Prague nightlife

Prague’s bar and club scene is as appropriately raucaus as its infamy suggests. Prices and clientele veer widely from the tourist-filled Old Town haunts to the sometimes slightly seedy neighbourhood bars. You will find that beer is drunk morning, noon and night, and that Czech beers are among the best and cheapest in the world. Brands to look out for include Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus, Staropramen and Budweiser (Budvar). The average wage for bar staff is 50Kč an hour, so please, after having your drinks and your fun, show some appreciation with a decent tip.

We've split our bar reviews between five major areas; so that you can easily find a bar or club in the area you happen to be walking in; the Old Town & New Town, Malá Strana, Vinohrady & Žižkov, Letná & Holešovice, and Smíchov.

The Old Town & New Town are the well-touristed area between the Vltava river and busy Wilsonova road, along in front of the National Museum.

Malá Strana and the area around the castle is a cleaner version of the Old Town, with some great bars and jazz clubs, but little in the way of a club scene. To get there, simply walk across Charles Bridge, take the metro to Malostranská or hop on trams N°18, 22 or 23. Crawl onto night tram N°57 to get back to the Old Town.

Loved by young expats, Vinohrady has trendy bars, a top-class beer garden and one of Europe’s best clubs. Neighbouring Žižkov is Vinohrady’s scummy little brother, a working-class district that’s proud of the number of places serving alcohol - the highest concentration in the country. Vinohrady is best explored from the Jiřího z Poděbrad (JzP), Náměstí Míru or I.P.Pavlova metro stations; night trams N°51, 57 and 59 roll back down to the Old Town. Žižkov is a short walk towards the TV tower from JzP metro, or a short ride on trams N°5, 9 or 26. Stagger home on night trams N°55 or 58.

North of town, is a slightly scruffy area with a couple of good clubs, while up the hill to the east the more upmarket Letná is centred around Letenské náměstí with some cool bars. The Vltavská metro station lies at the edge of the area; otherwise trams N°3, 5, 8, 14 and 26 rumble north across the bridges. Get home on night trams N°51, 53 and 54.

Southwest of the Old Town and across the river, Smíchov and its central area of Anděl is a long disregarded semi-industrial area (with the huge and fabulous Staropramen brewery still in its midst), which has taken leaps and bounds towards becoming very pleasant indeed; countless bars cater to a young crowd. Anděl metro station is in the district’s heart; night trams N°54, 58 and 59 go home.