6 BEER GARDENS IN PRAGUE, and not just the same two that every other blog tells you to visit…
As always, when visiting beer gardens and other outdoor spaces in Prague, make sure you have cash with you as no one allows you to pay by card and there are not normally bank machines close-by. In addition to drinks, all of these gardens serve the usual Czech grilled food such as sausages, cheese, and sometimes corn on the cob, and don’t expect the beer garden to be directly at the tram stop where you get off as most all require a bit of walking and looking about in order to find them. But once you do find them, you can expect to have an enjoyable afternoon and evening and maybe an adventure or two if it’s the right evening.
Chilling at Parukarka in the early afternoon.
1. STROMOVKA
Stromovka is one of the largest green spaces in Prague with a lot of water, woods, and private spaces, and which is a completely chill place to walk around among the trees and forget whatever it is that you need to forget. There are many places there where you can grab a beer, but the largest and most active is a little garden called Slechtovka. In addition to cold beverages, they also have a performance stage which features a wide variety of both live music and DJs of different styles playing usually 7 nights a week during the summer.
Transportation: take tram 12, 17, or 24 to stop Vystaviste Holesovice. Follow the paved footpath to the left of the exhibition hall until you see beer.
2. VYSEHRAD
An 18th-century fortress located on the site of the ancient dwelling place of Prague’s first Slavic inhabitants, Vysehrad is just a little bit south of the center by Metro, and has an amazing view of the city that most tourists will never see. The beer garden there is called Na Hradbach, where you can sit on a table by the wall with a panoramic view looking north towards the Old Town. Punks, hippies, dogs, babies, and other freaks of all types welcome.
Transportation: take the red line to station Vysehrad, then by foot follow the signs for several hundred meters until you pass through the brick fortress gates. Beer garden is on the right at the small religious rotunda.
3. PARUKARKA
Sitting on a high hill above an extensive Communist-era nuclear bunker, Parukarka is definitely off the beaten track and a place where you can come into contact with a lot of local color. It’s a favorite warm-weather hangout for Zizkov musicians, artists, and other derelicts, where the drinks are cheap and the company is good and no-one cares what you do as long as you’re not bothering anyone else. Take your beer up the hill for a fantastic view of the city, and stay late to enjoy a possible impromptu jam session or other sudden moment of unexpected craziness.
Transportation: take tram 5, 9, or 26 to stop Olsanske Namesti and walk up the stairs past the bunker entrance until you see beer.
The view from Parukarka.
Not much of a view but not too far from the center, this place has a Prague neighborhood flavor and a local ambiance that you’ll never get if you spend all of your time in the Old Town. For sports fans, there’s a permanently installed big screen which shows all of the world’s most-watched football and other athletic events, but for those more inclined towards music and culture, there’s a full schedule of DJs and live bands on an outdoor stage at one end of the park.
Transportation: Easiest is bus 207 from Namesti Republiky to stop Ohrada, but you can also catch tram 9, 10, 11, or 16 to stop Biskupcova and look for the big, green sign at the entrance.
Getting a groove on in the beer garden…
This is Prague’s most popular and most common beer garden, located almost directly in the center, where you will most likely run into every other person staying at your hostel as well as almost every expatriate living in Prague. The view is fantastic and the park in which the garden sits is beautiful. The biggest drawbacks are that they serve beer only in plastic cups and there’s no music of any kind and, if I didn’t mention it already, you’ll probably run into every other person staying at your hostel.
Transportation: Walk across the bridge and up the hill on the footpath from Namesti Republiky or take tram 8, 12 or 26 to stop Letenske Namesti and walk towards the river from there.
The psychedelic playground and the view from Letenske Sady.
This is Prague’s second most popular and common beer garden where you will definitely run into all of the Prague expatriates who aren’t hanging out at Letenske Sady. It’s nice and cool and shady, but unfortunately there’s no view and the entire garden is enclosed by a chain-link fence. There are occasionally DJs or live music on the outdoor stage, but this place is best known for its huge projection screen and the broadcast of worldwide sporting events. The beer is cold and tasty and there’s a second bar specializing in cocktails, as well as a wide selection of grilled food and other munchies.
Transportation: Take tram 5, 9 or 26 to stop Husinecka and walk up street U Rajske Zahrady bearing right at the top until you see trees.
Photos by Mélanie Rada.