Beer Boozing in Prague: Sampling Some Czech Brews

Prague is a great city for beer lovers, with lots of lively bars and good restaurants to sample some excellent Czech brews and have some quality food. In this trip report I’ll show some of my favourites.

Prague bars and restaurants

When it comes to beer, the Czech Republic is arguably one of the top countries to visit together with Germany and Belgium.

Unsurprisingly, the Czech capital of Prague has a lot of quality bars, pubs and restaurants where you can drink some tasty Czech beers paired with some hearty local dishes.

Some of these places are firmly on the tourist map, while others are more tailored towards locals.

During my business and leisure trips to Prague in 2021 I visited some great variety of beer places with Czech and foreign friends.

Below you can find an overview of some of my favourites.

A night out in Prague

On one of my first nights in Prague some friends invited me to join them for dinner and some beers in town at a place called Kantýna.

One thing which I love about Prague nights out is simply walking through the city to the pub or restaurant.

There is just so much beauty in Prague – from Medieval buildings to some lovely Fin de Siècle architecture – that you sometimes rather stay outside to admire the cityscape than go inside for a pint of beer.

On my walk from my accommodation – an Art Nouveau delight called Hotel Central – towards the dinner venue I came across many of such places.

However, the Municipal House (Obecní dům) has a wonderful Art Nouveau café where you can drink beer and admire the fine historic surroundings at the very same time.

Riverside beers

One of my favourite parts of Prague to enjoy a beer on a sunny day are the banks of the River Vltava (also known under its German name, the Moldau).

The best places for a beer are on the east bank between the New Town and Vyšehrad.

Here, you will find many outdoor terraces on the river quay and all kinds of barges and pontoons that have been converted into floating bars.

It was a perfect location to enjoy several glasses of Lobkowicz Pšeničné (wheat/weizen beer) while watching the trains pass by over the nearby Vyšehrad Railway Bridge and seeing all kinds of river boats sail on the Moldau.

Lobkowicz generally brews some quality beer as I’m also a fan of their pilsner.

Local pubs and restaurants

Most travellers stick to the old town pubs and restaurants, which is a big shame as many of them are run-of-the-mill places tailored towards tourists, serving overpriced beer and food.

While in Prague, you should try to drink at least one beer in a local bar outside the city centre, being surrounded by Czech people only instead of other tourists.

You don’t even have to go far for this, as there are plenty of such places in the areas directly surrounding the Old and New Town.

One of such pubs is located right next to Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.

The pub is called Krčma u Parašutistů, a name which refers to the Czech paratroopers who took refuge in the church after they assassinated infamous Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich during World War II.

However, the Nazis learned of their hiding places and assaulted the church, killing the Czech war heroes and all those who sheltered them.

Nowadays the church hosts a free museum which tells the story about the Heydrich assassination, the Czech war heroes and the Nazi crimes carried out in retaliation.

We certainly enjoyed our beers in the pub – as well as a good portion of yummy spare ribs.

Station beer

During my stay in Prague I had made a few day trips by train out of the city.

After my return from Olomouc (a fabulous Czech destination in its own right!) I enjoyed a couple of tasty beers at a bar in Prague’s Masaryk railway station (Praha Masarykovo nádraží).

Masaryk railway station is a secondary train station located a block away from Praha hlavní nádraží, Prague’s gorgeous central station built in Art Nouveau style.

As beautiful as hlavní nádraží is, it doesn’t really have a good place to drink beer.

Fortunately Masaryk station is just a 5-minute walk away in the direction of the old town.

This train station has a nice bar and restaurant called Masaryčka, which makes for a good place to drink some Czech beers and eat some good food while absorbing the railway vibes.

Beers and trains

Train lovers may also want to visit Vytopna Railway Restaurant in Prague.

This bar and restaurant is famous for having a miniature railway with trains delivering your order of beer and food to your seat!

Výtopna Restaurant Railway in Prague is famous for its beer train. 🍻 🚂 pic.twitter.com/4tBpPpxKYS

— Insider (@thisisinsider) August 30, 2017

Beer spa

After all the beer drinking, it’s important to take some time to relax and come back to your senses.

Obviously, there is no better place to do this than at a beer spa, of which there are quite a few in Prague.

Sure, it might be a super touristy thing to do, but it’s great fun when you are travelling with friends.

We went to a beer spa called Beerland on Revoluční 22 and although it wasn’t cheap the entire experience was superb.

We had our own private room at the spa which contained a sauna, showers, a wheat straw bed and most importantly three beer baths.

The baths contain a mixture of water, beer extracts and herbs and you can throw as much extra yeast or hops into it as you want.

Although you obviously can’t drink the bath water, there are beer taps next to each bath from which you can pour your own pint of light or dark Krušovice beer.

Indeed, unlimited beer is included with your spa visit – even before or after your beer bath session you are welcome to linger as long as you want at the reception area to enjoy the complimentary draught beer!

More beers and pubs

After the lovely beer spa experience, we headed to U Rudolfina for some dinner.

Just outside the old town proper, this is another no-nonsense, authentic Czech pub where you can enjoy some good beer and food.

When you are visiting Prague with friends, The Pub is another fun place to visit as it has special tables where you can tap your own draught beer.

At the screen, you can see who at the table drank the most beer while larger screens inside The Pub show which table is leading the score in beers tapped.

Another fun place to drink beer is the bar at the Prague Beer Museum, which has a huge list of Czech brews from hundreds of bigger and smaller breweries around the country.

Although there are many of such museums around Prague, the best one is the one furthest from the old town at Americká 341 right next to Náměstí Míru metro station.

Brewery visit

Of course, it’s possible to visit a beer brewery as well when you are in Prague.

The largest and most famous brewery in the city is Staropramen, but as I’m not a particular fan of the beer I never went there.

Instead, I would recommend visiting some of the lesser known breweries or microbreweries in Prague – of which there are quite a lot.

Alternatively, you can make a day trip to Plzeň to visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery – the original source of pilsner-style beer!

As Plzeň is just over an hour away by train from Prague, making a day trip is perfectly doable.

Conclusion

Prague has a wide choice of great bars, pubs and restaurants where you can sample some excellent Czech beer.

When you visit the Czech capital, remember that there is a lot more than just the old town, the area of Prague where most tourists confine themselves to.

Although some of the more touristy bars and restaurants are well-worth a visit (they are famous for a reason!) you should definitely try to have a beer at a couple of places outside the old town to get a real flavour of authentic Czech pub life.

The same counts for the actual beer.

Although some of the main beer brands are great (I really love Pilsner Urquell myself) it’s always a good idea to sample some brews from small Czech breweries or microbreweries as well.

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