15 min
40 min
A · 12 · 20 · 22 · 23
20.6 / km²
18
3
447
+35% vs city
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Staying in Malá Strana
Malá Strana is the baroque quarter under Prague Castle, and it is the one central district that goes quiet at night. The day-trip coaches leave, Charles Bridge thins out, and you are left with lamplit lanes, the castle gardens and Petřín hill on your doorstep. Wikivoyage's own advice on where to sleep in Prague names this district and Staré Město and nothing else.
Two things to know before you book. It is steep - Nerudova and Úvoz climb to the castle and every walk back ends uphill - and it is small, so ordinary shops, supermarkets and non-tourist restaurants are thin on the ground. Crossing to Staré Město means Charles Bridge, which is a slow crush from 10:00 to 18:00; the tram or the Mánes bridge is faster on foot.
It suits couples, second visits and anyone who would rather pay for quiet than for square footage. It suits families and heavy luggage much less: the cobbles are the worst in the city and the hills are real.
What works
- Charles Bridge and the castle gardens are five to ten minutes on foot
- Genuinely quiet after 19:00, unlike anywhere else in Praha 1
- Metro A at Malostranská and trams 12, 20, 22 along Újezd
- Petřín hill and the Kampa riverside are walkable before breakfast
What does not
- Steep streets: every walk home from the river is uphill
- Few supermarkets or everyday shops, and restaurants near the bridge are priced for tourists
- Charles Bridge is a crowd crush most of the day, and it is your route into the Old Town
- Small hotel stock keeps rates high, and cheap rooms basically do not exist
- The cobbles and hills make it hard work with a pram or a wheeled suitcase
[...] the best is to stay in Prague 1, next to monuments to visit by foot, in the Lesser Town district (Mala Strana) or in the Old Town (Stare Mesto).