25 min
50 min
A · 5 · 9 · 15 · 26
15.4 / km²
5
1
1,132
−14% vs city
Counted from OpenStreetMap and Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0)
Staying in Žižkov
Žižkov is the old working-class quarter on the hill east of the main station, and it splits in two. The upper end around Jiřího z Poděbrad is cafés, the farmers' market and flats that cost real money. The lower end around Husitská is pawn shops, cheap bars and hostels. Both are Žižkov, and a booking site will not tell you which one you are looking at.
The money is the reason to come: dorm beds from about 275 Kč and doubles from roughly 38 EUR, which is half of Staré Město for a walk of about 25 minutes. The bars are the other reason - the district claims more of them per head than anywhere in the world, and they are Czech pubs rather than tourist ones.
Two practical warnings. The heart of Žižkov has no metro at all: line A clips the edges at Flora, Želivského and Jiřího z Poděbrad, and the middle is served by trams 5, 9, 15 and 26. And it is called Žižkov hill for a reason - the walk home from the centre climbs the whole way. Check your address against a tram stop before you book.
What works
- Dorm beds from about 275 Kč and doubles from roughly 38 EUR, the cheapest central rates
- Czech pubs rather than tourist bars, at Czech prices, on nearly every corner
- Trams 5, 9, 15 and 26 run through the core, and night trams keep running
- Vítkov hill and the TV tower give you the views without the entrance queue
- About 25 minutes on foot to Old Town Square, downhill on the way in
What does not
- The core has no metro station: line A only touches the edges of the district
- Lower Žižkov around Husitská is pawn shops and cheap bars, not cafés
- It is a steep hill and the walk back from the centre climbs all of it
- Party hostels mean noise, and the hotel stock is old and mostly unrenovated
- The upper and lower ends differ so much that the district name tells you nothing
The lower part of Žižkov around Husitská street is known for its high concentration of pawn shops and cheap bars, while the upper part near Jiřího z Poděbrad metro boasts many cafés and flashier apartments.However, the heart of Žižkov (the oldest part of the neighborhood with most hotels and restaurants) is served by trams 5, 9, 15 and 26, with stops at Viktoria Žižkov, Lipanská and Olšanské náměstí.