhaps with other small foods. This is not a fine-dining event. Alcohol will be aplenty: lots of beer, harder liquors and wine (although don't expect a sommelier explaining the terroir or the kind of berries you should be getting in the bouquet). The prom is really about "having a ball" in all the possible meanings of the expression. The atmosphere is very cheerful and often emotional. You are parting with your childhood and becoming an adult. 

One final note and tip: Don't try to get in wearing jeans and sneakers. You will not get in, even with a ticket in your hand - there is a dress code. If you do not have a suit or a dress, we recommend whatever formal you have for the bottom part of your attire and cover the rest with your coat and scarf. Tickets can be bought at the booth in the Lucerna palace directly or in any of the Ticketpro points of sale beforehand (for some proms only).

Have fun! If you decide to go, share your experience in the comments below (incl. photos, if possible).