It was a nice season when we think about it. We've served lots of great, delicious (and mostly pretty fattening) food, changed the route of our existing tour quite a bit, added another tour to the portfolio, drank lots of wine with our beloved guests in the Moravian wine country, and - most importantly - met lots of great people we will never forget (yes, we are talking about YOU!).
Prague foodie events coming to you this fall
We love food festivals. Heck, we spent two hours stuck on the highway just to get to the Brno Street Food Festival a few days ago. It’s a great opportunity to taste many dishes and foods in one place, meet the people behind the food you love and foodies like yourself to chat, share some tips and exchange notes. For foreign visitors, food festivals are also a great place to blend in with the locals and really get as much flavors from their stay in Prague as possible.
Prague off the beaten path: Vrsovice district
Prague is so much more than just the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle and the Old Town. We want you to see more of Prague so that you can bring home a much truer image of what Prague is and how people live here. Today’s Prague escape will take us to the Vrsovice district. Vrsovice always played second fiddle to the upscale Vinohrady district. But with the reputation of the Krymska street and the surrounding areas rising, it has recently become a hip place to be, boasting a communal spirit, restaurant days and many street events. And for a few hours’ trip outside of the tourist centre, Vrsovice with its parks and views is hard to beat. Here’s our Vrsovice itinerary:
What to do in Prague - Perfect Saturday Morning
Ahhh, we love Saturdays! Especially when the weather is nice and we did not stay up late the night before, Saturday morning is definitely one of our most favorite times of the week. We will reveal the secret of a great Prague Saturday morning: a visit to the farmers' market at the river embankment under the Vysehrad fortress! It's a great way to blend in with the locals, taste some great food and enjoy sights and places that only the locals (and now you) know about.
Prague off the beaten path: Novy svet
Let’s face the facts: Prague as a popular destination gets very, very busy during the summer season. We like to avoid the crowds when we travel, too, and that is why we give some Prague tips to the guests visiting our food tours.
For instance, we recommend that you visit the main sights early in the morning or late in the evening, and for the rest of the day visit the more residential, local parts of the town. We have already written about the Charles Bridge early in the morning earlier, or about Prague views that can be enjoyed outside of the main tourist routes.
But still, sometimes you may find yourself in a busy area and are in need of a quick escape. Where to go? What to see? We understand that you still want to see something meaningful but without all the crowds. That is why we will, from time to time, write about some Prague escapes: gems that are still in the historical centre but off the beaten track. The first of our escapes - and our secret Prague tip if you are in the Castle area - is Novy Svet.
NOVY SVET
Novy svet (which loosely translates as “The New World”) is a fantastic, picturesque part of the Castle district that is severely neglected by virtually all the tourists but secretly loved by all the locals. Dating back to the 14th Century, it is a small area consisting of just a few streets that have retained the atmosphere of a small village. If you want quiet far from the madding crowds (actually, it’s just two streets away from the main route between the Castle and the Strahov Monastery), this is where you’ll find it.
On top of that, the area now boasts a wonderful cafe that bears the name of the area: Novy svet. It’s a tiny room and a few chairs outside. Nestled in an area associated with tourism, you would expect inferior products and premium on everything. You would be wrong: they take coffee from Doubleshot, high-quality Prague-based roasters, and use an E61 Faema machine. They also serve good ice-cream by 2AD and a few cakes and snacks. The venue sits about 20 maximum but includes probably the most beautiful place in Prague to enjoy a cup of coffee: their small balcony with two chairs and a table overlooks a dense, forgotten garden.
The smartest Prague food tours. Cool rental apartment. Awesome pocket wifi device. We’ll turn your Prague trip up to eleven.
Book a tour Get the guide Rent the apartment Rent the pocket wifiIf you want to go back to the centre but wish to avoid the castle and the associated crowds altogether, we recommend you walk through the Deer Moat, a steep, lush valley underneath the castle. The beautiful walk includes the famous tunnel that allows the Brusnice stream to flow along the length of the valley. The route will eventually lead you into the Lesser Town, namely the Klarov area near the Malostranska subway stop.
Prague travel tip resources
Whenever we travel, we like to do quite a bit of research. Well, actually, Zuzi does all the research. Jan just tags along. At least that’s what Zuzi says. Anyway, research is good because it saves you time when you arrive to your destination. You do not have to rely on free maps full of advertisements, on "sincere" recommendations by your receptionists (we still remember our disastrous dinner in Bologna, Italy, based on our lovely receptionist's advice) or on the first source of information you find online just because they are good with search engine optimization.
Where do we look for information when we travel? Good question! You may have noticed already we like to do what the locals do. So instead of the online guides and review websites where all the reviews come from foreign visitors, we like to tap into the local social media. See what the locals have to say. This strategy has always guaranteed good results and while we may not have been always satisfied with the cafe or bistro we ultimately visited, we always knew it was truly local and authentic.
Because we want you to travel well, enjoy Prague as locals and avoid all the tourist traps here in Prague, we give you a small list of sources you should follow when you do your research for Prague. We have divided these sources into categories based on the channels. Handy, right? :-) Of course, there are many more feeds that you can visit, and you are likely to find many more once you delve into it (hint: just follow the "likes"), but these are the ones we would recommend as your starting points.
So without further ado, these are the sources you should follow:
Websites and blogs
Artel Style Blog: The blog of Artel Style, whose owner and chief designer Karen was interviewed on our blog recently, focuses on the quirky cultural tidbits and oddities you can find in Prague. A great and entertaining read with some funny insight into the soul of the Czechs.
Expats.cz: A large website by and for expats living in the Czech Republic. The quality varies with the author of the articles and we would take some of their food advice with a grain of salt (you should especially take the results of their surveys, e.g. the "best pizza" and so on, for what they are, and nothing more), but Expats.cz is still a great resource for all things Prague.
Scuk: For food related questions, this website is an absolute must. The child of pan Cuketka and his girlfriend Misa (see below) is an online community of foodies that review restaurants, cafes, bars and food shops in Prague. All the reviews are overseen and approved by the community when published and not shown if found iffy. The website is in Czech but Google Translate should help.
Czech Please: One of the first Prague food blogs written by Brewsta, an anonymous American foodie living in Prague. His annual Prague burger rankings are very popular and… dare we say… prestigious. We passionately disagree with his view of Cestr, for instance, but nobody’s perfect, right? :-) He seems to have had less time for his blog lately but he is still active on social networks.
Beer Philosopher: An Argentinian with an excellent command of English, the Beer Philosopher has been reviewing beers and pubs in the Czech Republic for years. A fantastic resource of in-depth information about beer if you are into that thing.
Artmap: If you want to tap into the local arts scene, the Artmap.cz project will definitely get you started. This listing of new exhibitions in young and independent Prague galleries is a valuable resource for planning your artsy stay in Prague.
Prague Post: Formerly the biggest English-written newspaper in Prague, Prague Post went out of print a while ago and is an online service only. Still offers some good advice on Prague and a summary of international and Czech news in English.
Go Out: Go Out is the website to visit if one of the things you would like to do while you are in Prague is... well... go out. They have a fairly comprehensive listing of clubs, galleries, cinemas, theaters and so on and write about interesting events in Prague.
Radio Praha: Radio Praha, or "Radio Prague", is a service run by the Czech Public Radio. It is a website linked to their English service. We website may seem like just another news outlet but it is more than that: sometimes they run an article about Czech customs and society or about Prague that may explain a thing or two while you are here.
Prague Stay: We really like the shopping tips of this site that focuses on apartment rentals in Prague. We take issue with some of their food recommendations, so just concentrate on the shopping, ok?
Prague Up & Coming: A nice Facebook feed with great pictures of past events and invitation to upcoming events around Prague. Also a good resource for venues and popular places where the young, hip locals go to hang out.
Lost & Found in Prague: A really simple but nice collection of old photographs from Prague. Interesting to see how, and whether at all, the atmosphere of the city has changed throughout the past century.
Taste of Prague: Did you know we write a blog about Prague and the food in it? Of course you did. You are reading it now! Good job! :-)
Fiona Gaze: A former food editor of the Prague Post newspaper and a freelance journalist having her pieces published by various media outlets, Fiona has many good tips and shares insider information with her followers.
Mark Baker: Mark is a writer for the Lonely Planet, has its own travel blog, and has his articles published both off and online. Mark is a good resource of information about Prague and Central Europe in general.
Sansho Chef: The Twitter profiles of Mr Paul Day, the owner of Sansho, and of his partner, Misa of The Real Meat Society, give you an insight into the minds behind some of the best food - and meat - in Prague. Great for updates about both. We get jealous about Paul’s celebrity sightings sometimes ;-)
Prague Beer Garden: If you are traveling to Prague mostly because you want to taste some beers, you should check out this feed. Lots of interesting and valuable information about the beer scene in Prague (despite the name, it’s not just about beer gardens).
Evan Rail: A food and travel blogger living in Prague and contributing to the NY Times (here and here, for instance) and other media. Great resource for local information about beer and other local events and newly opened venues.
Taste of Prague: Jan used to hate Twitter. "It’s like shouting into the darkness,” he used to say. Now he likes Twitter and prefers it to other channels. Check out what we have to say!
We figured pictures are more important here than the words, so we included people who post in Czech only.
Cuketka: Mr Cuketka (Mr Zucchini in English) is without doubt the most famous Czech food blogger, the co-founder of the Scuk review site and a food ubergeek who is not afraid to experiment with food or to share the results with the world. He also has a great Twitter account but in Czech only and we think all the dry and funny humor would be totally lost in Google translation.
Misa: Mr Cuketka’s partner in crime (and life) also has an Intagram feed that actually ventures out of the couple’s kitchen and often posts mini-reviews and quick impressions of places they visited.
Martina Pavlíková: Martina is our friend, a great cook and clearly a supermom. Looking at her Instagram feed, one thing is clear: she should open a supper club or something. We would be camping in front of her house. Or operate a shuttle service to her house outside of Prague.
Oldriches: An exercise in absolute randomness with some insight into the professional and private life of Mr Sahajdak, the Executive Chef at La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise, the Michelin-star Czech restaurant in Prague. We absolutely love that profile. Don’t ask us why. We just do.
Taste of Prague: ToP’s Instagram feed is Zuzi’s domain. We like to post our impressions from the venues we visited and snaps of the good foods we tasted.
There are many more Instagram profiles that Zuzi likes to... ehm... stalk on a regular basis. So if you have some time, you're having coffee and have wifi or a good data plan, you can have a a look at these, profiles, too: Maskrtnica, the baking blogger, Honza Zima, the photographer for the Ambiente group of restaurants, Jason Nam, an expat student here in Prague, and Eliska and Lukas, an artsy couple photographing the city, and many, many more...
How to Stay Cool in Prague
The summer is officially here and while the temperatures in Prague are not as high as they may be in other places (anything over 30C/85F is considered a heat wave here), it can still get very hot in Prague, especially given that we have no benefit of sea breezes and the like.
Prague is the perfect walking city: everything is within walking distance and the hills offer some beautiful vistas, but in a scorching heat, you want to walk smart. Here are some tips that may help you survive the heat while still enjoying some great food and walking (mostly) in the shade:
Pedestrian Tunnel - Kampa Island - Café Lounge
The first trip looks like a visit to the Prague Castle, but it's not (reserve that for the night hours). Walking down from the Strahov Monastery, turn left to the New World area, one of the most beautiful corners of Prague in our book. Get some refreshments in the beautiful Novy svet cafe and then follow on to the "Deer Moat" in front of the castle, cool down in the pedestrian tunnel, sit on a bench. Walk down along the slopes to the Malostranska station and from there to the Kampa Island, passing some wonderful walled gardens on the right. Feel free to walk inside and rest there. Make a few snapshots of the opposite bank with the yellow penguins on the riverside, explore the Kampa museum located in the beautiful Sova's mills, tap the babies by David Cerny and just enjoy the lazy atmosphere of the park. Follow towards the Ujezd and rest at one of our favorite cafés in town - Café Lounge at the Plaska street (just look for the "Hunger Wall" banner).
Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia - Lokal/Nase Maso/Sisters/Sansho - Muj salek kavy/Tea Mountain/Veltlin
Often missed by many travelers, Convent of St Agnes near the Hastalske square is a beautiful gothic complex that accommodates a minimalist exhibition of Czech and European medieval art from the National Gallery collections. After you're done exploring the Convent, cool down with a cold beer and a light snack at the Lokal restaurant nearby. Alternatively, you can have an updated Czech classic - an open-faced sandwich at the Sisters bistro (they do delicious daily soups, too), or have the fantastic meatloaf, burger or sausages at the Nase Maso butcher shop right opposite the hall. Finally, Sansho, one of our favorite restaurants in town, has a great outdoor seating for lunches (served until 3pm on weekdays - closed on Mondays) and serves fantastic Asian-fusion dishes, some of them lighter and thus perfectly suited for this weather.
Once you have eaten, take the 8 tram to the Urxova stop (or walk for about two miles) and have coffee at the air-conditioned Muj salek kavy cafe at the corner of the Krizikova and Saldova streets. You can literally spend the whole day there - in addition to coffee, they serve nice cakes, home-made lemonades, and ice-cream. On the other hand, you don't have to: you can just walk two blocks further to reach two great and fairly recent openings. Tea Mountain is currently our top pick for a tea room in Prague, and they offer fantastic, high-quality cold teas in the summer. Finally, if you want to spend a lazy, hot afternoon drinking wine, Veltlin, located right next door, has wines. And absolutely great, organic, Central European wines at that.
Beer Gardens
Another cool idea for the hot days to come is to go and just relax in a beer garden - you don't have to have a beer, of course. Instead, you can have Kofola, the Czech coke, for instance. On top of that, beer gardens tend to be integrated in parks, which offers the exciting possibility to just buy a beer and sit on a bench and enjoy the shade and views. Yes, life can be beautiful here in Prague.
Here are the three beer gardens that we would recommend: the Riegrovy sady beer garden, which can be found in the Vinohrady district. Many people buy beer into a plastic cup and go about 100 m from the garden to the park and enjoy the beautiful view of the centre, just sitting on the grass. Alternatively, have some craft beers and a great pulled pork burger at The Tavern on the edge of the park.
The second beer garden is at Letna, again with a great view. You can combine your visit with a visit to the National Technical Museum nearby. The best way to get there is to climb to the metronome above the Jewish Quarter and then turn right. You'll be there in about five to ten minutes. Finally, if you really want to avoid tourists and combine beer drinking with a great walk, visit Hospudka na hradbach within the Vysehrad fortress south of the centre. After the city cools down, just walk back down and head to the town on the riverside.
Last but not least, two tips: if the heat really gets to you, there is always ice-cream: we have posted about it recently here. And, even if ice-cream fails, you should definitely hide from the sun at one of our favorite independent movie theaters in Prague. It is always cool and nice there. We have blogged about them here. Have a great, cool day!
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.
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!
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?
The smartest Prague food tours. Cool rental apartment. Awesome pocket wifi device. We’ll turn your Prague trip up to eleven.
Book a tour Get the guide Rent the apartment Rent the pocket wifiWe 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:
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.
View Riverside jogging in a larger map
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.
View Jogging Letná in a larger map
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.
View Stromovka run in a larger map
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!