Prague, the scenic city of ‘one hundred spires’, may be best known for it’s impressive architecture and rich history, but you might be surprised to know just how truly weird and wonderful it is! Prague is giving quirky cities like Berlin and Budapest a run for their money in the unusual experiences game, and we’ve rounded up 14 of the best offbeat things to do while you’re there.
Listen to music at The Atrium
A tiny converted church known as The Atrium is home to some of the most outstanding classical music in Prague. It’s not only an intimate atmosphere and well-kept local secret; tickets cost the same as Big Mac!
Visit Bohemian paradise Cross Club
This eclectic nightspot is equal parts Steampunk, DIY and futuristic. The artistic, multicultural venue prides itself on cheap drinks, unique music and alternative cinema (including documentaries!). Cross Club even have a café upstairs for non-drinkers.
Revisit the golden-olden days
Prague has a bit of a thing for the 80s. Why? We don’t know, but the good old days are alive and well at many bars (one of the most well-known being Café 80) and cafes (Unijazz is a must see). From 80s music and video games to kitschy décor and old-school food, it’s like stepping back in time.
Check out the old sewers
You wanted unusual and we’ve delivered! Take a tour of Prague’s Old Waste Water Treatment Plant (Stará čistírna odpadních vod) and you’ll be in awe of the underground engineering feats from the early 20th century. And don’t worry; any old poo smells are long gone.
RELATED: PRAGUE, AS TOLD BY LOCALS
Visit the sex machines museum
Prague has A LOT of very specific museums, and the Sex Machines Museum is probably the funniest. You’ll be treated to a timeline of over 200 sexual apparatuses from history, with everything from appliances (i.e. vibrators), kink items, restraints, chairs… the list is endless! There’s three floors of centuries old (and modern) devices PLUS a cinema featuring a silent film.
See some Black Light Theatre
There are several theatres in Prague that feature black box performances, it’s super cool and trippy. Using black lights and very precise movements, optical illusions and visual tricks are created in an engaging (read: audience participation) show.
ALSO READ: 5 QUIRKY THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PRAGUE
Sample flavoured absinthe
The bohemian spirit, Absinthe, has been made in Prague for yonks. The Absintherie in Franz Kafka Square has a variety of flavoured absinthe drinks (minus the supposedly hallucinogenic wormwood) for you to sip on. They’ve got everything from over 100 types of absinthe, absinthe coffee, chocolate AND ice cream.
Escape to some nuclear bunkers
Want to see how the Soviet’s were planning to sit out the nuclear holocaust? YOU CAN IN PRAGUE! Built during the Cold War, there’s a bunch of ex-Soviet nuclear bunkers open for tours and quite frankly, they’re eerie AF. All the goods like gas masks, clothes etc. are still inside and it really captures the fear of the time.
Check out the DIY shoe monument
Art is very subjective and a group of Prague’s skateboarders and counter-culture peeps started their own monument in the place of the destroyed Stalin statue. You can find the ‘monument’ in Letna Park and it’s essentially just a bunch of shoe strung together over a telephone wire. Edgy? Political? You be the judge…
Venture into the Kingdom of Argondia
One fairy-tale kingdom coming right up! Just outside Prague, near Petrin Hill, you’ll find an old mill that’s interior has been transformed by Czech artist Reon into a psychedelic funhouse. The Magic Cave inside is a wonder of art, fantasy and well… magic.
Stare deeply into the Dripstone Wall
You’ll quickly notice there’s A LOT of obscure art in Prague, but that just adds to its unusual charm. The Dripstone Wall is a great example of a mysterious art piece that has captured the minds of many because it’s so disarming. Inside ‘The Grotto’ of the Wallenstein Palace is the Dripstone Wall that is at first glance a textured wall, and at the second full of monstrous heads of grotesques and animals. It looks a bit like skulls and if you stare long enough you’ll supposedly find a secret passageway through it (no one has found it yet).
Stand inside an infinite wormhole of books
Book lovers will be in heaven at this quirky art exhibit that is literally just a seemingly endless tower of books, soaring into forever. Made by artist Matej Kren, ‘Idiom’ is a giant cylinder of novels that will equal parts exhilarate and terrify you.
Check out a legit decayed human arm hanging from the ceiling of a church
If you head to the Church of St. James the Greater (AKA Kostel Sv. Jakuba Vetsiho) you can peep an actual 400-year-old mummified arm! Look up to the right when you enter the church and there’s a skinny brown object dangling from the roof, known as the Thief’s Arm. The story is a robber came into the church and tried to steal jewels off the statue of the Virgin Mary, and she stole his arm right back. The parishioners hung it from the ceiling as a warning to all.
Become a literal brown-noser
We saved the weirdest for last because this artwork is one of the strangest things you can do in Prague, and we’re still here for it! The giant 17-foot statues are the bottom half of people bending over looking through a wall. And you can look through too… by climbing up the ladder and peeking through their butts! The sculptures are by David Černý and are aptly named ‘Brown-nosers’, supposedly a metaphor for the state of Czech politics. What will you see when you look inside? Two Czech politicians spoon feeding each other to the sounds of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” Naturally.
