68 Best Bars in Prague, Czech Republic

This gorgeous café-bar, all distressed walls and high ceilings, is open from 8 am till midnight, and manages to transition nicely from coffee stop by day to funky bar by night. The owners reclaimed an old Austro-Hungarian café space for their modern version, and the update is pitched perfectly, with tasty food as well as drinks, including beer from the well-regarded Matuška brewery.

If you like your Champagne bars relaxed, located in ancient buildings with shutters and crumbling exterior walls that are covered with graffiti, this little joint is for you. A cool and welcoming spot, with candles scattered around as the sun sets, Champagneria offers a range of drinks from the fizz of its title to Matuška, a craft brew that many Prague hipsters consider the Champagne of beers anyway. Great acoustics for cheerful conversation, proper Champagne glasses, a tasty snack menu, a piano in the corner, art on the walls and regular musical performances only add to the promise.

This chic, lounge-style bar, situated on the rooftop of the Hilton Prague hotel, offers glorious views of the Czech capital (including parts you don't usually see). There's an extensive menu of innovative cocktails, as well as some beautifully presented snack food; try the chicken lollipops and prawn popcorn. The music can be very loud in the evening so it's not the place to come for a quiet conversation.

This side-street taproom has an enormous, arching bar with an ever-changing selection of 10 Czech and international beers on tap. There are fridgefuls of bottles, too; the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff will be happy to help you make a selection. Beer-friendly food, from cheddar-smothered nachos to beer-marinated ribs, is served throughout the day.

If you're a fan of alternative culture and really memorable nights, Cross Club will not let you down. It's a glorious mixture of many different things: otherworldly metal sculptures; floors and floors of different music, including lots of drums and bass; interesting artistic happenings, such as poetry readings, theater shows, film screenings, author readings, and an afternoon kids' theater; and a gorgeous garden lit in a variety of bright colors. But, it all comes together for a great night out, if not one for the fainthearted. Its closing hours are listed as "??," which should give you some idea of its general ethos.

While Duplex is effectively an all-nighter, strobe-heavy superclub in the center of Prague, it also boasts a gorgeous roof terrace right on Wenceslas Square and a restaurant. Prices can be high and it is obviously touristy, but the location makes up for it, and if you do feel like hitting the dance floor afterward, this is where the biggest global dance music names perform.

This (appropriately named) friendly bar in Staré Mĕsto serves reasonably priced beer—and Western-priced mixed drinks—in a roomy cellar space. There's plenty of seating most weeknights, but it does get busy on weekends. It opens at 7 pm (and stays open until 6 am!), videos play every night, happy hour starts at 9, and a DJ spins after 10 on weekends, luring people onto a small dance floor—try karaoke on Tuesday. There's no cover.

The decor at this stalwart Smíchov club could be described as odd but cool. Think 1950s sci-fi crossed with art deco, and you're on the right track. It all makes for a fun, casual night out. Video parties, complete with '80s, '90s, and '00s music, draw big crowds every Friday night. There are occasional live performances, too, usually from punk or goth bands, or DJs playing electronic music.

Absinthe is all over Prague, and if you want to dabble in the green fairy's magic, there are worse places than the sophisticated cocktail bar Hemingway, which is named after the man himself. You won't find any flaming absinthe here, but you will find a range of interesting cocktails, alongside Champagne and 200 varieties of rum—the famous writer's drinks of choice. It's worth reserving a table on weekends.

This very traditional, welcoming gathering spot offers a convivial drinking place from morning to midnight, following in the tradition of the grand cafés of Prague's past, where literary greats would gather and debate till morning. To get a hit of that vibe, head in, take a seat at one of the dark wood tables, order a beer, and start setting the world to rights. There are dance, art, and theater performances, too. 

An atmospheric haunt that calls itself an "alchemical pub" (probably thanks to its location in the same building as the Museum of Alchemists), this bar likely hasn't worked out how to turn base metals into gold or discovered the elixir of life yet, but it's a pretty fun gimmick nonetheless. Try the cocktails (complete with dry ice) and enjoy the drinks in flasks, pipes on the ceilings (allegedly full of said elixir), and drawings and diagrams on the walls.

One of a gaggle of swanky cocktail bars that have recently taken Prague by storm, L'Fleur mixes it with the best of them, blending old-school elegance—although arguably the decoration feels a little generic—and classic cocktails with local flavors (try the Parfum for a hit of traditional Czech spirit Becherovka). The menu contains some unusual ingredients—so much so that it can be a bit incomprehensible—but friendly staff are happy to explain.

Once the town hall, then a mecca for writers and artists, it's now a three-story music and theater club. Every level of this attractive building has something different going on—there's an art gallery under the roof, a "video café," a live music bar, a restaurant, a café, and a basement beer pub.

The live acts are mostly popular Czech bands.

A classy wine bar and restaurant, with high ceilings, soft lighting, and a vast selection of vintages, including some particularly fine wines from the Czech Republic. Great steak here, too.

Every branch of this mini-chain of wine bars in the Czech capital has its own charm, but the Malá Strana location is among the best, not least because it has a distinct lack of competition in the immediate area. It's easily the best place in this district for a crisp glass of white in the courtyard in summer, or a reviving red in the cozy interior in the colder months. 

Sometimes all you want is some guaranteed good pop tunes, a friendly vibe, and a packed dance floor. If that's what you're after, Nebe will never let you down. Plus there's no cover charge. There are a couple of branches, but this slightly hidden one on Křemencova is the best of the bunch.

They call themselves cocktail artists and, although it is slightly cringe, it's hard not to agree. The team here make drinks based on your tastes rather than from a menu, and they are invariably great. There is no sign: look for the door with the little white horse. This haven is still astonishingly close to the bustle of Wenceslas Square. 

This upmarket dance club has regular themed nights with energetic DJs and, occasionally, live music acts. There's a large dance floor, but also a good-size seating area for enjoying a cocktail, a glass of Champagne, or some pick-me-up chicken wings.

An authentic shopfront with a modern brewery-style look behind, Pilsnerka has a very alluring vibe. It's worth the drop-in, too; good, fresh Pilsner Urquell from the tanks---one of several spots around town affiliated with the brewery, and serving the freshest version of probably the most famous Czech export out there---and affordable, tasty takes on Czech classics in a part of town that has not previously excelled in this kind of bar/restaurant.

This industrial chic neighborhood brewpub, in a quiet corner of Karlín facing the leafy slopes of Vítkov Hill, serves a good choice of home-brewed beers (the dark ones beat the light ones) as well as hearty pub food. A good stop before or after taking in a show at Forum Karlín.

An old-school Czech microbrewery with views of the river in summer and a cozy beer-hall vibe in the winter. There's also some surprisingly fancy Italian food at the restaurant. Try the wheat beer in particular.

With literally wall-to-wall bottles—there are around 250 different brands of beer lining the walls—as well as six ever-changing brews on tap, there's nowhere better to take a deep dive into the Czechs' favorite pastime. The food's pretty good, too.

With 30 Czech craft beers on tap, this is the place to go in Staré Mĕsto if you're hunting for an unusual brew in a fun environment. The owners scoured the countryside for their beers, and one, run by a husband-and-wife team, has a cheeky name that speaks to the brewer's gratitude for his partner. Try a flight of beers to taste a few different brews. There are now four of the pubs around town.

With a cooler, more modern and stripped-back cocktail bar vibe than some of the others in this quarter, Public Interest has one of those drinks lists where everything is tempting, although Heroes is our current favorite (gin, grapefruit, lemongrass, and Prosecco—what's not to like?). It also serves good coffee if you are looking for a slightly less decadent after-dinner drink.

This friendly and pretty hip LGBTQ café-bar opens at 3 every day and dishes up small bites, decent coffee, and reasonable beer and cocktails over two floors. This is one of the places in Prague to embrace Kofola—Czech communist-era Coca-Cola—which is worth a try. There's a library, too.

Part nightclub, part performance space, the Roxy doubles as a residence for DJs and as a popular venue for electronica and touring cult bands. The large former theater has a comfortable, lived-in feel that borders on warehouse chic. All exits from the club are final, and patrons are encouraged not to hang around the area. Upstairs, the NoD space has all manner of bizarre acts. 

A restaurant and nightclub and music venue in a warehouse in the middle of a market isn't really the place you'd expect to draw Prague's high-heeled glitterati, but SaSaZu often does. The gorgeous restaurant serves delicious and inventive pan-Asian fusion cuisine, and the vast club can be fun, too: it hosts performances by big international names, from Kesha to Public Enemy, and diners get their own doorway to the club, making an evening here—involving dinner and tickets to see a global music star—a pleasingly swanky experience.

The oldest brewpub in Europe—open since 1499—makes a tasty, if overpriced, dark beer and serves around 2,000 pints of it every day. But the steady stream of tours means it can be hard to find a seat (in the evenings, at least), even though the place is cavernous, spread over eight halls and a garden. There's also a brewery museum and cabaret shows.

Beware of waiters putting unordered shots of liquor on your table.

If you don't insist they remove them right away, they'll be on your bill, and service can be indifferent to rude. But the raucous, beer-swilling, mug-clinking bonhomie makes up for that.

Commonly known as "Little Glen," patrons are willing to cram in to hear solid house jazz and blues bands, as well as a few visiting acts. Get there early to stake out a seat near the stage; the tunnel-shape vault can be crowded but that only adds to the atmosphere. Upstairs they serve food until midnight.

Some people claim that the way the beer is tapped here makes it the best in town, which probably explains the constant crowds. This was one of the first places in the world to offer unpasteurized beer from tanks, rather than kegs. And the place still retains its old-fashioned charm, making it one of the best authentic Czech pubs in a heavily touristed area. Groups should make reservations—a free table is rare.