Prague is one of those cities that must have about a million different travel guides and reviews. It’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe for city breaks, and a must-visit for any newbie moving to the Czech Republic, so everyone will have their own opinion about the best spots. However, one area that is often overlooked is what the Czech capital has to offer for families… or rather, how to keep kids entertained in a city best known for its history, architecture, and “adult” nightlife. So, here is a guide to 48 hours in Prague with kiddos!
Last week I jumped on the train from Brno to Prague to meet some friends who had flown in from the UK with their two little girls (4 and 1 year old). It’s dead easy to get to Prague; trains from Brno to Prague are fairly regular, and there are also an abundance of buses from FlixBus and Regiojet that run between the two cities. We were staying at the EA ApartHotel Melantrich, right on Václavské náměstí. Since we had the two kids with us, we wanted to be pretty central for good transport connections around the city, and so we would never be too far away from our accommodation in case someone was tired.
The apartment had two rooms and slept up to six people. The main bedroom had a big double bed, a sofa bed and cot set up, while the living/dining room also had a sofa bed, where I stayed. It was roughly €450 for two nights, which is a little on the expensive side, but not unexpected in Prague city centre in the height of summer. Overall, I would recommend this place for families, as it was big, airy, had a lift, provided cots, had plenty of towels, had a bath and shower, stored luggage, and the staff were very friendly.
On our first day in the capital, we paid a visit to Svět Medúz, a Jellyfish Aquarium located at Na Pankráci 1727/86, Praha 4. We jumped on the metro to Pankrác and made our way to the top floor of the shopping mall, which is where you’ll find the aquarium. With 38 aquariums, 10,000 jellyfish, and boasting the Guinness World Record for the largest spherical aquarium, this is a pretty unique and interesting place to visit. Each tank has a description of the type of jellyfish living within, with a ‘safety scale’ letting you know how dangerous it would be if you were stung. There are also a lot of cool audio-visual displays to really emphasise the bioluminescence of the animals. The staff here were very kind and gave us a family ticket for CZK 750 (it’s supposed to be for 2 adults and 2 children, but they let us use it for 3 adults and 1 child). Admission is free for children under two.
This sensory light show was absolutely perfect for the baby. She was captivated by the colours inside some of the tanks and the different noises inside the auditorium. On top of that, the 4-year-old absolutely loved watching the jellyfish swim around and finding out whether they were dangerous or not. Thankfully she made it very clear to me that if they were dangerous, I wasn’t allowed to touch them! There was also a nice little slide down from a 1st floor balcony to the auditorium which made the kids very happy, and was also safe for big kids to slide down, much to my delight.
After exploring all the aquariums, we made our way outside onto the roof, which has been kitted out with a play area, with trampolines, a water sprayer, a slide, and balance beams, all lots of fun for the kids. It’s totally enclosed with a high fence surrounding it, so you don’t need to worry about any accidental falls.
After half an hour or so in the playground, we had an ice cream at Sani Gelato inside the mall. My mango sorbet was delicious, and the kids seemed to enjoy their ice creams too, with their hands and their entire faces. We jumped on the metro and headed back to our apartment for a few hours in the afternoon to relax, nap, top up on supplies or watch Ice Age. We’d booked a dinner show in the evening which started at 7pm, so we didn’t want the little ones to get too exhausted from being out all day.
Once hair had been brushed, outfits had been changed and diaper bag restocked, we headed out to the Folklore Garden show at Vedle Točny, Na Zlíchově 18, Praha 5. Here you get to enjoy a two and a half hour long show with traditional Czech folk music, dancers, and games. Audience members can learn and take part in dances like pod šable (under the sword) and the polka. While the music is playing, you also get served a traditional four-course Czech meal, starting with soup (what else?), bread and cottage cheese spread, your pre-chosen meat or fish dish, cabbage salad, apple strudel, and coffee or tea to finish. We had only pre-ordered meals for the three adults, as we knew the kids would just pick off our plates. The show tickets also included unlimited beer, wine, or soft drinks, so really everything is covered and included.
Safe to say, this was an absolute blast for everyone. The 4-year-old was up dancing with her mum on more than one occasion, and whenever the professional dancers came on stage, she was absolutely mesmerised. She also made several comments about how their skirts twirled and how colourful the dresses were. The 1-year-old was also in her element, clapping along to the music, waving at other customers, dancing with her parents, and getting lots of attention from the staff and other nearby tables. We did leave a little bit early, because the event wasn’t due to finish until 10pm, and the kids started to get tired as we expected. We had a lot of fun at the show though, and it was a great way to take in some real Czech culture with the kids. Children under two go free, so for 3 adults and 1 child ticket plus 3 adult meals, it came to a total of CZK 4,260. I thought this was pretty good value for almost 3 hours of entertainment, a decent 4-course meal, and unlimited drinks!
The next day, I had to work for a few hours in the morning, so my friends took their girls out for breakfast (bringing me a much-appreciated coffee and croissant back to the apartment) then went for a walk around the Old Town, taking in all the usual sights, including Charles bridge with its views of the castle and the astronomical clock, which got a big ‘oooooh’ from the older kid.
After lunch we decided to go to one of the outdoor swimming pools I’d been recommended. Koupaliště Petynka is located at Otevřená 1072/4, Praha 6, just a few stops after Prague Castle. Under twos go free of charge, and their family ticket package meant 3 adults and 1 child were able to enter for CZK 750 for a day ticket, dropping to CZK 540 if you enter after 3pm.
In terms of places to take kids, I don’t think you could find anywhere better. There’s a child’s paddling pool decked out with a couple of little slides, some water fountains, and toys for communal use such as buckets and balls. Next to the paddling pool is a grassy play area with swings, a seesaw and climbing frame. There’s a fairly big water slide with plenty of twists and turns, which was met with yells of “Again! Again! Again!” after the 4-year-old had gone down with her dad. Of course, there’s a larger adult’s pool separate from all these areas, so you can swim or sunbathe in peace if you’re visiting without children. And there’s a lovely, enclosed grassy rooftop area which was perfect to let the 1-year-old safely toddle around. There are some activities for an additional cost as well, including a large trampoline, aqua zorbing, and kids’ quad biking. The hours flew by while we were at the pool, so it was well worth the entry price.
With everyone thoroughly tired out from all the exciting water sports, we headed back towards Prague city centre for dinner. I had decided to take everyone to Potrafená Husa on Platnéřská. I know this is a chain restaurant, but the food is usually pretty good, and the menu is extensive enough that even picky children will find something to eat. The kids ended up with Spaghetti Bolognese, while we went for the traditional Czech svíčková, řízek and smazak. The kids did try a mouthful or two of the Czech dishes, but the pasta definitely had most of their attention. After the meal it was simply back to the apartment, bedtime for the kiddos, and Netflix with a glass of wine for the adults.
For our last morning in the city, we wanted to stay close to the train station. We had to check out at 11am so after breakfast, there was the usual flurry of packing before leaving the apartment. We put our bags in the luggage storage room, but I only had about 2 hours before I needed to go and get my train back to Brno. That’s when we stumbled across The Playground.
The Playground is located at Na Příkopě 854/14, just around the corner from Václavské náměstí. It’s essentially a giant toy store that has incorporated an arcade and other funfair type attractions. There’s a carousel, a mirror maze, laser quest, butterfly garden and a whole bunch of arcade games from racing games to ice hockey to whack-a-mole. On top of this, throughout the store, many of the toys they sell have been placed out for kids to play with, so the place was dotted with train sets, magic sand and jigsaw puzzles. And once again, there was a slide from the top floor down to the ground floor. One thing I learned from this experience is that kids really love slides!
I think it can be said without a doubt that this place is pretty much a kid’s dream. There was actually so much to do that the rows and rows of toys for sale were completely ignored throughout our visit. You do need to pay for the arcade games and other big attractions. We paid CZK 500 which gave us 22 ‘credits’ to use. Each arcade game was roughly 2–3 credits and the mirror maze cost 6 credits, so we were able to have plenty of fun with that.
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to my friends and get the train back to Brno. I hopped on the 13:26 train and arrived back home by 16:05. Going on a city break with small children was a completely new experience for me, but we found so much to do in Prague that it was really easy to keep everyone entertained and happy. The total expense for the accommodation, activities and food for all five of us was roughly CZK 26,000, which works out at CZK 8,667 split equally between the adults. While that’s more than I would normally spend in three days, it was definitely worth it for a fun trip away and to be able to spend time with the kids.
