Smíchov & Anděl

What it is

Praha 5, the left bank south of Malá Strana — the industrial engine of nineteenth-century Prague, where the Ringhoffer works built railway carriages and Staropramen has brewed since 1869. The factories have become shopping centres and offices around the Anděl crossroads, and at the southern end the enormous Smíchov City project is building a whole new quarter on the old railway yards, a construction site that will run for years.

What is here

Anděl, the busiest tram junction on the left bank, with the Nový Smíchov shopping centre occupying a former factory. The Staropramen brewery, still working, with its visitor centre. Kinský Garden climbing the flank of Petřín — the quiet back way up the hill. On the riverbank, Jazz Dock, the glass-walled club at water level that hosts the most serious jazz programme in the city, and the Smíchov náplavka with its own market days. Further south, MeetFactory, David Černý's art and music centre wedged between the railway and the highway, is the destination worth the tram ride.

What it is like

Working Prague rather than postcard Prague: office workers, cinema queues, ordinary shops. Nobody crosses the world to see Smíchov, and that is the honest pitch — you sleep and eat well here for less, and you are ten minutes from the sights. The northern edge blends into Malá Strana almost imperceptibly; the river path north from the náplavka is one of the nicest evening walks to dinner in the city.

Practical

Metro line B at Anděl and Smíchovské nádraží; trams fan out in every direction, including across the river to the National Theatre in minutes. Smíchovské nádraží is also the jumping-off station for Karlštejn trains. Hotels here are the classic value play — modern chains at prices the right bank stopped offering years ago. Check the map before booking anything south of Smíchovské nádraží: that end is a building site, and will be for some time.