Prague (Czech Republic) en

It’s easy to get around on foot or by bus, trams, subway in Prague. I highly recommend you buy a 3 day Transport Pass, it’s much easier than using the ticket distributors for the trams because they only use coins, and you can’t buy tickets in the buses. So don’t even bother, and grab a pass when you get there, you can get one at the bus station at which you arrive from the airport, it’s also a subway station with automatic machines. It’s easy to get there from the airport, hop on the 119 that brings you directly to Dejvická Station ( which is the last station) and from there you can take the subway, or the tramway. Buy tickets at the airport rather than in the bus, it’s cheaper. The awesome thing is that Vodafone, the phone operator I’ve been using during my travels, and that ended up being the most useful one to use in Eastern Europe has a booth in the airport. So you grab your sim card and your phone plan there: the prices are unbeatable if you’re travelling at the end of the month because ” ils vous font payer le forfait intégral au pro rata des jours qui restent du mois en cours.” There were 4 days left in March, so I paid 10 euros for unlimited local calls, text messages, internet, everything. Very useful if you’re like me and hang out with locals.

It was a Hapsburg family that ruled the country, the Austrian empire, then the Czech Republic became independent in 1918.
Afterwards, after the Second World War, the heavy and oppressing communist party took over, and would only end in 1989. The Russian army took 4 years to completely retreat out of the country.
We can’t omit a particularly important event in recent Czech history, Jan Palach’s suicide in 1969, he sacrificed himself to protest against the Russian tanks arriving in the city in 1968.

The Czech Republic isn’t part of the European Union and we can’t help but wonder if it isn’t a better thing for them: life is rather inexpensive, 1 euro the 50cl beer, and they look like they’re happy in their lives. Even if people have small salaries, they doesn’t hesitate to buy drinks for every one, I ate with a student couple and they took care of my bill. It shows that people can still buy things for themselves, even though we can’t assume that life is easy for everyone and that everyone can go to restaurants etc.

The Czech Republic is the 4th exporter of.”houblon”… beer is cheaper than water, which is not normal in my opinion. It’s actually very annoying, it’s often extremely hard to get them to bring you tap water.

When we don’t have the Czech genes allowing us not to get fat, all this beer is a problem: there’s a real risk of looking like a..”bibendum…when leaving the country.

I was worried about the tourist circus in Prague just like the one in Florence, or even that some hesitate to come to Paris because of it. But I had the opportunity to go so I told myself it’d be a nice 716 mission: look beyond the touristic traps.

The first day was hard, I panicked. I found myself in the historic center where all the tourists were, the Segway renters waiting, the guides with their company umbrellas.

I decided to leave and I went towards the old Jewish quarter, Jozefov, which a friend of mine in his 60s advised me to go to get out of the circus.

No luck, I stumble upon the most expensive stores in town, a Chinese father and his son exiting a Prada. I then go towards the Jewish cemetery, and discover 150 Italian young students waiting for the opening. It was too much.

I continue to run away when I stumble upon this young guy, Maderick, with a hip hop look. He ends up being a ballet dance, and was on his way to take the train to go to his classes.  Musically, he defines himself as a punker.

I ask him if he had an area to recommend to me, a place he likes, and likes to hang out in. He points me to Mala Strana on the other side of the Vlatva, the river that goes through the city.

Mala Strana is the area where you can find all the embassies, but it isn’t just that. I quickly felt better, far from the tourist crowd, things started falling into place, I stumbled upon a guy at a bus stop, I asked him if he had any recommendations in the area. He spoke perfect French because he used to live in Switzerland. He loved Mala Strana and showed me his favorite restaurant, in which I went for lunch, and he also told me which parks his friends and him liked to go to, Petrin on the other side of the street, but also Kampa.  In that last one there is a bar in an old mill, and they like to buy their drinks there and sit on the lawn.

I could keep going a while like this. All I wanted to say was that at that moment, all I had to do was open my eyes, and everything was at arm’s reach.

You have to know that the young Praguers that I met either don’t or go very little to the tourist center. However, all around it there are a multitude of parks that are almost all along the river, it’s beautiful and gives some fresh, green air to the city.

In these parks people make out, families go for walks, take their dog out. Praguers love dogs! I’ve never seen a city that is so tender with its dogs, I also saw more women than men walking their dogs, especially younger women. There are dogs everywhere, and they look very happy, loved.

I’d say Prague is city with lots of culture, its past shows it of course, but its present as well. I want to say that Praguers, just like the Japanese, become specialists in whatever culture they choose to absorb. For example, tattoos, we see a lot, and each time they are well thought out, with a strong graphic identity: no butterflies tramp stamps or other tattoos seen a million times. Same with the skateboarding or snowboarding, the Czechs are huge fans ( they go skiing in Italy): there are a huge quantity of specialized stored in the city, and some usually have a nice stock.

–  The Cartoville Prague is really well done. I found good restaurants in it.

– A really good website on Prague: The Taste of Prague

–Dj Schwa who is also a producer in the  Shades of Gray group wrote a really interesting article, in English, for the CMJ website, on Prague’s underground scene:  http://www.cmj.com/column/scene-report/shades-gray-prague-czech-republic/

Krystal
Sokolovská 99/101 186 00
Praha 8
Tel : 222 318 152, 606 064 488
Open Monday to Friday from 11 am- 11 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12 pm-11 pm
Metro: Křižíkova, ligne B Tramway : Křižíkova, lines 3, 8, 52

“I don’t remember who recommended this one to me, but it was THE GOOD NEO BISTRO PICK of the trip. Perfect service, cozy atmosphere, smart cuisine, a nice looking place.

Read the entire 716 review here

Lokal
Dlouhá 33 110 00
Prague 1
Tel : +420 222 316 265
Open Monday-Friday 11 am- 1 am, Saturday 12 pm- 1 am and Sunday 12 pm- 10 pm.

“Here’s a well known place to eat traditional Czech food in a revisited atmosphere. It’s a success, for locals and touritsts, it’s always full, and it’s good. That being said, it’s more expensive than a regular traditional restaurant of the same type.”

Read the entire 716 review here

Pivnice Pod Petřínem
Hellichova 5 118 00
Praha 1
Tel : +420 257 224 408
Open 11 am-12:30 am every day, but lunch is served only until 2:30 pm ( I hope I understood correctly)

“It opened up in 2010, and it’s very popular within the neighborhood: with students, employees in the area, artists, tourists also, I saw a bit of everything. Good traditional food, not expensive, and good service!”

Read the entire 716 review here

The restaurants that were recommended to me but that I didn’t get a chance to try:

Main dish: If you want to try a typical Czech dish, then it would be Svíčková, Řízek or for sweet dishes Plněné ovocné knedlíky. (try to google it in case).

Prague 1

Beas Dhaba (indien)
Týnská 19,
110 00 Praha 1
Tel : +420 608 035 727
http://www.beas-dhaba.cz/

Bistro (they have some home made cakes)
Králodvorská 16
110 00 Praha 1
http://www.praguebistro.com/

Estrella (veggie, I highly recommend this one!)
Opatovická 159/17,
110 00 Praha 1
Tel :+420 777 431 344
https://www.facebook.com/estrella.rest

Grossetto Marina (A classy Italian restaurant on a boat, I met a couple that were happy to spend a romantic dinner there, but they admitted that it was classy) It looks snobby. 
Alšovo nábřeží
110 00 Praha 1 – Staré město
Tel :+420 605 454 020
http://www.grosseto.cz/

Hôtel U Prince
Staroměstské náměstí 29
110 00 Praha 1
Tel : +420 224 213 807
https://www.hoteluprince.com/hotel-fr

Jina Krajina
Řeznická 1890/4,
110 00 Praha 1-Nové Město
Tel :+420 222 231 148
http://www.jinakrajina.cz/

Klub architektůBetlémské náměstí 169/5A,
110 00 Praha 1
Tel: :+420 224 248 878
http://www.klubarchitektu.com/fr/

Lehká Hlava (végétarien)
Boršov 280/2,
110 00 Praha 1
Tel : +420 222 220 665
http://www.lehkahlava.cz/

Maitrea
vegetariánská a veganská restaurace v centru Prahy, Týnská ulička 6, 110 00 Praha 1
http://restaurace-maitrea.cz/
I really like this place.. it’s a nice vegetarian restaurant even though I am not vegetarian:)

Restaurace U Pinkasů
Jungmannovo nám. 15/16
110 00 Praha 1
http://www.upinkasu.cz/

U Chlupatýho ducha
Restaurace, Pizza
Konviktská 6
Praha 1
+420 224 238 171
http://www.uchlupatyhoducha.cz/

 
Prague 2

Ahradky Park Café (Beer garden)
Rieger 28
Prague 2
Tel : +420 608 911 536
e-mail: parkcafe@centrum.cz

Bio Zahrada
Belgická 33
120 00 Praha 2, Vinohrady
Tel : +420 603 752 468
http://www.bio-zahrada.cz/

Dish (For good burgers)
Římská 1196/29, 120 00
Praha 2
Tel :+420 222 511 032
http://dish.cz/

Mlsnej kocour
Belgická 116/42, Praha 2 – Vinohrady – Náměstí míru
Tel : +420 222 541 584
http://www.mlsnejkocour.cz/

Plevel (vegan and raw restaurant – you have to go there!) Krymská 2
101 00 Prague 2
Tel : +420 273 160 041
http://www.restauraceplevel.cz/

Sokolovna (traditional Czech meals)
Slezská 22/821
120 00 Praha 2
Tel : + 420 222 524 525
http://www.restaurantsokolovna.cz/

The Tavern (For good burgers)
Chopinova 1521/26,
120 00 Prague 2
http://www.thetavern.cz/

Vinohrady Parlament (traditional Czech meals)
Korunní 1 / Praha 2
Tel :  +420 224 250 403

Prague 3

Café Pavlač (its a more a café than a restaurant but they serve nice food as well:)
Víta Nejedlého 487/23,
130 00 Praha 3-Žižkov
Tel :+420 222 721 731
www.cafepavlac.cz

Susta Strudl (strudle)
Jeseniova 29
Prague 3, Zizkov

Prague 4

Did you know Prague, with Paris, is one of Europe’s most well known cities for eating good Vietnamese food?
Here are some places recommended by a Vietnamese friend.

Bún Cá Hải Phòng
Libušská 319/126
142 00 Praha 4

Bún Huế Xua
Libušská 319/126
142 00 Praha 4

Dung Lien
Libušská 319 Tržnice SAPA
142 00 Prague
Tel : +420 607 678 152

Quán Thiên Hành phò
Libušská 319/126
142 00 Praha 4

Prague 5

Restaurace Kozlovna
Lidická 20
Praha 5
http://www.kozlovna.eu/

Prague 7

Bio Oko (more cafe then food)
Františka Křížka 460/15,
170 00 Praha 7
Tel:+420 608 330 088
http://www.biooko.net

Cafe Liberal « Karvarna Liberal » (more cafe as well, but nice)
Heřmanova 6,
170 00 Praha 7
https://www.facebook.com/kavarnaliberal

 Prague 8

Můj šálek kávy
Křižíkova 386/105,
186 00 Praha 8
Tel : +420 222 981 874
http://www.mujsalekkavy.cz/

 Prague 10

Cafe Sladkowski
Sevastopolská 17
110 00 Praha 10
http://www.cafesladkovsky.cz/

Cafe v lese (more pub/cafe but definitely worth seeing)
Krymská 12,
Praha 10 – Vršovice
http://cafevlese.cz/

Jiná krajina
Kodaňská 319/5 (vchod z ulice Moskevská)
101 00 Praha 10
http://www.jinakrajina.cz/

Dobrá Trafika
Újezd 37
118 00 Praha 1-Malá Strana
Tel : +420 257 313 222

” The young man at the front wasn’t really pleasant, however, the two ladies that were taking care of the coffee in the back room were very nice. There’s even a little courtyard, which is a fantastic place to be away from the touristic crowd.

Read the entire 716 review here

Kavárna Mlýnská
Všehrdova 449/14
118 00 Praha 1-Malá Strana
Tel : +420 257 313 222

Kavárna Mlýnská is a bar in an old mill, the whole thing in front of the Kampa island, a few minutes on foot from the famous Charles Bridge. It’s a young guy that I had met at a bus stop that had told me that him and his friends went there to buy drinks and then drank them in the park. Very good spot, there’s lots of space, WiFi, the place is pleasant and so is the staff.

Read the entire 716 review here  

Na Hradbach at Vysehrad
V pevnosti 16/2
Prague
Tel : +420 734 112 214

“A biergarten like we’d dream of having in Paris. There’s a good atmosphere, the park is up on a hill, ideal to stop by on a weekend afternoon.”

Read the entire 716 review here

Slavia

Smetanovo nábřeží 1012/2
Praha 1
Tel : +420 224 218 493

“It’s the city’s old traditional coffee shop, like there is one in each European city, in this case Dvorak, and then Vaclav Havel liked to come here.”

Read the entire 716 review here

The coffee shops that were recommended to me but that I didn’t get a chance to try:

Prague 1 EMA Na Florenci 1420/3 11000 Prague 1 Tel : +420 730 156 933 http://www.emaespressobar.cz

Mammacoffee Vodičkova 6 110 00 Prague 1 Tel : +420 773 263 333 www.mammacoffee.cz

Prague 2 Café Neustadt Karlovo náměstí 1/23 12000 Prague 2 Tel : 774645659 https://www.facebook.com/cafeneustadt/info

Café Oliveira Mánesova 1516/65 12000 Prague Tel : 731004495 http://www.cafeoliveira.cz

Monolok Moravská 18, 120 00 Praha 2 Rezervace: 739 018 195 http://www.monolok.cz/

Pradelna Cafe Slavíkova 21 120 00 Praha 2 Tel.: 774 843 477 www.pradelna-cafe.cz

Prague 5 Cafe Lounge Plaská 615/8 150 00 Praha 5 Újezd / Malá Strana http://www.cafe-lounge.cz/

Prague 7 Erhartova cukrárna And from confectioner’s Erhartova cukrárna () Milady Horákové 56, Praha 7 | Po–Ne: 10.00–19.00 Vinohradská 125, Praha 3 | Po–Ne: 10.00–19.00 http://www.erhartovacukrarna.c

z Prague 8 Cafe Decada Vacínova 10, Praha 8 (Palmovka) Tel : +420 774 446 474 http://www.decada.cz/cafe.php

Muj salek kavy Křižíkova 105 Praha 8 (“B” Křižíkova, tram Urxova) Tél : 222 981 874

Prague 10 Cukrárna Pralinka Vršovická 866/3 101 00 Praha 10 – Vršovice http://www.cukrarnavrsovice.cz/

Au Gourmand
Rytířská 400/22
110 00 Praha 1
Tel : +420 602 763 785

“It’s a bakery/tea shop in which anyone would enjoy going to buy a croissant or other little pastry in the morning and get a coffee to go.”

Read the entire 716 review here

Marché Náplavka
Rašínovo nábřeží 30
Prague 2
Every Saturday 8 am-2 pm
Metro: Karlovo náměstí (line B, Exit Palackeho náměstí). Trams: 3,7,16,17,21 (Výtoň ou Palackeho náměstí stops)

A good weekend spot, that you be a foodie or not. People go there on sunny days to go buy a little something to eat, to then sit down in one of the canal barges on the edge of Vlatva.”

Read the entire 716 review here

Hemingway

Karolíny Světlé
26 110 00
Prague 1
Tel : +420 773 974 764
Open at 4 pm Monday-Friday, and at 6 pm Saturday and Sunday

Read the entire 716 review here

The bars that were recommended to me, but that I didn’t get a chance to try :

Pilsen is considered to be the best Czech beer. Krušovice is good as well according to me, if they don’t have Pilsen.

Anonymous (one of “new age” bars in Prague – down to earth, cool drinks, diferent, young) Michalská 432/12 110 00 Prague Tél : +420 608 280 069 https://www.facebook.com/anonymousbar.cz

Bar&Books nice interior, but drinks are average – that Indian guy is taking his joint in Prague as little hobby – there is two bars in Prague, but if you go, you will want to go to one in Tynska Street – close to where you stay. http://www.barandbooks.cz/tynska/

Black Angel’s looks like speak easy, but it is not – definitely work checking out – those guys were nominated last year at Tales for the best Hotel bar – if nowhere else, then those first three bars you must visit https://www.facebook.com/BlackAngelsBar

Bugsy’s Bar Been open for 18 years now, the very first cocktail bar after the “velvet revolution” in Prague and still one of the top. – cocktails are great, and probably even a better selection of champagnes – those guys have a very tight relationships with some fine Champagne houses in France. – Hemingway is more down to earth, this is more “noses up” Definitely must visit. Pařížská 1068/10 110 00 Praha-Staré Město Tél : +420 224 810 287 https://www.facebook.com/BugsysBarPrague

Popo Café Petl Újezd 409/19 118 00 Praha 1 -Malá Strana http://www.popocafepetl.eu/

Prague Beer Museum Dlouhá 720/46, 110 00 Praha 1-Staré Město, République tchèque A good pub where

Tretter’s drinks are ok, but the interior is super nice – filled with weirdos, but the second cocktail bar in Czech, only 5 min. from Bugsy’s https://www.facebook.com/pages/TRETTERS-NEW-YORK-BAR-PRAGUE/136062933087397 both owners (Bugsy’s and Tretter’s) got their work experience in Munich, so this was strong influence to their bar scene at the beginning.

The clubs that were recommended to me, but that I didn’t get to try :

For a nightlife, depends what kind of music you like. As for disco&dance music, I’d choose Sites http://praguebeats.com/ http://jlbjlt.net/ http://www.digital-guide.cz/fr/poi/

Cestr Legerova 75/57, 110 00 Praha 1, République tchèque Tel :+420 222 727 851 (my favourite!!) http://cestr.ambi.cz/cz/

Hany Bany Veleslavínova 58/5 110 00 Praha 1-Staré Město Tél : +420 222 327 602

Nebe Křemencova 10 110 00 Praha 1 Tel : +420 608 644 784 http://www.nebepraha.cz/

Bugaboo Shop
Všehrdova 27 (Újezd 38) 118 00
Praha 1- Malá Strana
Tel : +420 257 317 172
Open 11 am-12:30 pm and 1 pm-7 pm
Read the entire 716 review