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Quiet Malá Strana

A short loop away from the biggest crowds: Kampa, the Lennon Wall, Vrtba Garden.

5 stops, about 24 minutes of walking, about 1.6 km. Vrtba Garden is open about April to October.

Map of the route Quiet Malá Strana with the 5 stops numbered in order
The route and its stops. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

1 Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge and the River · Czech name: Karlův most

Charles Bridge was begun in 1357 by Charles the Fourth, after a flood destroyed the older Judith Bridge in 1342, and it was finished around 1402. It is 516 metres long, with sixteen arches, and until 1841 it was the only bridge in Prague. The thirty statues were added between 1683 and 1714. It was called simply the Stone Bridge until 1870. Cars were banned in 1965. Come early in the morning for the best experience.

2 Kampa Island

Malá Strana (Lesser Town)

Kampa is an island in the Vltava, separated from the Lesser Town by the Čertovka, the Devil's Stream, which once powered mills. Nobody is sure where the name comes from. Most likely it comes from the Latin word campus, meaning a field. The island is mostly a park, with the Museum Kampa in an old mill, and the giant crawling babies by the artist David Černý. From here you have a fine view of Charles Bridge.

3 The Lennon Wall

Malá Strana (Lesser Town) · Czech name: Lennonova zeď

The Lennon Wall began in December 1980 as a memorial after John Lennon was shot. People painted his portrait and wrote lyrics and peace messages, and in April 1981 the secret police painted it over. It was repainted again and again, and became a symbol of resistance. It belongs to the Knights of Malta, and in 2019 it was redesigned with about thirty artists. Please do not add paint without checking the current rules.

4 Vrtba Garden

Malá Strana (Lesser Town) · Czech name: Vrtbovská zahrada

Vrtba Garden is one of the finest baroque gardens in Central Europe, laid out around 1720 on the slope of Petřín in three terraces. It was designed by František Maxmilián Kaňka, with statues by Matthias Braun's workshop and frescoes by Václav Vavřinec Reiner. A restoration finished in 1998. At the top is a lookout where the dome of Saint Nicholas seems to float in front of you. The garden is small, only about three thousand square metres.

5 Saint Nicholas Church, Malá Strana

Malá Strana (Lesser Town) · Czech name: Kostel svatého Mikuláše

Saint Nicholas in the Lesser Town is often called the finest baroque church in Prague. Three generations of one family built it between 1704 and 1755: Christoph and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, and Anselmo Lurago. The dome is about seventy metres high, and the nave ceiling carries a huge fresco of Saint Nicholas. Mozart played the organ here in 1787. In the communist era the bell tower was used by State Security to watch nearby embassies.

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