The neighbourhoods of Prague

The medieval heart of Prague on the right bank of the Vltava, around the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock and the Týn Church. The lanes are short and crooked, so you see most of it on foot in a morning. It is busiest just before the clock strikes the hour and on summer afternoons; the square is calmest early in the morning, and the lanes behind it are quiet even at midday.

Sights: Old Town Square, Astronomical Clock & Old Town Hall, Church of Our Lady before Týn, Clementinum (Baroque Library & Astronomical Tower), Municipal House, Powder Tower, Charles Bridge, Pilsner Urquell: The Original Beer Experience, Choco-Story Chocolate Museum, Old Town Bridge Tower, Na Příkopě, Havelská Market, Palladium

🍽️ Restaurants: 20 · ☕ Breakfast: 6 · 🌙 Evening out: 18

Josefov, a few streets north of the Old Town Square, keeps six synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Most of them are visited together as the Jewish Museum; the Old-New Synagogue, still in use, has its own ticket. Around them runs Pařížská, Prague's smartest shopping street. The museum sites are closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so plan this area for another day, and men cover their heads in the synagogues.

Sights: Jewish Museum (synagogues & Old Jewish Cemetery), Old-New Synagogue, Pařížská Street, Museum of Decorative Arts (UPM)

🍽️ Restaurants: 3 · ☕ Breakfast: 2 · 🌙 Evening out: 2

Malá Strana lies across the Charles Bridge, between the river and the castle hill: Baroque palaces, the green dome of St Nicholas, the Lennon Wall and Kampa Island by the water. Above it rises Petřín Hill with its gardens, the mirror maze and the lookout tower; the funicular saves you the climb. It is lovely to wander in the late afternoon, when the day-trip groups have gone up to the castle or home.

Sights: St Nicholas Church (Lesser Town), Lennon Wall, Kampa Island, Petřín Hill & Lookout Tower, Wallenstein Garden, Prague Chocolate Steiner & Kovarik, Vrtba Garden, Franz Kafka Museum, Mirror Maze on Petřín, Petřín Funicular, Museum Kampa

🍽️ Restaurants: 16 · ☕ Breakfast: 6 · 🌙 Evening out: 1

Hradčany sits on the hill above the Lesser Town: Prague Castle with St Vitus Cathedral, and further west the Loreta and Strahov Monastery with its library and brewery. The climb is steep, so the easy way is to ride tram 22 or 23 up to the Pražský hrad stop and walk downhill through the castle to the Old Castle Steps. Come early: there is a security check at the gates and the queues grow by late morning.

Sights: Prague Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Loreta, Strahov Monastery & Library, Strahov Monastery Brewery, Lobkowicz Palace

🍽️ Restaurants: 5

Despite the name, the New Town was laid out in the 14th century. Today it is Prague's busy centre of shops, offices and trams, from Wenceslas Square and the National Museum down to the river, where the Dancing House stands and the Náplavka embankment fills with people on fine evenings. It is also where many of the big beer halls are, such as U Fleků; the walks here are longer and straighter than in the Old Town.

Sights: Wenceslas Square, National Museum, Dancing House, U Fleků brewery & beer hall, Mucha Museum, Franciscan Garden, Museum of Communism, Staropramen Visitor Centre, Pivovarský dům Benedict, Head of Franz Kafka, Náplavka Farmers’ Market

🍽️ Restaurants: 13 · ☕ Breakfast: 8 · 🌙 Evening out: 11

South and east of the centre: Vyšehrad is the old fortress on a rock above the river, with walls to walk on, a cemetery of famous Czechs and wide views, and far fewer visitors than the castle. Vinohrady is a leafy residential district of cafés and wine bars, with the beer garden in the Rieger Gardens looking out over the city. Both are a short metro or tram ride away and good for a slower half day.

Sights: Vyšehrad, Žižkov Television Tower, Rieger Gardens (Riegrovy sady), Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord

🍽️ Restaurants: 7 · ☕ Breakfast: 3 · 🌙 Evening out: 2

Across the river north of the Old Town: Letná Park on its plateau has the giant metronome, a beer garden and the classic view down over the bridges. Behind it, Holešovice is a former industrial district turned art quarter, with the National Gallery's Trade Fair Palace, DOX and the old market halls, and the Stromovka park leading towards the zoo. Families and modern-art fans get the most out of it.

Sights: Letná Park & Metronome, Prague Zoo, Holešovice Market (Hall 22), Stromovka Park, National Technical Museum, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, National Gallery – Trade Fair Palace

🍽️ Restaurants: 6 · ☕ Breakfast: 4 · 🌙 Evening out: 2