You might think the Art Deco Imperial Hotel is too posh for you and your kind but think again. I visited it after a hard day's work wearing shabby clothes and the staff didn't bat an eyelid (such a lack of snobbishness that is typical of all Czech people that I've encountered.) On the ground floor it has a beautiful cafe/bar decorated with Art Nouveau mosaics. Treat yourself to a cocktail and enjoy the splendour of your surroundings.

www.hotel-imperial.cz/
Na Poříči 15
Praha 1, PSČ: 110 00
+420 246 011 600
Google map: bit.ly/Y1eejz

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The Red Room is a faintly grungy expat haunt just behind Karlovo Namesti replete with black sofas and dark corners for lounging. You don’t come here for the beer – they only have Staropramen and Hoegaarden on tap which any self-respecting Czech would turn their nose up at – but there’s an extensive range of cocktails if you prefer Long Island Tea to lager. The bar’s main draw is the music. Should you find yourself at a loose end at the end of your long weekend in the city and fancy seeing live acts in an intimate venue, the Red Room is the place to head for. Sunday is open mic night and the standard is refreshingly high. On my last visit I was treated to a French double bass player accompanied by a pal riffing away on clarinet and a British lady with an angelic voice belting out ballad standards like ‘Stand By Me’ as well as the usual mix of aspiring singer-songwriters. Should you need to take a break from the tunes there’s a backroom with a pinball machine and table football. Would-be performers should get there by 8.30pm to sign up for a slot.

www.redroom.cz/index.html
Myslikova 28, Prague 1
+420 222 520 084
Google map: bit.ly/X0psQE

* Lisette is our Been there local for Prague. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-lisette.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/LisettePrague

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When sightseeing in Prague’s gorgeous Old Town, it’s tough to find somewhere for a coffee and a sit-down that isn’t a tourist trap. K4 is an underground student hangout – literally – housed in the basement of the Faculty of Arts on Celetna Street, a stone’s throw from Staromeskske Namesti. Push back the vast wooden door at number 20, descend the stairs on the left opposite the porter’s glass booth and you’ll find a cavernous collection of rooms replete with lounging undergrads pouring over their lecture notes or playing chess. Prices are super reasonable (as you would expect given the clientele) and there’s a small gallery too with free exhibitions featuring local up-and-coming artists. There’s no table service though – make your way to the bar in the back room and then take your pick from coffee, draught beer or a shot of that infamous Czech spirit Becherova to fortify you before continuing your wanderings.

galeriek4.cz/
Celetna 20, Prague 1
Google map: bit.ly/UQEFU5

* Lisette is our Been there local for Prague. You can read her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-lisette.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/LisettePrague

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Red Pif is a wine shop, wine bar and restaurant, tucked away in the crooked streets in Betlémská, in Prague Old Town. An urban feel establishment, Red Pif is quite modern in terms of Czech vinny bars (wine bars) and offers an interesting blend of Czech and French influences.
As well as a long and detailed wine list, Red Pif offers a daily food menu including varied meat and fish main courses as well as charcuterie plates for sharing.
Not the cheapest place to drink in Prague (many wines are around 60 czk for a small glass, and there is a corkage charge of 100 czk for drinking in-house), but certainly one of the most trendy. Book ahead – Red Pif only has about 10 tables for diners, and is deservedly busy throughout the week.

www.redpif.cz
Betlémská 267/9, 110 00 Praha-Staré Město, Czech Republic
+420 222 232 086
Nearest metro: Narodni Trida
Nearest tram: 17 or 18 (to Karlovy lázně)
Google map: bit.ly/KXPPBO

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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Is it a restaurant? Is it a club? Is it a record shop? No one is quite sure but either way Radost FX near Namesti Miru is very cool.
Street level houses a quirky veggie café and a music/video/wine shop. Downstairs is a lounge/restaurant area with the same menu, and a club.
During the daytime enjoy the Radost FX cafe. Set behind large windows facing the street, the cafe has some pretty eclectic decor. Tuck into breakfast from 8-11, or later on enjoy the wide vegetarian menu later in the day. Radost Fx has a truly global menu, boasting dishes from countries including Greece, Italy, India and Thailand as well as some of the best veggie burgers and 'slaw ever. Food is available all day.
The same menu is available in the longue area downstairs, which is complimented by a great bar and live music at the weekends - well into the small hours.
I especially love the shop area on street level next to the cafe. As well as videos, DVDs and wine, this cosy shop offers an ever changing selection of vintage and contemporary music on vinyl.
There’s something for everyone here, at any time of day.

www.radostfx.cz/
Bělehradská 22, 120 00, Prague 2
+420 603 193 711
Nearest metro - Namesti Miru or IP Pavlova
Google map: bit.ly/zgnAMf

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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This cute café in Prague 2 has a range of attractions: newsagents (“trafika”), shop and tobacconists up front, with café behind, piano in the corner, occasional music events and small vinoteka.
Like a much-loved teddy bear, local favourite Dobra Trafika is a little worn around the edges, which makes local residents love it even more.
The menu includes several pages of teas and coffees, cakes and delicious stuffed pitta breads, at cheap-as-chips prices.
Delightfully scruffy, living-room-cosy and great value.

www.dobratrafika.cz
Korunní 42, 120 00 Praha 2
+420 737907635
Nearest metro: Jiriho z Podebrad
Cafe open Mon-Fri from 7.30, Sat from 8.00, Sun from 9.00, until 23.00 each day.
Google map: bit.ly/qG6G2d

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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This modern, cheerful café in Vinohrady is very close to the National Museum. Bright, airy and colourful, when you walk inside you will feel like you’ve stepped back in time.
A very fresh interior with blocks of pastel colours on the walls is complemented by genuine Art Deco tables, chairs and light fittings.
Attracting Prague’s young hipsters, this café is a great place to relax any time of day, offering a good breakfast menu (including excellent scrambled eggs), salads, toasted sandwiches, pastries and generous portions of cake. Kaaba also offers an excellent range of coffee and other soft drinks and has a well-stocked bar.
Offers free WiFi and friendly staff.

www.kaaba.cz
Mánesova 20, Prague 2 - Vinohrady
+420 / 222 25 40 21
Mon- Fri from 8am, Sat from 9am and Sun from 10am
Nearest Tram – No. 11 Italská
Nearest Metro – Namesti Miru
Google map: bit.ly/oonky9


* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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It sometimes seems that there is not a bar in the world that Hemingway did not frequent. However, Hemingway Bar in central Prague takes inspiration from the watering holes of Hemingway’s era rather than staking an actual
claim on the author’s custom.
The bar, which occupies two cosy rooms, has a classic American bar feel: walls lined with bottles of spirits, lots of dark wood, leather furniture and soft lighting. Hemingway’s boasts an impressive and modern cocktail menu,
presented by very knowledgeable staff. The bar is particularly proud of its rum selection – it offers over 100 bottles – and its absinthe offerings.
The menu, like the bar itself, manages to be simultaneously comfortably familiar and strikingly modern. My personal favourite is the Jasmine Tea Cup – gin infused with jasmine tea, with lime cordial and fresh lime served,
brilliantly, in a china tea cup.
Lovely for an after dinner drink a la deux, or tres cool for drinks with the girls. Subtle glamour in the heart of Prague.

www.hemingwaybar.cz/bar-praha/
Karolíny Světlé 279/26, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic
+42(0)773 974 764
Google map: bit.ly/qTiUPU

* Helen is our Been there local for Prague. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/prague-local-helen-ford.jsp and she has her own blog here: czechingin.wordpress.com/

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This is a fantastic place that serves 30 Czech beers on tap and offers flights of five or 10 beers. It's the best place in Prague for sampling a great range of Czech beers. Make sure you don't miss it!

www.praguebeermuseum.com/
+(420) 732 330 912
Dlouha 46, Praha 1
Google map: bit.ly/rpyZcX

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It’s sometimes confusing for tourists wandering around central Prague late on a Saturday night to work out where all the cool bars are. Answer: they’re underground. Beer cellars and underground space are frequently used and more often than not, a lot more fun than the tourist-focused bars at street level.
U Sudu is a great little bar on Vodičkova (just off Wenceslas Square) that is always open until the small hours. Chiefly a wine bar (although it also serves beer), U Sudu sprawls downwards like a vertical maze over several floors with each level having its own bar (and some table-football tables).
Warm and toasty but also rather smoky, it gets busy and can be a little claustrophobic, so possibly not somewhere to bring your parents.

www.usudu.cz/
Vodičkova 10, Praha 1, 110 00
+420 222 232 207
Open from 10.00 to 04.00 or 05.00 every day (03.00 on Sunday)
Nearest Tram: 3, 9. 14. 24 or 91 to Vodičkova
Google map: bit.ly/nqzlm0

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Independent wine importers and retailers Vera and Robert certainly know their stuff when it comes to vino, and when it comes to entertaining their guests. During the week this wonderfully cosy yet very modern wine bar is frequented by office workers (Karlin, where Roberts is situated is a burgeoning business district). However, on Friday evenings and weekends Roberts is also open to locals seeking (high) quality wine at affordable prices. Roberts offers a very wide range of wines, really tasty nibbles to accompanying them (the best pecorino romano I've had in Prague, or elsewhere), friendly and knowledgeable service and an in-bar wine shop. Oh, and very comfy sofas that make a quick visit utterly impossible.
Book a table ahead as Roberts often closes at the weekend (but is very happy to stay open for small groups).

www.vrimports.cz/
Sokolovska 61, Karlin, 186 00 Praha 8
+420 608 738 093
Google map: bit.ly/iWYm1s

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A visit to Letná Park (Letenské sady) will help you work off all the dumplings and also reward you with a phenomenal view of Prague. Letna Park has space to run, walk skateboard and in-line skate, if you can still move after climbing the several hundred steps to get to the top! If you can't - it is also a lovely place to simply relax. The park includes several places to eat and drink including the small restaurant in the Hanavsky Pavilion. As you walk up to the top of the steps (directly above the north bank of Pa_í_ská Bridge and marked by the massive metronome that over looks the city), turn left and walk for about three minutes. You will come to a beautiful neo-baroque building with cast-iron detail. This building, the Hanavsky Pavilion, was originally created as a ceremonial hall for the Prague National Exhibition in 1891, and today is a bar and restaurant. Good prices, indifferent service, but a beautiful view over the southern side of the city, which makes the climb worthwhile.

Letenské sady 173, 170 00 Praha 7
+420 233 323 641
www.hanavskypavilon.cz/

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For me, this is the best place to eat and drink in the tourist centre of Prague. It has the complete menu, everything from traditional Czech (eg: goulash) to Tex-Mex to a Full English breakfast. Plus vegetarian. Plus a no-smoking area. Plus a 'secret', hidden garden out back.
It has Happy Hours, 4-6pm, where the already cheap Czech beer costs only 25 Crowns(80p).

V jámě 1671/7, PRAHA 1 Prague-Nové Město, Czech Republic
+420 224 222 383
Google map: bit.ly/ezHVyg

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If you're wanting to check out Prague's gay scene, then this fun and funky dance club in the Vinohrady district is where to start. The first thing you see on entering the long underground bar is a full size Communist Skoda car hanging from the wall. Underneath it is a dancefloor pulsating to the sounds of club hits and Czech songs mashed up. Imagine Madonnas 'Like a Virgin' sung in Czech language, and you get the picture. Wednesday nights are the best, as many locals are in then. Well worth checking out.

Termix Klub
Trebizskeho 4a, Prague 2, Vinohrady
Google map: tinyurl.com/386evdd

www.club-termix.cz/

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Old fashioned cinema entered through a corridor running through communist-looking tenements and accessed through a courtyard. In summer you can buy beer from a little kiosk in the courtyard and sup it before your film. In winter there's a decent bar and you are allowed to take drinks into the auditorium with you. The cinema's piece de resistance is the fact that the chairs in the auditorium boast drinks holders designed to allow you to line up a beer, a glass of water and a shot side-by-side. Shows arthouse and mainstream films with a decent sprinkling of English language films. Towards the end of 2009 price of entry hovered around the 100kc mark.

www.kinoaero.cz
Biskupcova 1733/31
13000 Praha, Czech Republic
271 771 349
Trams 9 or 26 to Biskupcova

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Fantastic little cafe/restaurant/bar with great food at a reasonable price in a lovely part of the city. The staff are friendly (often a rarity in Prague) and and the beer is good. They have a select lunch menu deal as they are usually quite packed during the lunch rush. One of my favourite places when I lived in the city.

www.bilavrana.com
Jagellonska 10, Praha 3, Vinohrady
5 minute saunter from metro Jiriho z Podebrad

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This underground jazz bar boasts fantastic live performances, and takes up several levels. The basement has cool stone walls with a high vaulted ceiling. Although the live performance had a cover charge it was well worth it, as the music lasted for hours. Drinks were a bit more expensive then other places but it was still relatively cheap at about £1 per beer. Also worth a try is the absinthe.

Corner of Stupartska, behind Tyn Church
Satre Mesto, Prague

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A little slice of Cuba in the heart of Prague’s Old Town. This cigar bar has a vibrant, chatty atmosphere and an easy-going charm, epitomised by the customer graffiti that covers the interior. The writing is on the wall at the Bodeguita.

Address: Kaprova 5, 110 00 Prague 1 (short walk from Old Town Square).
Telephone: (420) 224813922.
Website: www.bodeguita.cz.

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Pension Vltava offers a fine stay as it is reliable for really cheap, really basic and very clean rooms. It is great to know about for very cheap breaks to see the city or see a concert, and flying visits when you haven't booked anywhere.

It's also good if you need to to save money and have a private room if you are just passing through the city and need a place you can rely on for a cheap room which is clean.

This guest house happens to have a tiny coffee shop and bar which stays open all night every night and is really cheap. You can relax with tea or coffee, beers, wine, cognacs or becherovkas back in your room at any time.

I recommend this place. I have nearly always got a room when enquiring on the same day (it is a quite a large guest house). The price is around £11 to £14 for a room for one person per night with very clean common shower and loo.

For those who don't know the city and especially for those to whom the central places are familiar, for the lowest budget place to stay the guest house is ideally placed. It is around eight to ten minutes on a tram from near the guest house to central areas. Around it are a few interesting bars and cafes. There aren't very many tourists around here though the area is quite nice and fresh if you know Prague, except backpackers and younger travellers are noticeable as Sir Toby's travel hostel, Extoll Inn, a few other guest houses and a Czech H.I. travel hostel are around here.

The river where it bends is just over five minutes walk away and it is a pleasant walk into the centre along the riverside from near Pension Vltava. Set aside a couple of hours for a great walk across the river, away from the city, to a leafy part on the outskirts of the city, to the Trojska Chateau gallery and courtyard cafe in summer, Prague Zoo and the lovely Botanic Gardens.

It is ideal to walk here, if you have the time, and better than taking a tram, though you can eaily go by tram. Either way, it is a quiet part of the city which is lovely and I really recommend it.

A good walk away of over ten minutes is the nice Cafe Lisbon on the main riverfront road, which has characteristic pizzas especially and is good for drinking at. Just over ten minutes in the opposite direction, toward Stromovka park, is the Absolut Hotel which has an unpretentious and quite minimalist, pleasant bar and restaurant. The Mecca Music Club is a few minutes walk from the guest house. Not far, good food at a good price in the restaurant of Hotel Henry, U Papírny.

www.pensionvltava.o1.cz

(Web site in Czech, with photos and readable contact details and map)

Dělnická 35
Praha 7, 17000

Phone: +420 220 809 795
Email: josefrandak@tiscali.cz

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This is the best Argentinean steak house I've ever been to! The food was unbelievable and the atmosphere amazing. Salsa dancers appeared mid-meal and a band entertained us in the bar afterwards. Mojitos all round!

www.lacasaargentina.cz/

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