Welcome to an exposition of 50 of our favourite pubs and bars in Czechia!
Whether it’s cocktails, craft beer, the humble Hospoda, the backstreet Pajzl, punk & rock bars, and historic taverns, here are our favourites!
(Remember, we haven’t visited everywhere in the country, so if there are any you think are missing, we’ll get there soon)
Style: Neighbourhood Pub / Beer Specialists
Go for: Quality beers, friendly chat, local life.
A neighbourhood Hospoda full, the room ringing with conversation is a joy to behold. ‘The Wandering Pipe’ provides a solid, reliable format, a one room affair with chunky tables. The social aspect stands out above the norm, as do the wares. High quality unfiltered beers from smaller independent breweries. As hinted at in the title, these vary from week to week.
Style: Café Bar / Theme Pub / Beer Garden
Go for: Novelty factor, summer barbecues, friendly welcome.
A local curio. Set in a park, an old mail wagon has been restored and refurbished after its service on the tracks in the 20th century. The bar opened in 2000 and is still going. Daily barbecues in warmer months on a pleasant terrace, and friendly staff provide further reasons to drop by.
Style: Late Bar / Retro / Live Music Venue
Go for: Late drinks, live music, fun evenings
Established in 1995, offering a busy schedule of live concerts and opening late 7 nights a week means this is a venue most residents have heard of and been to at least once, as an institution of the city of Pilsen. Courtyard stage and characterful, rickety interior offer a few strings to its bow.
Style: Traditional Tavern / Pub-Restaurant
Go for: Hearty meals, cosy atmosphere, characterful interior.
A truly quirky pub, Šenk Nožíře Dobroty references Jáchym Dobrota, an enigmatic knifemaker and inventor who led a colourful life. Stories about him range from the vivid to the far-fetched.
Similarly colourful, the pub is set in a row of brightly painted tenements by Medieval city walls. Inside, a traditional pub which more resembles a German Gaststätte or English country pub than a Czech Hospoda. Low ceilings, exposed beams and dark wood in intimate spaces, with a carved wood bar, this stands out a mile in a country with not many similar examples.
Style: Knajpa / Brewery-tied Taproom
Go for: Pivovar Hostomice beers at excellent prices, a traditional environment, escape from the tourists.
Bringing country lagers to the big city, the Nalévárna, a de facto taproom for Hostomice brewery revives a traditional, out-of-time, out-of-place pub set in the touristic centre of Prague. They offer something of substance which due to its compact size and unassuming frontage manages to maintain a balance of locals and visitors.
Style: Hospoda / City Tavern / Traditional / Retro
Go for: Kvasnicový ležák, a charming retro interior, First Republic era vibes.
A pub with a history and a decoration that speaks to it, with a clear revivalist feel. Breweriana on the walls, high ceiling and classic taproom. You’ll even find some museum pieces such as old taps and cabinets in the two interior rooms. The rhythm of the day gives the place its charm, with locals being gradually absorbed into the busy lunch service and tapster/server combo at work. It’s a proper pub with space to drink and socialise without any pressure to eat, and you may find some nice beers here too, such as the Kvasnicový Platan lager, poured so immaculately that it deserved drooling over.
Style: Hospoda / Neighbourhood Pub / Beer Specialists
Go for: Excellent Beer, social life, good service and fair prices.
Malý Růžek isn’t only a beer connoisseurs choice with its rotating offer of Pivo from small, independent brewers, but a friendly, regular pub with a strong social function, that has brought some of the best elements of the past, while rebooting the offer in the present.
Style: Late Bar / Club
Go for: Down to earth late night fun
Cult venue, around so long that even the point where it was called a cult venue is in the distant past. A basement bar opening from early evenings to late night. Funky yet unpretentious. The drinks offering has been fiercely upgraded too since the early days and you can find several very good beers at good prices, along with a versatile back bar.
Style: Hospoda / Traditional
Go for: An authentic remnant of 20th century Prague, friendly service and honest cooking.
Among a small handful of remaining down-to-earth, blue collar Hospůdky in Prague old town, one that hasn’t yielded much to changing fashions – nor indeed debt demands! Close to being a national monument these days and needs taking care of just as much as its namesake, the nearby Rotunda does.
Style: Brewery / Village Pub
Go for: Independent, small-batch brewing with a homespun, entirely local feel.
Czechia’s brewpub operations tend to either be well-financed slick restaurants or almost comically non-descript as venues, so it is charming to discover a brewpub with a real identity, friendly staff and serving what is in essence the village’s social hub. Furthermore, it’s a characterful old venue with brick vaults, curved ceilings and classic tap set-up. Wide range and fair prices.
Style: Late Bar / Alternative Scene
Go for: Off-the map boozing and clandestine, late night fun.
One of Brno’s cult Alternative venues. A basement hangout that is Pure Scuzz, so a love-or-hate option, but when you read those that love the place, you begin to respect it. People threatening to leave the city if a bar closes down generally grab your attention.
Style: Brewery / Village Pub
Go for: Obscure rural Pivo, homespun charm
Far off the beaten path for Czechs, let alone tourists, but the village’s train connection makes journeying here surprisingly easy. On arrival, your reward is a charming, humble and rustic pub serving brew master David’s regular and seasonal creations.
Style: Cocktail Bar / Cinema Bar
Go for: Creative cocktails, bookish vibe, lively atmosphere.
Vršovice, a hipster neighbourhood with an international flavour but still popular with many Prague residents. That’s the mix you’ll find here at a very popular cocktail bar adjacent to a cinema of the same name. Despite ever-present demand, they maintain their quality and provide an attractive, vibrant environment that twinkles and sparkles.
Style: Hospoda / Neighbourhood Pub
Go for: Local life, comfortable surroundings, clandestine boozing.
A humble hospoda: cosy, comfortable and loungey, with an attractive clandestine feel owing to its out-of-the-way location, limited opening hours and dark, bunker-like interior.
Style: Village Pub / Theme Pub
Go for: A labour of love, novelty value, village life, multitap craft beer options.
Discovered solely by walking past it, this place would be a good catch for us in most countries but especially a rural area of Czechia. Much effort has been put into making this a highly personalised and distinctive place, cluttered with nik-naks, historic cuttings and its alpine/winter theme. The interior is as cosy as that suggests and in it you can enjoy one or many of its beers sourced from independent breweries.
Style: City Pub / Traditional / Family Run
Go for: Beers with friends, occasional evening singalongs, a break from tourists.
A family operation that’s down to earth and honestly priced with a simple Knajpa type format, including its interior which has not been messed with. The layout is akin to more famous venues but without the city crowd and definitely tourists. If you admire simplicity and pug-nosed stubbornness in your pubs, and need a break from Prague 1’s crush, you’ll enjoy this place. Visit later on for some impromptu bursts of song.
Style: Pivnice / Casual / Traditional
Go for: Poutník beer, a classic tapster/server setup and possibly the most underrated pub in the city.
Set just outside the cathedral area and city centre, ‘At The All Saints’ is a true classic Pivnice set up for socialising and boozing. Their weapon of choice? Supreme Poutník beer, including the unfiltered kvasnicový (known colloquially as špinavý or dirty). Certainly among the most underrated and least heralded pubs in Brno.
Style: Village Pub / Hostinec / Station Pub
Go for: The cheapest beer in Czechia, a performance of an Austrian era mechanical orchestra (oh, not another one), a chance to luxuriate in truly rare example of an unspoilt pub.
Featured on Czech TV’s ‘Tales of Old Pubs‘, Hostinec Veselíčko is a wonderful throwback set just off the village’s station halt. Inside, the Austrian era has been kept beautifully preserved, with any changes carefully curated. From the décoration right down to the soft-drinks choices, the pub harks back to the past, but a lively village crown and recent fame lends it a verve and relevance. Did you think the days of the 30 crown pint were dead? Not here.
Style: Backstreet Pub / Traditional
Go for: Friendly social atmosphere, local life, cosy interior.
A beautifully curated homely feeling pub which has that genius loci that so many try and fail to attain. Being among the throng, even for a night, is to have been part of that magic. A traditional counterpoint to an otherwise Modernist city.
Style: Backstreet Pub / Traditional
Go for: Pre-post match analysis, live hockey, Poutník beer.
Colourful, lively, local and unpretentious, this popular backstreet pub near the football ground buzzes with social energy. A true boozer.
Style: Club / Complex / Art Installation
Go for: Steampunk art, terrace lounging, late night clubbing.
Holešovice’s long-standing institution may be passé for many in 2025, but there’s no denying the impression it makes on a first visit. Steampunk ironwork aesthetic across a versatile complex with club, bar, restaurant and terrace offering a different experience at any time of day.
Style: Station Pub / Village Pub / Converted signal box
Go for: Trackside boozing, delicious chlebíčky, Dalešice beer.
A simple trip from Brno central station to this superb train station pub, offering a wide range of tap beers from Dalešice in a well-preserved building which used to house the signal box for Troubsko station. Vechtrovna does not offer the palatial Art Nouveau splendour of Prague main station nor is it an endearing socialist relic, but a fine, humble example of the diversity of this format.
Style: Basement Pub / Late Bar
Go for: 1990s vibes, a stalwart pub, Únětické (and other) beers.
Jamajka is a cult pub that has survived the 1990s through to the present while retaining its core appeal. A classic half-step basement location, range of beers that aren’t PU/Kozel/Gambrinus for a change and a space that has a hint of magic about it when it’s busy.
Style: Station Pub / Pajzl / Live Music Venue
Go for: Trackside garden, live music, down n’ dirty fun.
Panic set in when the news was announced in 2025 that this cult pub was due to be changed to – possibly the greyest looking café bar in the world. After a modest uproar, an agreement was reached to extend the lease at this cult pub which shows off Prague at its most unabashed, a real contrast (or, in our opinion, antidote) to Automat nearby.
Style: City Centre Pub / Traditional
Go for: Socialising, city gossip and casual hangouts.
Situated in the centre of the city, but with an atmosphere that feels above the typical central trade; a casual living room staked out on prime real estate. With plenty of character, a cast of regulars, a homely interior and good grub, Na Hradě is a standout venue in the region.
Style: Traditional Pub / Beer Specialists
Go for: Multi-tap selection, sprawling interior and the less touristy vibes of Nusle district.
Although some of our confidants claim their crown has slipped, we visit Zlý časy (Bad Times) every year and it still bangs. A traditional pub with rebooted selection. A previously vast offering may have been stripped back in recent times but there is plenty to go at, the core materials are still in place. Busy evenings buzz with life. When it hits, you won’t want to be anywhere else.
Style: Underground Pub / Hidden Bar / Alternative / Live Music Venue
Go for: Ramshackle, clandestine boozing, live music.
If you’re ready to wander through a lorry park in the pitch black of night past a disused restaurant, then you may see a glimmer of light around the corner. You are not hallucinating. Enter to discover a ramshackle hut for true outsiders, young and old.
Style: Brewery Taproom / Central Pub / Traditional
Go for: Multitap beer options, evening grub, local life and gossip.
At The Snail offers its own beers on draft, alongside several others at good prices in this superb traditional pub overlooking the central square. Set at the heart of the action, with local gossip and an informal feel that makes you feel at home even if you’re setting foot in the pub for the first time.
Style: Pajzl / Fourth-Grade Pub / Traditional
Go for: Working class life, some of the lowest priced beers in the country, and a relic of an interior.
Glorious throwback boozer that has risen from obscurity to become a cult classic. Mind your manners at this rough-and-ready dirtbag pub with lurid local life augmented by youngsters attracted to its multitap offerings and basement prices. Charming, vivid and unforgettable. They even maintain their original Socialist-era opening hours which were intended for binmen coming off their shift. Known by Czechs as a ‘Fourth Grade’ pub which references that era. We almost feel guilty mentioning it.
Style: Neighbourhood Pub / Museum & Personal Collection
Go for: Extraordinary, hidden-away museum and collection, a labour of love
Jeep Bar, nestled in the hillside apartments of Klamovka is both a pub and a collection. It begins in the garden with an array of military and farming vehicles and equipment, and continues inside with guns, grilles, nik-naks and all things Americana. Eccentric and entirely one man’s passion project, it’s a true one-off.
Style: Pivnice / Medieval-Theme
Go for: An evening of fairylights, drinks and games in a characterful pub.
The pub beautiful Olomouc old town deserves. Up a cobbled lane from the central square, their green & gold frontage gleams, luring you in to a beautiful bar with a curved ceiling, Medieval themed frescos and fairylights. You get the feeling this is what Prague’s old town pubs would be like if you removed all the tourists.
Style: Pivnice / Side-street pub / Traditional
Go for: Brno’s answer to the likes of U Hrocha in Prague.
Long standing classic boozer that has seen off decades of changing trends without feeling the need to alter the format or interior. It’s (nearly) all about Poutník beer, the regular or unfiltered sold at a fair price, poured by tapsters who can deliver immaculately it in seconds with a flick of the wrist. Settle down for a session with your mates over a few beers.
Style: Station Pub / Beer Specialists / Theme Pub / Traditional
Go for: Quirkiness, tram terminus beers, a departure from the city.
One of the first wave of multi-tap pubs in Prague offering not only different beers from the norm, but several of them. Inside, a highly personalised, quirky bunker which builds on its tram theme. Based at the terminus of Spořilov, it looks far on the map but is simple to reach.
Style: Museum Café / Alternative Pub / Live Music Venue
Go for: Tapestries, gigs, slow afternoons and lively evenings.
Since the 1960s Gobelinka has been producing and restoring tapestries which line the walls of their adjoining pub with gallery and museum. Sleepy and bookish during the day, while very lively and with a strong community feel at night, this is the kind of distinctive, non-corporate venue we are looking for on our guide.
Style: Late night bar / traditional
Go for: Upside-down wood relief carvings, deadly staircase and late night fun.
Open until the early hours 7 days a week, this late night central institution is atmospheric busy or quiet, with an ‘if these walls could talk’ interior, quirky elements like the wood relief carving, stained glass portal and a treacherous staircase to the toilets which have scuppered many a reveller over the years.
Style: Classic Pivnice / Historic Tavern
Go for: The ritual of opening time, a place in its storied history, to chat with people from around the world.
World famous, most days there is a line developing for the 3pm opening of The Golden Tiger. Famous down the years for paupers and dignitaries sat alongside each other, the spirit of that idea persists today, just on an international level. Despite the tourist demand, they manage to find a balance and format that allows them to retain its identity and purpose.
Style: Basement Bar / Alternative / Events Venue
Go for: Poetry, live-music, singalongs, informal atmosphere and evening drinks.
While the district of Vinohrady continues to rapidly gentrify, this pub acts not only as a reminder of the old times but a determination to see through change into the future. An unassuming corner bunker with comfortable, lived-in and personalised interior hosting music, poetry readings and any other low key performances you can think of. The only pub on this list to have its own political party, who scored a total of 593 votes in this year’s election.
Style: Antiquey bar / Evening Bar / Casual
Go for: Atmospheric interior and local life, fun and games, informal hangouts.
A low-profile 1990s survivor, The Crocodile’s Tail in Plzeň-3 may be easy to reach, but it is the wrong side of the tracks for anyone except locals and residents to think of visiting. Timewarp venue with some obscure beer options thrown in. A drop-out for youngsters and the young at heart to forget their troubles and have fun.
Style: Evening Bar / Casual
Go for: Dive bar gigs, unpredictable evenings, late evening drinks.
No other description than “Cult” will do when summarising “The Shot-Out Eye”, stalwart dive bar of Žižkov, formerly Prague’s lawless district of vagabonds and alternatives, now simply the next district to be gentrified with hipster barbers and sky-high rents. Even its location, the end of a side-alley by Vitkov pedestrian tunnel gives it a particular identity. On your visit you can encounter pretty much anything – perhaps that’s why it keeps being worth returning to.
Style: Hospoda / Beer Specialists
Go for: A great marriage of traditional and old. Friendly welcome, modern drinks, homely environment.
Just as we state above, here is a superb example of how to reboot the Hospoda format to the present without losing charm and soul, as so many have. Ostrava’s excellent tram system makes a journey here either from the station or the city centre simple. The original iteration in Poruba district remains open, and should not be overlooked either.
Style: Hospoda / Pajzl / Evening Bar
Go for: Dive bar atmosphere, fun, games, quirkiness and a departure from the world.
The certain majesty to an effective dive bar is something we have pondered in the past, here. On that subject, this pub is never far from our thoughts. On the face of it, dilapidated, run-down, worn-out. But so much magic in its mischief. Fish tank, life-ring, card games, pool and live music, this is somewhere to let your hair down. The only thing it is missing is an updated beer line, but you can find that across the street at the ultimate chalk-and-cheese contrast, Výčep.
Style: Hospoda / Late Bar
Go for: Food, terrace drinking, quirky interior, games and reliable late night drinks.
There have been recent writings about the death of the Herna Bar, a 24 hour operation which was commonplace in Czech cities but now barely exists, even in Prague. U Sadu is not a Herna Bar, but it is one of the most reliable late pubs you’ll find. fittingly located in Žižkov, a district which used to be studded with them. With an eye-popping pub room on the ground floor stuffed with eclectic décor from floor to ceiling, a perma-open kitchen, wide beer range, ice cream, the ability to pay in Bitcoin (citation needed, the stickers have been there for years at least), a terrace by the trees, and even its own urinal merchandise, this is a pub that does its best to provide for people and go beyond the norm while doing so. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, you have to respect that.
Style: Knajpa / Compact / Traditional
Go for: A patrician classic, a beer on the stand.
The sign behind the bar says, “When thirst bites your throat, have a beer from Bohouš.” This legendary moustachioed tapster is a fixture of what is a truly dying breed of pubs in Prague, a drop in Knajpa with a bar area that is crowded with people drinking na stojáka, standing and chatting rather than seating. This, a side-street location and their closed front door acts as its own filtering mechanism, putting off all but the more intrepid tourists.
Style: Late Bar / Casual
Go for: Late night drinks and food, atmosphere.
You walk towards a grim looking entrance, punters kicking about outside with fags, and already get the sense you’re onto a winner. How so? Well, maybe that’s a study all by itself worth having.
Inside you find a true cult pub and dive bar with dark red walls, brooding lighting and recovered old wireless radios stacked high along the walls. It gets better still, as they offer a modest range of independent brewed beer from small breweries such as Beskydský, and decent selection of alternatives from the back bar too. You can feel the warm and bonhomie radiating from the customers. Such a dive bar is far too dog-eared to appeal to everyone, but this is a sterling example of what it is. That’s why it’s up here. Pure atmosphere.
Style: Late Bar / Casual / Alternative
Go for: Clandestine, off-the-map drinks, brooding atmosphere and….food?!
Traubova backstreet hosts two of the best bars not just in Brno or Czechia but arguably all of Europe. Both don’t exactly scream at you from the outside. A sturdy, very old door leads into this low-lit, immensely atmospheric parlour for hushed conversation. There’s a small thrift store in the entrance and you’d never expect it to have a fully-functioning kitchen too, but it does. This place is really is for end of the night lounging, its charming gloom and blur taking things to a glorious close.
Style: Late Bar / Casual / Alternative
Go for: Clandestine, off-the-map drinks, brooding atmosphere and….food?!
The other of the two Traubova backstreet bars, Mýdlo was a laundry, then a bar, in fact it used to be both for a while, if you can believe that. Fresh laundry whisked through a cloud of cigarrette smoke. A basement location with ancient interior has been turned into one of the ultimate casual hangouts. The typical late night games, cards, dominoes, table football can be enjoyed alongside some surprisingly good beers, quality of which were recently added to with the fitting of side-pull Lukr-taps. This is a bar with a fiercely loyal audience, a classic mixture of middle aged stalwarts and excited youngers. There’s a roster of community events and it feels like Mýdlo isn’t just a place for a late drink, but somewhere that is happy making a new friend.
Style: Hospoda / Neighbourhood Pub / Traditional
Go for: Pilsner Urquell, finger food and (if you dare), enormous pork joint, delivered at a neighbourhood pub
One of the most famous pubs outside of Prague, if not across the world then definitely in the country. Their tapsters have won awards, the pork joint is for sharing and a real cannonball of food. Their popularity has given the place that sheen of confidence. The staff swagger around the place, their smiles and banter setting the tone for what is truly a superb pub. A small venue, it can be oversubscribed unless you time your visit carefully. However, there’s usually some leaning room at the bar and its neighbourhood location in Veveří district limits the number of tourists, meaning this is still a locals pub.
Style: Hospoda / Neighbourhood Pub / Traditional
Go for: Organic beers, multitap selection, local life, occasional music
Named after the writer Zdenek Kuděj, the closest and perhaps long-suffering friend of Jaroslav Hašek, this basement bar on the periphery of Olomouc old town executes the subtleties and intangible elements that enhance a pub experience with substance – great beers that are always cared for and well-poured, good classic Czech pub snacks, and a naturally social space as pubby as they come. Were it not so damn popular, it would be near faultless.
Style: Historic Tavern / Traditional
Go for: A nationally famous classic traditional pub, old-school vibes, a fair price for a beer so near the castle.
Between the 1990s and early 00s The Black Ox acquired a reputation among foreign visitors for being tolerant at best. Every year there would be a flood of complaints that the servers were intemperate, scowling and sometimes snarling at newcomers who broke one of the unspoken rules and etiquette that marks out the local from the foreigner. We’ve been on the wrong side of that a couple of times ourselves! As an outsider, it was a place to arrive armed with a toolkit. What many visitors didn’t realise is the pub is leased for a peppercorn rent and the money they make goes to help fund a nearby children’s hospital. The pub manager also made a wise decision to keep the pub operation as it is, declaring his grand plan was to change nothing! Behind the gruffness their heart is in the right place.
These days, they continue their good work, while turning to face the inevitability of an international audience a little more. That isn’t to say you’ll suddenly be fawned over or they will switch between 6 different languages, but there’s an English menu and you’ll possibly be treated like a human being. Remember some polite phrases and bear in mind that business is business here.
Their position in Hradčany, Prague’s castle district is such that they’ve been the nearest thing to an honest pub and a fairly priced pint near the castle not just for years but decades. As such, there’s a collegiate feel to the mixed, multi-national crowd that assemble in the pub. Some quieter times of year locals can take their pub back, other times they accept their lot blending in with the other nationalities. In our opinion it adds a layer of lustre to this pub, whereas conversely other Prague pubs are ruined by the wave of tourism.
A cro-magnon outfit, the pub is a symphony of stained glass, huge beams, Medieval sigils, chunky blackened tables and black-attired staff bringing Kozel and Pilsner Urquell back and forth. The dark Kozel has always felt especially fitting to drink here. Whimsical touches like the red lights in the Ox, or the toilets painted like the ceiling of a Mosque are aspects we are yet to discover the backstory too.
Like all classic Prague pubs everyone has their preferred roster of tapster and server here, and some have done long-term duty in this pub. Their presence when you return, be it every few months, or every few years, is reassuring.
There’s something so simple, so satisfying and fulfilling to spending time here and providing we have at least 24 hours free in Prague we never fail to visit.
Style: Traditional Pivnice
Go for: A true institution, the epitome of a traditional Czech boozer.
Although U Hrocha (The Hippo) feels like it has been there since time immemorial, it was only converted into a pub in the year 1994. Already, only a short time after the Velvet Revolution, the sought-after district of Malá Strana was quickly changing, with many old pubs pushed out. Swimming against the tide, U Hrocha set up with the aim of being a classic Pivnice.
They could hardly have chosen a more naturally characterful venue for this, with the building set on a slope, itself informing the design of the interior. Enter a lobby with the main bar room to the left and spare room to the right. In the main room, a small, simple setup of a bar, 5 communal tables and some leaning posts near the window. You can sense within seconds time washing over you, the laughter and intense conversation, the toasts, the merriment and the welcome, all applied, layer by layer to the patina covering this place.
The tempo of all such pubs is maintained by the tapster. They have an iconic crew but most will have seen Vence, who we christened ‘Wolfman’ on account of his long hair and grey stubble doing his work with an almost meditative calmness over the decades. The pull of the beer tap, the flick of the wrists, within seconds a beer is ready and placed on the table for the server to collect. The server doesn’t need to go far here.
U Hrocha is pointedly fairly priced and they take no lavish cuts from their earnings. Tables can be reserved, so an early appearance is the surest way of getting a seat without one, but over the course of the day individual spots may open up. Expect disappointment from time to time, as is the way, but there can be other times of year and particularly in colder weather, where a strange calm and quiet comes over the district, and the pub becomes almost serene. Only twice in dozens of visits have we ever experienced that.
Why is it number one? We searched for a venue that appears to encapsulate the very essence of Czech pubgoing. While it is patrician, it is also intimate. While it is traditional it is also distinctive. They are proud to display a certain way of doing things to a nation seemingly determined to head in another direction. That is to be championed. And The Hippo is The Champion.
Interested in more Czech pubs? Here is our full Czechia page!