by Bridget Arend
After a couple months in Prague, most of us have at least hit the main tourist attractions. With Charles Bridge, the castle, the lenin wall, and all those main attractions taken care of, you may be wondering where else in Prague to check out. From attractions that are just less known, to non-touristy activities, here are seven hidden places in Prague to check out!
Magical Cavern: The first hidden attraction is a magical themed art gallery on Petrin Hill! While Petrin Hill is a major tourist attraction, with the Eiffel tower-style observation deck drawing tourists in with the incredible views, on the way up there is a little art gallery, right next to the restaurant just off the tram stop to the top of the hill. The inside of the gallery looks like a cave, and it’s filled with interesting, magical and mythological art and objects. It was a nice stop on the way to a better known tourist attraction!
Stromovka Park: Right off the Vystavice Holesovice tram stop is an Stromovka Park. At first, it looks like any other park, but if you keep walking through it away from the tram station, eventually you get to this beautiful area, full of interconnected ponds and streams, with bridges and walkways, and even islands you can only get to with a little rafts on a pulleys. It’s an incredibly beautiful park, and a great place to explore!
Grotto in Havlickcovy Park: Around the cornor from Machova Dorm is Havlickcovy park. In the park, there is a beautiful grotto, full of staircases carved out of rock, secret pathways, rooms full of interesting decorations, and balconies. It’s fun to try to find all the secret places in this grotto, and then visit the rest of the park as well. There’s a coffee shop in the park, and incredible views of the city!
Fair Trade Palace: The Fair Trade Palace, right by the Vystavice Holesovice tram stop, is part of the National Gallery, housing their modern art collections. While they have a number of famous artists such as Klimt, Picasso, and Van Gogh, they also have an interesting moving image collection. Currently there’s an exhibition by a German artist, Katerina Grosse, who created colorful artwork on huge pieces of canvas, hanging from the ceiling.The whole museum is extremely interesting, and free to students!
Bio Oko: The movie theater Bio Oko has a variety of movies, many in English or with English subtitles. With lots of indie films, documentaries, and foreign films (including American), this is a great place to catch a movie! This theater is interesting for its strange mix of chairs, so stop by and catch a movie while sitting in a dentist chair!
Thrift Store: For a non-touristy activity, try thrift shopping in Prague! First, head to Prague Thrift (Budečská 893/13, 120 00 Praha 2-Vinohrady), a small, but well selected, thrift store with special deals on fridays! Then head over to Crashily (14 510 Ječná Nové Město Praha 2 Praha, 120 00) for another small, but well-selected thrift store. It’s a good place for buttons, patches, or posters as well, and shopping here is a great time because of their punk-pop music!
Bowling: Lastly, another great non-tourist activity is the bowling place right by Osadni! It has everything from bowling, pool tables, air hockey, and arcade games, and a nice bar! It has a laid-back atmosphere and is made up almost entirely of locals!