Once there were grandparents queuing for bread, parents surviving Russian tanks, holidays at public spas. Now there is Europe, architecture, design, urban regeneration. What Americans call gentrification. With young people on the streets busy enjoying the benefits of globalization for years. And the Prague lively and cosmopolitan. Which nevertheless suffers from overtourism.
Kids from all over the world flock until dawn to the streets, to the jazz cellars, to the high-tech cafes that have replaced the smoky, nostalgic brasseries of writers.
So why not discover a different and unexpected Prague? Especially away from the usual routes, where everyone in the center is with their noses in the air watching the statuettes of the Stary Orloj – the 16th century astronomical clock – slowly pass by as if awakened from a long sleep.
The advice is to run towards Karline And Holešovice, new neighborhoods to discover. And life.
Prague Neighborhoods
Karline
First stop Karlin, a former industrial area once depressed and poor, redeveloped in recent years. This is where the future lives. A few steps from the center.
Just take the metro and get off at the Invalidovna or Křižíkova stop to enter the present. The visual impact is immediate: medieval houses, Renaissance and Baroque architecture or Gothic churches disappear. Only “Atraktvni Design” as architects from all over the world such as Jakub Cigler EM2N, Meili & Peter Architekten or Ricardo Bofill who designed the new buildings have called it.
The area is still an open-air construction site today, but from a distance, walking along Sokolovksá Street near the Rohanské nábřeží district, you can see the bare, winding profile of Lilitha 24-metre-high statue of a woman, made entirely of steel, which literally supports with its arms the modern Fragment condominium, with a façade made of modular blocks. Metaphorical fragments, in fact.
The large sculpture was designed by the genius of David Cernyborn in Prague in 1967 into a family of artists who received the Jindřich Chalupecký Prize in 2000 for being the country's most promising visual artist under the age of thirty-five.
In the old town, it was he who installed Viselec, in Italian hung, a statue of Sigmund Freud which emerges from the roof of a building.
The huge sculpture installed in Karlin at the end of 2022 represents the myth of Lilith, a woman before Eve who, in legend, refused to obey Adam. The work is not static, a mechanism allows her head to be turned 180°, usually after midnight.
However, as you walk around the large building, you will notice two more giant sculptures, also made of rolled steel, representing a leg and a hand, also by Černý.
The building with the sculptures according to the designers symbolizes the human community and the ability to support each other in times of need. Total weight? Sixty tons of stainless steel.
Where to eat in Karlín
While the neighborhood has quickly become one of the coolest to live in, it is also considered by many to be a new foodie district. Starting with The minorsa café and bistro just under the building at Lilith, where you can stop for a nice brunch on the terrace if the weather conditions allow it. And enjoy a rather futuristic skyline.
The neighborhood's new hipster residents are flirting with the rise of vegetarian and vegan restaurants like Nejen Bistro (Krizikova 24, tel. +420 721 249 494o) Green Factory – Salad your life eat for lunch “a salad that is not just a side dish” as the owners like to say.
In the evening, many people meet at Spoika Karlin (Pernerova 697/35, tel. +420 226 203 888) where you can eat among large windows, plants everywhere and a menu consisting of vegetables and produce from farms near the Czech capital.
In short, from farm to table from morning to night: try their sharing menu with small tastings of focaccia, grilled octopus, grilled lamb chops with chimichurri.
Certainly the view in the early morning of the Charles Bridge, one of the symbols of the city built in 1360 by Charles IV suspended above the Vltava – Vltava in Czech – immerses you in a “Magical Prague” atmosphere, butfrom October 10 to 13 when the Signal Festival (signalfestival.com/en) which transforms the city into a visual paradise, while the historic centre is besieged by light and sound shows, it is worth returning to Karlin.
To admire, as true initiates do with fewer people around them, the Church of St. Cyril and Methodiussymbolic place of Czechoslovak resistance against the Nazi invaders, where stands are set up every Friday Karlín Market with gastronomic and street food events. Illuminated for the Signal Festival by an incredible play of lights, it is unique.
A typical dinner nearby? Shared tables, beers and cicchetti in the rivers, low prices direct from Local, historical place also with other places in the city. Super fried cheese and goulash.
Holešovice
To get away from the more touristy routes, the walk continues towards Holešovice, to the northeast, a new district located in the large bend of the Vltava River.
Those who are not lazy can continue Karlin's walk through the Stefanikuv Bridgebut alternatively without effort, from the Křižíkova station you can take the metro again and get off at the stop Vltavaska.
The quiet Holešovice is known as the “artists' quarter” because it houses museums, exhibitions, experimental theatres and young artists' studios in renovated old factories.
Starting with DOX, a private art center, museum and gallery where you can see temporary exhibitions on different themes, rich collections of photographs and also spend time in the bookstore and cafe.
Once you enter the courtyard, you just have to look up to admire a huge laminated wood airship where there is a terrace and a cafeteria, while below, under the portico, you can sit on unique support surfaces made as if they were giant rubber tires.
Until September 22, 2024, the exhibition “KAFKAesque” is being held at Dox, which focuses on the reflection of Kafka's work and poetics in contemporary visual art through the works of around thirty international artists.
Once you exit the museum, there is another must-see stop Vnitrobloca trendy space in an industrial building with a restaurant, a brewery, an art gallery and a boutique to buy the cult limited edition sneakers.
Creatives also go there for brunch, the mini cinema in the basement, the dance and craft workshops, and the showroom of local fashion brands.
Around the corner, a few steps away, here is the Coworking Parallelní Polis one of the meeting points for digital nomads that combines art, social sciences and modern technology.
Beer and techno music lovers? The right address nearby for the night is Cross country cluban industrial space made with recycled materials and iron, which hosts DJ sets with loud music until dawn, concerts and events also in large outdoor spaces. Accompanied by rivers of foamy beer among the best in the world.
Highly recommended during the day, experience not only food Farmers Market Of Holešovice which is located in a former livestock market: there you can find traditional Czech dishes such as trdelnik – typical dessert similar to cannoli – and goulash but also international dishes such as sushi and kebabs, to satisfy all palates.
A bistro to feel at home? AND Home cooking to eat a tasty club sandwich with chicken meat and coleslaw. And they even offer a children's menu.
READ ALSO: This is the most beautiful astronomical clock in Europe
Where to sleep in Prague
Completely renovated in 2021, it is the Falkensteiner Hotel in Prague with the interior design of Matteo Thun who made the spaces very airy and contemporary. Some define it as a modern style hotel urban chicbecome with his The monkey lounge On the ground floor, a meeting place for the warm Prague youth.
On the armchairs of the interior garden filled with jungle-effect plants, we meet for lunch on weekdays or weekends, as well as for an aperitif or brunch for only 25 euros.
The city spa in the basement with Turkish bath and sauna is very welcoming and the operators of Thai origin provide fantastic massages. From room 205 you can see the park and the Žižkov TV tower, room 505 is very large and bright.
In the historic center, under the Dancing house by architects Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry, there is Hotel Matylda Two boats side by side south of Karlin with rooms on the water and a restaurant: those who want privacy and comfort choose the 30 square meter private apartment with small living room.
In the Karlin district, however, the blue exterior walls are recognizable among themselves. The Fitzgerald Hotel a few steps from the Křižíkova metro station: the most comfortable are the attic rooms on the top floor.
Want to stay up to date on the world of travel?
To get around Prague with a tour guide in Italian, Marcela Rejtharová, cell. 00420 603722339, rejtharova@centrum.cz
