Winter, spring, summer or autumn… Prague can be visited in any season! Visiting Prague in winter is a great idea! It’s an opportunity to discover the famous Christmas markets or, with a bit of luck, to discover the city under a beautiful blanket of snow. Discover in this article the 10 things to do in Prague in winter.
Drink hot chocolate in a historic café
A visit to one of Prague’s historic cafés is a must if you want to step back in time to the heyday of the early 20th century. You’ll drink your hot chocolate in a cosy setting whose benches have seen some illustrious characters pass through. Kafka and Einstein, for example, frequented the emblematic Café Louvre, where you can eat well, for very little money and with excellent service.
Café Slavia, perfectly situated opposite the National Theatre and close to the Vltava River, was home to Rainer Maria Rilke, as well as to dissidents under Communism (including future president Václav Havel, whom I once saw there!)
For a feast for the eyes, Art Nouveau enthusiasts should head for the Café de la Maison Municipale (with its superb marble fountain and crystal chandeliers) or the Café Impérial (my personal favorite! It’s one of Prague’s best-value restaurants. I also recommend staying overnight).
For lovers of cubist art, the nearby Grand Café Orient will surprise you!
A visit to at least one of these historic cafés is a must!
In the Passage Lucerna, don’t miss the café overlooking David Černý’s upside-down horse.
If you like calm, luxury and voluptuousness, the Café Savoy is the place to be!
And if you don’t like chocolate, have a cup of tea in one of the many čajovna (tea rooms). Popularized by Russian anarchists in the mid-19th century, tea is popular in the Czech Republic. People drink it from an early age, and it’s available in every school canteen. No grannies and pastries in Prague tea rooms, but books or board games and a very Zen oriental atmosphere.
And if you don’t like hot chocolate or tea, why not try a mulled wine at one of the many Christmas markets or an absinthe in the Old Town!
Ring the little bell to call the waiter, who will advise you: A Maze in Tchaiovna in the Letná district (rich cultural program), U zlatého kohouta in the Old Town or Dobrá čajovna, a very relaxing place that all tourists unknowingly pass on their way to Wenceslas Square. The latter was created in 1993 by tea lovers who, under Communism, secretly shared their passion and their hard-to-find tea samples.
Put on ice skates or follow the lamplighter
Like to skate? Now’s your chance! Prague has several ice rinks open all winter long. Right in the center, there’s a small one behind the State Theater (Stavovské divadlo). This is where I skated for the first time… Don’t worry, you can hold on to the railing or hold on to someone more experienced. At least, that’s how I learned!
Skate hire : You’ll find skates for hire on site at a modest price.
A word of advice: go during the week and during the day, so you can skate in peace. Another good idea is to visit Letná’s largest skating rink, with a view of the Castle, until 9 p.m.!
Follow the tour of Prague’s last gas lamplighter
Last but not least, there’s always a gas lamplighter in Prague during Advent. These streetlamps, installed in 1847, had disappeared in 1985 in favor of electricity, before being reintroduced by the municipality in 2002 to give back to the “golden city” its characteristic color at night. Today, there are 700 streetlights (compared with 9,000 in 1940) lit automatically. You’ll find them along the entire length of the Royal Way along the Powder Tower (next to the Municipal House)-Old Town Square-Charles Bridge axis (reintroduced in 2010, the only bridge in the world to be lit by gas) and Castle, ending with the eight-branched candelabra in Hradčanské náměstí (there’s another eight-branched candelabra in Loretánská Street, the last to disappear in 1985).
Today, only one lamplighter remains in Prague, compared with 130 in the 1920s and 1930s. The current lamplighter was chosen because of his height (2.02 m)
From late November to December 23, between 4 and 5 p.m., you can follow the lamplighter on his rounds. In his 19th-century costume, he begins to light the 46 lamps on the Old Town side of the Charles Bridge (first one row, then the other on the way back). The crossing of the Charles Bridge lasts a good hour, as the lighting man takes the opportunity to chat with street performers and curious tourists. The Charles Bridge – where gas lamps were only reinstalled in 2010 (in the rest of the Old Town, they were installed in 2002) – is the only bridge in the world lit by gas lamps.
You’ll notice a small round metal ring on some of the lampposts on the former Royal Way, as these are the ones that are switched on manually, and you won’t find them on the other lampposts in the Old Town. Incidentally, it was on this former Royal Way that gas lighting was introduced in Prague in 1847. At first, only this street was lit!
If you like fairy-tale illuminations, every year Světla vyprávějí welcomes visitors near the river. There’s also Lumina Park and Winter Wonderland, a little further out.
Last but not least, if you’re in Prague on December 26, a few intrepid souls will jump into the Vltava River near the National Theatre for a cool dip. An unusual tradition dating back to 1923!
Discover Czech cuisine that’s good for the body
Czech cuisine is good and hearty (see my article on the subject for more details). If you follow my advice, you’ll avoid the disappointment of ending up in a restaurant serving inedible and expensive food, which won’t help Czech cuisine’s reputation beyond its borders. One of the most common criticisms of a stay in Prague is: “It’s beautiful, but we didn’t eat very well!
Czech cuisine is certainly hearty, but it can also be excellent, and there are plenty of culinary discoveries to be made. What’s more, it’s the ideal cuisine for coping with the cold, with its clever mix of meat, cabbage and potato dumplings, accompanied by a good beer, of course. And it’s always hearty too.
A rich and invigorating cuisine, not forgetting the soups!
To eat well and locally, check out :
- my article on typical restaurants
- the one on traditional brasseries (more touristy, the welcome in the latter is less warm),
- not forgetting the discoveries I regularly share on the blog.
Always soup : A meal in the Czech Republic invariably begins with soup. You can do without it when the weather’s warm, but in winter you’d be wrong. Potato soup, lentil soup, cabbage soup, beef broth or even borscht (basically Ukrainian) and much more! Check out my tips for eating soup in Prague!
Visit one of Prague’s lovely museums
I often recommend not spending too much time in Prague’s museums. Especially, of course, on a short stay. The most interesting things in Prague don’t take place between four walls or in front of picture rails, but outside them. Of all the good reasons to visit Prague, the first is to discover its architecture. Here are the articles to read:
- Art nouveau,
- cubist
- functionalist
- brutalist
But then, when it’s cold out, sometimes you just want a little break from the heat. So enter ;
- one of Prague’s lovely museums,
- check out my addresses for contemporary art and photography,
- visit the Mucha Museum,
- the Castle,
- the Clementinum,
- the Municipal House,
- the Maison qui danse (often an exhibition),
- the TV tower,
- the Staropramen brewery,
- the Central Post Office…
Saunas and beer baths
Czechs like to go to the sauna, less so than in Scandinavia of course, but it’s quite popular. It’s one of the most original and amusing things you can learn about Czechs. Public swimming pools (like Podolí, the largest) often offer a sauna. As does the swimming pool at the Hotel AXA (with solarium or massages), a beautifully designed hotel that’s one of my top picks for cheap hotels in Prague.
Please note : don’t expect great luxury (especially in Podolí)! I do, however, have a couple of nice saunas to recommend.
Sauna by the river or beer bath, take your pick!
First of all, Lázně na lodi (literally Spa on a boat). You’ll remember this riverside activity for a long time, as it’s a lovely wooden sauna on a boat moored to the quay… The price is modest (190 CZK or less than 8 EUR for an hour). It’s a mixed sauna where you can rent towels and, of course, you don’t need a bathing suit.
Kayak Beach Bar has the same concept, overlooking the castle (sauna rental for 2 people and 1.5 hours).
Another unusual and little-known sauna in the center of town : Národní sauna or the National Theater sauna. Located on the roof and 7th floor of Nová scéna (the superb butalist building which is part of the National Theatre and also houses the pretty NONA café), this sauna has been in operation for over 30 years, but until recently was reserved for dancers only. Now, after a superb design renovation ( design really is an art in which the Czechs excel!), it is open to the public. It’s a Finnish sauna for 16 people, with a ceiling lined with wood in the shape of a Czech flag. If you go after 7 p.m., you’ll most likely hear a few notes of music!
For a fun activity in the middle of a boom, I also recommend beer baths! There are several hotels offering beer baths, including Hotel Metamorphis, Hotel Meteor Plaza Prague and Hotel Majestic Plaza. You’ll also find my top addresses for beer baths in Prague in my article on things to do with a beer in hand.
Eat a trdelník
This is THE pastry to try in Prague! The recipe is ancient, but trdelník has only been a success in Prague for a few years (in fact, it’s a specialty of Slovakia, a sister country that separated from Czechoslovakia in 1993). For the faint-hearted, trdelník is not traditional in Prague. But it’s starting to become one! So it would be wrong to deprive ourselves. While the number of addresses and recipes has multiplied (with cream, ice cream or Nutella…), the original trdelník is flavored (with the cinnamon so characteristic of Czech pastry), cooked on a spit over coals and sprinkled with sugar and crushed hazelnuts.
You’ll find trdelník all around Old Town Square. Perfect for cold weather. Here are two excellent addresses: Good Food
& Coffee Bakery in the Old Town (which even has two franchises in Dubai and China!) or U Kajetana near the Castle.
Strolling and discovering the many passages
After nearly fifteen years in Prague, I’m not sure I know all of the city’s many passageways. Whether in the New Town (with the famous Lucerna passage, for example) or in the Old Town, they’re all different and provide shelter from the cold in winter and the heat in summer. They contribute greatly to Prague’s charm and are often good shortcuts. Don’t be afraid to get stuck in!
See an ice hockey match
It’s the king of sports in the Czech Republic! Ice hockey is very popular in Prague, and you’ll often see televised broadcasts in popular bars and restaurants. The national team were Olympic champions in Nagano in 1998. If you’d like to see a match live, check out this article (field hockey info at the end of the page), where you’ll also find out how to buy a ticket and where to go (or type “field hockey” into the Ticketmaster search engine).
Don’t worry, it’s not cold in the rinks and, after every third period, the stands empty and all the spectators go for a good beer at one of the many refreshment stands.
Taste the local brandies in a bar or club
Czechs love to get out and about, and don’t entertain much at home. Any occasion is a good one for a beer or two with friends or colleagues: birthdays, exam successes, the approach of the festive season… To mark the occasion (even if it’s also done for no good reason, of course), it’s also customary to send a few shots of brandy to complement your beer. Plum spirit (slivovice), pear spirit (hruškovice) and plant liqueur (Berechovka) are among the most popular. You’ll find them on the menu of every bar and club in festive Prague.
Choose a hotel with a spa (or beer bath, see above)
If you’re visiting Prague in winter, it would be a shame not to book a hotel with a spa. There are plenty of them in Prague. What could be better after a day spent in the cold than recovering from your exertions in hot steam? You can also follow up with a few laps in the pool or a good massage. For your convenience, here’s a list of Prague hotels with saunas, massages or spas and wellness centers. But maybe you’ve got enough time for a spa treatment not far from Prague…
Now that you’re convinced, book your flight, book your hotel and enjoy winter in Prague! And if the snow doesn’t come, you have drawings by Josef Lada, the great illustrator of Czech winters of yesteryear…
