The 10 best parks in Prague

Prague is a showcase for dazzling historic architecture. Gothic spires compete for attention with big baroque domes. Dense cobblestone lanes depart the Old Town Square, cross the Charles Bridge and lead up to the grand Prague Castle. It's an urban streetscape straight out of a medieval TV series.

But there’s another, greener side of the Czech capital – less well known but also drawing heavily from that same architectural heritage. The city’s gardens are beloved by locals, prized for their unique beauty and as a respite from both heat and crowds. After visiting Prague's best museums or in between stops at the top sites, throw down a blanket or pull up a bench at these 10 of the city's most glorious parks.

1. Palace Gardens Beneath Prague Castle

Best for a break near the castle

The steep, southern-facing hillside below the castle – accessible via steps leading up from the Malá Strana – is marked by a series of terraced baroque gardens from the 17th and 18th centuries, once owned by the wealthiest noble families of the Habsburg empire. These same families occupied the adjoining Renaissance and baroque palaces. The gardens were lovingly restored in the 1990s and contain, among other treasures, a Renaissance loggia with frescoes of Pompeii and a baroque portal with a sundial that catches the sunlight reflected off the water in a Triton fountain.

2. Stromovka Park

Best for solitude

The city’s largest centrally located park, at around 100 hectares (247 acres), Stromovka Park is also its oldest. The area was laid out as a royal hunting ground back in the 13th century, and by the late 1500s, it was a favorite of Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II. The park’s relatively remote location, in a valley north of the center, lends a feel of exclusivity that has lasted to the present day. Most visitors walk the park’s long paved path past ponds, footbridges and newly planted gardens.

3. Wallenstein Garden

Best for a grotto

The imposing Wallenstein Palace in the Malá Strana pairs with a manicured late Renaissance garden to reflect the immense ego of the palace’s former owner: 17th-century Habsburg General Albrecht von Wallenstein. He was a larger-than-life figure and a rival to the emperors, who depended on his wealth to fund the hellacious 30 Years War. The garden's loggia is decorated with scenes from the Trojan Wars, and an enormous stalactite grotto reveals carvings of animals and grotesque faces. Wallenstein Garden is a restorative space, with fountains, baroque statuary, trimmed hedges and an enormous pond.

4. Vrtbov Garden

Best for statuary

This hidden garden from the early 18th century, built for the Earl of Vrtba, is considered a formal baroque design, with lavish use of statues and winding stairways. The best known sculptures are of the Roman mythological figures Vulcan, Diana and Mars by the baroque master Matthias Bernard Braun. Find the entrance in the Malá Strana, near the corner of Karmelitská and Tržiště, and catch the dramatic views over Prague Castle in the distance.

5. Royal Garden

Best for Renaissance architecture

Prague Castle is more than St Vitus Cathedral and the Old Royal Palace. The complex is bordered on its northern side by soothing gardens of historic significance. The Royal Garden holds an important collection of Renaissance architecture, including the 16th-century Ball-Game House, with its signature Renaissance sgraffito, and the beautifully proportioned Summer Palace.

6. Petřín hill

Best for families

Dramatic Petřín rises rapidly from river level to a height of around 320m (1050 feet) just west of the Malá Strana. The quiet, tree-shaded paths form the perfect antidote to the center’s narrow, crowded lanes. The top of the hill is crowned by several family-friendly attractions, including a lookout tower, a scaled-down version of Paris’ Eiffel Tower and a mirror maze, but the real reward of the climb is the breathtaking view down on the city from the hill’s upper rim. A popular walk from the tower northward brings you to Strahov Monastery and within easy reach of Prague Castle.

7. Vltava islands

Best for concerts

Prague’s Staré Město, often packed with tourists, has little green space of its own, but nearby islands in the Vltava offer shaded respite. Benches line the banks of peaceful, elongated Marksmen’s Island (Střelecký ostrov), just opposite the National Theater, making it an ideal spot for a romantic rest. On summer evenings, the island hosts concerts and open-air festivals. Slav Island (Slovanský ostrov), south of the National Theater, has a playground, and you can hire paddleboats at the jetties to drift along the river.

8. Letná Gardens

Best for a beer garden

Leafy Letná Gardens owes less to architecture and more to location, atop a lofty bluff over the Vltava River, across from the Staré Město. In addition to pretty vistas over the medieval city, Letná has plenty of walking and cycling trails as well as a beloved beer garden, where you fetch your own beer from a small kiosk and drink in the city’s spires from one of the ramshackle picnic tables. An unusual, oversized metronome, easily visible from the Staré Město, now keeps time, but 60 years ago, the elevated platform supported the world’s biggest statue of former Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

9. Riegrovy sady

Best for sunset

Riegrovy sady, in the outlying neighborhood of Vinohrady, puts a somewhat more modern take on an urban oasis – in this case, a handsome 19th-century English garden. It’s a fitting addition to an already upscale residential neighborhood. Come for the park’s popular beer garden and to spread a blanket on the western slope for stirring sunset views of Prague Castle.

10. Havlíček Gardens

Best for wine tasting and water features

Havlíček Gardens (Havlíčkovy sady), also in Vinohrady, occupies a steep hillside at the southern end of Americká street. Inspired by Italian neo-Renaissance design, this small piece of paradise collects hidden grottoes, fountains and ponds, and big rocks. The garden at the Gröbe Villa has stunning vistas and two nearby venues for sampling wine: Pavilon Grébovka and Viniční Altán, a wooden gazebo overlooking the vineyard.