Activities in Prague

There is plenty to do in Prague. You can either enjoy one of the long walks, visit one of the many parks in the center of or around Prague. There are plenty of interesting museums and monuments and things to do if your brought your family as well. Prague is also a great place for going out and enjoying its many restaurants, pubs and clubs – check the links to the Taste of Prague blog to find the best place to go.

Don’t miss our offer of guided tours.

Read some useful general Dos and Don’ts of Prague to have even better experience of the city. While the amount of petty thefts is similar to any large European city, Prague is otherwise very safe, even late at night in dark alleys.

Free public transport pass

Complimentary passes for the Prague public transport will be available at the registration desk. The passes are valid from April 13 to April 16 for Zone P (this includes the whole city of Prague and also the public transport to the airport). The passes are valid in combination with the conference badge and for the ISBI participants only.

Recommended walks

  1. Most prominent tourist locations include the Karlův most (Charles bridge), Pražský hrad (Prague castle) (take a walk through all the gardens and parks around the castle as well), Royal route, Staroměstské náměstí (Old-town square) and Malá strana (Lesser quarter). This route spans most of the interesting monuments. You can visit the art-nouveau Obecní dům (Municipal house) (tour, French and Pilsen restaurants) or the cubist Dům u Černé Matky Boží with the world-unique cafe in cubist style, or the Jewish cemetery and the Jewish quarter. Be warned that this route is very crowded and although it offers the most interesting sights, it is also interesting to try to visit other places described below – there are less tourists and everything is much cheaper.
  2. Make a long walk and see the Tančící dům (Dancing house), and Faust’s house. Do not forget to go to the Vyšehrad castle and visit the park and cemetery with the most important people from the Czech history.
  3. Leave the touristic center and take a long walk through the Prague parks where the citizens go to relax – (Vítkov, Parukářka, Riegerovy sady – take a brake in the outside restaurant with a view to the castle). Visit one of the many pubs or cafes of the popular quarters of Žižkov and Vinohrady. Visit the huge cemetery Olšanské hřbitovy or go through the Vinohrady all the way to the french-park Havlíčkovy sady.

Prague

Parks

  • Letná – a park close to Prague castle above river Vltava. Interesting view on the city, nice outside restaurants. You can have a long walk from the castle through Letná to the Stromovka park.
  • Stromovka (CZ) – a large park in English-style, close to Metro C station Holešovice.
  • Castle gardens – recently renovated gardens under the Prague castle.
  • Kampa – a small park next to the Charles bridge, you can visit the museum as well.
  • Divoká Šárka – beautiful natural park. Outside of the center, but accessible by tram, make it a half-day trip or rent a bike.
  • Prokopské údolí – same as above – a large natural park on the south of Prague.
  • Petřín hill – A large park on the hill next to Prague castle. It offers the best view on Prague. If the queue is not too long, you should definitively try to go to the lookout-tower. Or go all the way to the Kinský garden.
  • Františkánská zahrada – well hidden place to relax in the middle of the city (entrance from the corner of Jungmannovo náměstí).

Parks

Museums

There are several museums of Franz Kafka, Alfons Mucha, puppets, alchemy, sex, and torture mainly on the touristic routes. These are usually typical tourist traps. Although they might at the end show as interesting it is probably better to visit one of the ‘real’ museums.

Museums

Family activities

  • Ride in a historical tram – every weekend. Check the schedule and route here.
  • ZOO – located on a hill close next the the Vltava river. Was voted as the as seventh worlds best ZOO by Forbes in 2007 and by TripAdvisor at 2014.
  • Muzeum Karla Zemana – Karel Zeman was a Czech director – a pioneer of combining live-movie with animation – and an influential figure for many famous directors like Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and Ray Harryhausen. A museum dedicated to his film adaptations of the Jules Verne’s books.
  • The Kingdom of railways – A huge exposition of model railways.
  • Prague’s Venice – Boat rides next to Charles bridge. The ride takes 45min and it starts every 15mins for only 290CZK (the webpage is only in Czech).

Family

Going out

If you want to enjoy the night-life in Prague, we highly recommend not staying in the historical center or in the hotel. Try one of the districts below.

  • The quarters Staré město and especially Malá strana are the most touristic with plenty of restaurants and pubs – many of them tourist traps. Try these recommendations around Dlouhá street or Betlémské náměstí.
  • The Vinohrady district between náměstí Míru and náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad have many nice cafes and restaurants and is very popular place for living for expats.
  • The quarter Žižkov, especially around Seifertova street, is very popular for students and has the highest concentration of pubs. Some tips are here.
  • The Karlín district around Křižíková is the new hip place to go with many hipster cafes and wine bars.
  • Try also the Dejvice district around Vítězné náměstí and Letná.
  • Or look at one of these maps to find the best closest place to have a soup, a coffee, a lunch. You can as well taste some Czech specialities or Czech wine – believe it or not, they can both be good.