Prague by Night: a handy guidebook for exploring the city's nightlife

If you are traveling to Prague, I am sure you are researching how to plan your stay. No doubt you will have included in your list of must-see monuments such as the city's castle or the extraordinary Charles Bridge, without forgetting the Jewish quarter and other more hidden corners.

However, in your planning you can't miss what Prague has to offer after dark. Like any great city, the Czech capital has a great nightlife. In addition, its streets and monuments acquire a magical dimension thanks to its illumination and charm. To this we must add fascinating activities such as walking the streets in search of ghosts.

The city offers its visitors many types of organized tours of Prague to explore all its charms accompanied by a guide who will explain what you are seeing. Although these tours are great, here I suggest you change the perspective a little and dare to book a night tour of Prague.

Luckily for its visitors, the offer of these night tours is numerous and varied, which will allow you to choose the one that best suits your tastes, from those that simply walk the streets to those that show you the best entertainment venues, not forgetting those dedicated to the darkest legends of a city full of them.

Of course, you can also plan one of these tours on your own and at your own pace. The important thing is to immerse yourself in the special charm of this city and stroll through its streets feeling like the protagonist of a medieval fairy tale.

• Tour times: each night tour may have a different starting time, but to give a couple of examples: the ghost tour usually starts around 7:30 pm and the regular night tours around 6 pm.

Maybe the Vltava River that crosses Prague is not as famous as the Seine in Paris or the Danube in Budapest, but if you dare to book a night cruise in Prague, you will be able to see that the beauty of the tour has nothing to envy them.

There are several modalities of these boat trips from which you can choose. The most basic usually consists of a short tour of about an hour, which runs through the area between the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. Although this simpler tour is not bad at all. My advice is to book a dinner cruise if you can. During the tour you will be able to see the most famous historical sites of Prague, almost always while enjoying a glass of wine or prosecco.

The dinner, which is usually buffet style, cannot take place in a more wonderful setting than with the illuminated Prague Castle in the background. And all of this is accompanied by live music to further enhance the ambiance. Most of these cruises depart from the vicinity of Charles Bridge, including some tours that you can book on the spot.

• Cruise schedule: if you want to book the dinner cruise you should keep in mind that the departure time is usually around 7 pm.

I won't deny that this is an activity focused on nothing but tourists, but participating in a medieval dinner in Prague is as fun as it is rewarding for the palate. If you have been in the city for several days you will already know a lot about what I explain in this article about food in Prague. If you decide to take part in a medieval dinner you will be able to eat these dishes in an atmosphere that will make you feel like you have returned to the past.

These dinners take place in candlelit taverns in the style of those that existed in the city several centuries ago. Most of these places are located in the old town, in the subway floors of the buildings located near the Old Town Square.

For lunch, five courses are offered in order to taste the most deeply rooted specialties of the city, without missing the wine or beer. The dinner is accompanied by a show with jugglers and swordsmen who perform while medieval music plays.

• Hours: the medieval dinner usually starts a little before 8 pm.

Those who do not feel the effects of fatigue after, for example, making one of the excursions that I recommend around Prague are in luck: the city has a wide range of nightlife for all types of visitors.

Just stroll through the Old Town Square and you will end up with your pockets full of advertisements for the clubs in the city. There are so many options that it is impossible to list them all, so I will just name some of the most outstanding places:

• Karlovy Lazne: its main claim is that it is the largest club in all of Central Europe. It has five different rooms, each decorated with a different theme.
• Prague Beer Museum: beer lovers have an unmissable date in this place located in the old town. It offers some 30 varieties from small breweries all over the country.
• Bar Hemingway: one of the most popular drinks in the Czech Republic (always after beer) is absinthe. In this bar you will find some of the best varieties of this product, served in the traditional way.
• Roxy: it is considered one of the oldest entertainment venues in the city. The Roxy has a space for dancing and another room for those looking for a place to sit and enjoy the night in a more relaxed way.
• Bar and pub opening hours: there are several types of opening hours depending on the license of the venue. Pubs and nightclubs can be open until 4 or 5 a.m. (such as the Karlovy Lazne), but others, such as the Beer Museum, close their doors at 8 p.m. in winter. The Hemingway Bar, meanwhile, is open until 1 or 2 o'clock depending on the day.

One of the must-see sights in the Czech capital is its spectacular castle, a place that will not disappoint you. However, if you travel to Prague in summer, you will find that in the morning the number of tourists causes quite uncomfortable crowds. A solution may be to delay the visit until the afternoon and spend the first moments of the evening there.

To calculate your visit you can take a look at the opening hours of the Prague Castle, which normally does not close its doors until 10 pm. And if, finally, you decide to visit the monument in the evening, you can sign up for one of the organized tours to Prague Castle that show the facilities at those times. You can also do it on your own. In that case, choose well the place from which to see how Prague turns on its lights to contemplate a unique spectacle.

My advice is not to end the day after this visit. As you can read in this article about what to see in the Prague Castle district, the area is full of great attractions and very interesting restaurants. In addition, from some of its streets you will have great views of the illuminated castle itself.

• Castle opening hours: the opening hours of the castle are divided between those of the monuments and the rest of the complex. In addition, there is an important difference between Prague in summer and Prague in winter. Generally speaking, between November and March the complex is open from 6 am to 10 pm and the monuments from 9 am to 4 pm. From April to October, on the other hand, the opening hours of the complex are from 5 a.m. to midnight, while the monuments are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The one thing that can be said about **Prague'**s music scene is that few cities can come close to its variety, quality and quantity. No matter what style you like, in the Czech capital you will find the opportunity to enjoy it. If you prefer classical music, ballet or opera, there is no better place than the National Theater in Prague, whose beautiful location is worth a visit.

Apart from the formal stage of the theater, you can also find performances in some of the city's gardens. The most famous ones take place in the Wallenstein Gardens, where as well as on the small island of Střelecký ostrov some musical performances are held during the afternoon and early evening between May and September.

Changing style, in the neighborhood near the Charles Bridge there are several jazz and blues clubs. Some of them, such as the Jazz Republic, offer live concerts almost every night. And for those who want to take the opportunity to go to a great concert just check the program of the O2 Arena, the place usually chosen by the big international artists when they visit the Czech Republic. Last but not least, the streets of the city are filled with street musicians.

• Hours: the National Theater has performances at 18:00 and 19:00. The Jazz Republic presents its last performances at 21:15.

If you want to live a different experience in the nights of Prague you will have the opportunity to attend a performance of a very typical type of theater in the city: the black theater.

This type of theater was born in Prague itself and the works belonging to it have been represented for more than half a century. They are silent theatrical performances on a black background that uses lights to create stories through lighting and shadows. Attending one of these plays goes beyond being a theater fan, as it is part of the contemporary culture of the city. However, not everyone is able to enjoy the performances, as they are characterized by a rather slow pace and it is not easy to follow the stories.

Despite that, in my opinion it is worth going to see a play if you have enough time. The best place to do so is undoubtedly the Ta Fantastika Theater, where the most popular piece of this type of theater is usually performed: Aspects of Alice.

• Hours at Ta Fantastika Theater: the most relevant play of this type of theater, Aspects of Alice, usually starts around 7 pm.

Surely when you have read about what to see on the Charles Bridge you will have come across the recommendation to cross it quietly enjoying its atmosphere. What you may not know is that this walk is even more beautiful at night, when the bridge becomes one of the best viewpoints of the city.

Crossing this authentic monument after nightfall is undoubtedly the most romantic walk you can take in Prague. In addition, a large number of street artists, painters and singers are installed on its sides to liven up the journey.

Prague has many things to see and plans to do and you can not leave the Czech capital without contemplating a panoramic view of the city at dusk and, later, with its night illumination. Fortunately, there is no shortage of places to be amazed by this unforgettable experience. One of the most classic places is the Prague Castle. Walking around the area you will find some viewpoints from where you can see the rest of the city illuminated.

Petrin Hill, more specifically from its Observation Tower, offers one of the best views of Prague. This hill is about 320 meters high, but the climb is not too tiring. If you do not want to walk, you can always take the funicular enabled to take you to the top.

Finally, there is a more unknown viewpoint that offers stunning views of Prague by night. It is located in Letná Park, which is reached after crossing the Jewish quarter, crossing the Vltava and climbing some stairs. In this viewpoint, where there is a bar with frequent live music, you will be able to have a complete view of all the bridges of the city, including the Charles Bridge.

If you've run out of ideas for entertaining the kids in Prague you can always take them to play mini-golf in a special way: in the dark. In the place called Prague Golf & Games, located about 20 minutes walk from the center, you will be able to enjoy this peculiar activity with the family.

The entrance fee is around 15 €, but includes a drink to take on the premises. Its interior is, to say the least, curious, as each hole has been built with different themes related to the city.

As for the game itself, the most fun is that it takes place in the dark, with the only guide of the colored lights that have been distributed by the tracks and the rest of the premises.

• Hours: the place where you can enjoy a game of golf is open from 1 pm to 10 pm.

One aspect that surprises Spanish travelers in Prague is the dim lighting of its streets. This, which happens in many European cities that are not in the habit of trying to make the night the same as the day in terms of light, does not imply at all that the city is unsafe.

In fact, Prague is considered one of the safest destinations in the whole area. However, like any big city, there are some areas that are not recommended for walking around at night.

Most of these less safe areas are located away from where you would normally move around as a tourist. I only recommend avoiding the park near the central train station, as the atmosphere after sunset is not too good.

The center of Prague is easily walkable. However, when returning to the hotel or going to a more distant attraction at night you may prefer to use public transport. The metro is perhaps the least useful means of transportation at night, as it does not operate between midnight and 4:45 a.m.

On the other hand, the tramway does have a night schedule. The normal one ends at 00:00 hours, but from 00:30 there are night lines that operate until 4:30. Night streetcars usually run every half hour or so. Something similar happens with the buses. While the daytime buses run between 4:30 and 00:00, the night buses run from 00:30 and 4:30.

You can also choose to move accompanied with one of the many types of organized tours of Prague.