Help me get off the beaten path in Prague

December 26, 2006 2:31 PM

Help me get off the beaten path in Prague.

I'm heading to Prague tomorrow for a few days, and I"m looking for suggestions of bars, cafes and neigborhoods that are off the beaten path. Nothing ultra-quirky - just local. Help me get out of Prague 1 (or if there's a cool place in Prague 1, at least help me get away from the tourist hordes!) and see where the natives play. I'm particularly interested in

- classic coffee houses
- places with DJs spinning chill music
- good wine bars
- good local beer houses

The fewer tourists the better!

posted by Kevin A to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

The beaten path radiates out from the Charles Bridge. If you check prices for lunch across the street from said bridge, you'll find they are like 4X what lunch costs a few more blocks away.

I was only there for 3 days over 5 years ago and don't have any winner suggestions for you, but there's my general map of where not to be :)
posted by scarabic at 5:05 PM on December 26, 2006

Two words: Rick Steves.

I brought his Best of Eastern Europe book with me on my trip through the region in September and I FLOVE THIS MAN. Gives you all the best places to go that haven't yet been overrun with tourists (along with a few that have been overrun, but that you've got to see anyway).

He's got a book specifically on Prague and the Czech Republic, so that might be a better bet for you (as in more thorough, and lighter to carry) than the Eastern Europe region book I used.
posted by hazelshade at 5:37 PM on December 26, 2006

Short answer: Walk walk walk walk walk. By far the best way to lose yourself and find hidden gems in a new city. Mark a couple of must-sees for the day (two in the morning and two in the afternoon, say, like the Mucha Museum) and then just meander around between them with open eyes and an open heart. I had fun tracking down cubist architecture, for example.

Long answer: Check the tons of good stuff in the many, many many Prague threads here. And someone will probably beat me to it in the time I type this, but be sure to get to the Sedlec Ossuary just a short bus ride out of town.
posted by mediareport at 10:48 PM on December 26, 2006

(I know, Sedlec's a beaten path location, but we took time to get a little lost; it was a neat local experience.)
posted by mediareport at 10:52 PM on December 26, 2006

When I was in Prague, my friends and I were walking from the place where the St. Vitus Cathedral and the Prague Castle are towards the Charles Bridge and we ended up stopping at some restaurant that was sort of hidden away along a side street to have lunch. The food wasn't great, to be honest, but it was cheap and the place was beautiful.

So in other words, get a good map and put it in your pack in case you get lost, then go get lost.
posted by !Jim at 12:25 AM on December 27, 2006

Agree with good map and walking. Further info in my answer in this thread (which has other good recommendations as well).
posted by languagehat at 7:56 AM on December 27, 2006

U Růžového sadu was always one of our favorites off the beaten path. It's not fancy, it's just a good down-to-earth place for good food and good beer.
posted by owen at 8:56 AM on December 30, 2006