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Prague at Night – The Spark is Back

Prague, a beautiful city day and night! There’s plenty to do. Click here to check out some great things to do in Prague after the sun goes down.


As you read last week, we were heading to Prague for the weekend with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Prague is an incredibly beautiful city with its towers and spires piercing the skyline, and, of course, the food and beer in the Czech Republic is legendary. At the same time, we knew there were going to be bus loads (literally) of tourists.

Well, knowing this beforehand allowed us to make a plan and to deal with the crowds and we ended up having an excellent time. Yes, the crowds were still there, but they can be avoided and their impact on your experience can be minimized. In the end, our love for the city was rekindled, we discovered Prague at night with new parts of the city where the coach tours don’t go, made a  few new friends, and had some laughs along the way.

View of Prague at night.

Prague Night Life – Lite

Of course, this is Prague so there’s always another “must see” sight to visit; there’s no way you can see them all in one trip. So after our evening arrival and checking into our hotel, we started our weekend with a tram trip up and around the castle hill to the beautifully baroque, Strahovský Klášter (Strahov Monastery) to meet up with some traveling friends.

The view from this 12th century monastery is fabulous It is perched atop a hill overlooking the castle and the old town, just incredible. But more to the point, the monastery brewery has been pumping out there delicious ales and stouts for hundreds of years. The brewery restaurant is in a set of restored monastery buildings and offers up some really good beer. The food was good but our recommendation is to go for the view and the beer and eat elsewhere.

Leaving the monastery we chose to walk down into the old town through the Castle district and Malostranske Square. This part of the city is much more subdued at night, the tour guides have all shepherded their flocks away and the small pubs, bars and restaurants are cozy and much more local feeling then in the old town.

Download our First Timers Guide to Prague for more info on this amazing destination.

This is definitely part of the city that is on our return visit list. A walk across the Charles Bridge is a must, despite the expected crowds, so we continued down the hill, through the magical gate tower and over the bridge with the rest of the nighttime foot traffic. At 11:00 PM there were still hundreds of others enjoying the brisk, winter air and planning later revelries.

On the old town side of the bridge we turned right, heading upriver and past the city’s latest club craze, Ice Pub Prague, nestled into a corner of the massively frenetic Karlovy Lazne and the newest hot spot for Prague at night. Everything in the pub is made of ice so bring your jacket! But don’t worry, when you get too cold you can check your jacket and jam and dance the night away in central Europe’s largest (5 story) music club. The music here is pumping, the floor is shaking, and the drinks are flowing cheaply. As we walked by, thinking about stopping in later on, the crowds were just forming at the doors for a night of partying that would go long into the next morning.

We ended the night with a cappuccino and a slice of gorgeously rich chocolate cake at a café near our hotel. The Kavarna Slavia has been serving the National Theater district coffee, sweets, and delicious meals since the 19th century. It is an art deco masterpiece, with charm and history that really must be experienced.

We sat sipping our hot drinks and talking about the evening while the piano player soothed away the last cares of the night. By the end of that first night, Prague had done it, the memories of her selfie-stick, toting crowds had vanished with the sunset to be replaced by the soft, amber glow of her city lights reflecting off the cobblestones.

Have you been to Prague? What is your favorite thing about the city?

Author Bio: Jim Vail, is a travel, food, and video creator and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 15 years. For many years he lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands, and he’s visited over 90 countries.

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Prague at Night.

Marya

Saturday 5th of May 2018

I've never been to Prague, but there's this book in Indonesia when I was a teenager that made almost every teenage girl here wants to go there because the way the author wrote about the city was so very romantic. I want to go there, but maybe one day. I've always had a soft spot to Eastern Europe after all. :)

Corinne Vail

Monday 7th of May 2018

Marya, I do think Prague can be very romantic. Do you remember the name of the book?

Corinne Vail

Saturday 2nd of April 2016

Lance, Prague is a siren who calls people back to her over and over again.

Hung Thai

Tuesday 22nd of March 2016

Oh man... Prague remains on my list and I probably won't get to it for some years. All my friends speak highly of the it. I'll have to find a way to go soon.

Corinne Vail

Tuesday 22nd of March 2016

Hung, It is a must-see in Europe, but I recommend taking your time and seeing other parts of the country as well.

Rodrigo Pittman

Monday 21st of March 2016

Ah, Prague. I need to see you someday.

Paula McInerney

Sunday 20th of March 2016

Prague has to be on our 2016 list. Everything I read and everything I hear, speaks so well of this beautiful city.

Corinne Vail

Monday 21st of March 2016

Paula, When you go, remember we are a mere 2 hours away...hint, hint!