LONG TIME DEAD

Me and my son head to the Czech Republic for fun and adventure. November 2023.

I love a city with numbered districts. No ambiguity and no messing. In Prague District 7 is Holesovice, a cool city-fringe district where tourists are more than matched in number by locals. This is our base for three days and was voted by The Guardian in 2020 as one of the top ten neighbourhoods in Europe.

Staying in Holesovice was my choice but all other things on this trip emerged from a combined wish-list prepared with my son Cam who is 23. It’s not always easy finding middle ground across a generation but we both commit to trying everything on the list with gusto.  

We are agreed that our hotel is a winner. Mama Shelter in Prague is part of a 17 strong chain of boutique hotels owned by the Trigano family and apparently developed with investment from Phillipe Stark. It has a fun vibe, not overly expensive and of course has outstanding furniture. Better still the hotel was purpose built in ‘67 just ahead of the soviet-led invasion of ‘68. It was a mecca for the cool on opening, then faded into the background for several decades and is now back to its best via a couple of recent overhauls.   

First night is dinner at Lokal. We found this place in advance and it was well worth the research. A long, dark-wood drinking and dining den and very atmospheric. We both try to match the locals pint for pint on beer but fail miserably. Click here to see just how off the charts beer consumption is in the Czech Republic.

We join an excellent bike tour for 3 hours the following morning via Baja Bikes. Lots of fun with a group of 18 – a French extended family, some French and Dutch couples and two Canadian sisters. Maartja our tour guide is super informative, providing plentiful insights into the Prague Spring and then life in Czechoslovakia in the 70s/80s. Her knowledge is all the more impressive given that she is Dutch, a serious kayaker and in the Czech Republic primarily to chase rapids.

Dinner that night was in Kantyna. This is a great place that Cam spotted. Big hunks of meat that you buy by weight, all in a converted 19^th century bank with original murals and marble columns retained. Later that night we to go to Jazz Dock – a floating jazz and blues club on the Vlatava river. Fab performance from a Brit called James Harries who has evidently been living in Prague for some years given his mastery of Czech language and rapport with the locals.

Cam’s highlight of our second full day was the Illusion Art Museum – an impressive place with loads of immersive trick art. Not a museum I would have normally visited but we had fun, and both left wanting to learn more about illusion art. My highlight of Day Two was our afternoon trip to the open-air pool and sauna at the Podoli Swimming Stadium just a couple of miles south of the old town. It is a fab complex built in 1965. Lots of concrete, especially in the bunker-like old school sauna. We had a vigorous swim in the 33m outdoor pool which was heated and dodged the outdoor 50m pool (unheated) and the indoor 50m pool (packed). Tram 17 drops you off pretty much outside.  

I stumbled across a shrine to Czech design late that day. Gallery Kubista is both shop and small gallery and contains a stunning collection of art deco/cubist originals and new work from young designers. Well worth a stop.  

We go on a beer tasting trip on our final evening via Prague Brewery Tours. Turns out be a small group of me, Cam, a lovely couple from Leipzig and Thomas our guide. Thomas takes us through some Prague classics, starting with a Gambrinus 11 and working up to stronger brews. We learn loads about Czech beer and have a real giggle.

There is time on our final morning to fit in one final round of activities. Cam checks out Prague Castle. I skip the tourists and go to the very impressive Trade Fair Palace branch of the National Gallery of Prague, which is right next to our hotel. The highlight is the permanent exhibition on Czech architecture between 1959 to 1980. I hang out in their in-house Kolektor Cafe for the final hour of our stay and for some people watching.

Post Trip Reflections:

Holesovice is just a short hop from Prague’s old town. Definitely give it, and some of Prague’s other city-fringe districts, a try. Prague is yet another place where cheap public transport rocks. We got three days unlimited travel throughout  the whole city for £12 each.

If travelling with older teenage kids or young adults, then Mama Shelter is a great hotel chain. So too is Generator (see my Scandi trip of Nov 2022) and The Social Hub (where I stayed in Amsterdam with my daughter in 2019). I like these places where multiple generations hang out.     

I am increasingly a fan of booking on a small group tour. We did two in three days in Prague. They are fab for meeting people from different countries/backgrounds. And my experience is that the guides are invariably multi-talented and very entertaining.

I enjoyed spending time with Cam. Gen Z can teach us a few things – especially on how to get from A to B with the minimum fuss.