Best places to live in Prague?? | American expat reviews 5 Prague neighborhoods

During my time living in Prague, Czech Republic, I've lived for at least a month in five separate apartments in five different neighborhoods. So I've gotten a good feel for the advantages and disadvantages of living in various areas of the city. In today's video, I take you on a tour of my previous neighborhoods in upper and lower Krč, Karlín, Libeň, and Stodůlky, talking about what I liked and disliked about each place. If you're planning to move to Prague any time soon, if you're already living in Prague and would like a change of scenery, or if you're a Czech person curious to hear a foreigner's impressions of some popular Prague neighborhoods, this video is for you.

[kristynaberankova]

I am impressed. This is the first video from an expat that realistically describes living in Prague, that I have ever seen. :-) "Panelaks" are quite nice living. Warm, clean and when it is close to the subway, there is nothing to deal with. Sometime in the late 90s, as a teenager, I met a girl with a huge backpack in front of our house. She said she was from Colombia and was looking for her guesthouse. I knew what the problem was. She wasn't the first. There was probably a map error somewhere, probably from a travel agent. The guest house was a few stops closer to the center. I told her I would take her there because there were tears in her eyes. And at one point she looked around and asked, "Are we safe?" This surprised me a lot, because Prague is generally a very safe city. And "panelaks neighborhoods" are even safer than the center. :-)

[rostislavsnyta]

Greetings neighbour from Krč. You are obviously a very intelligent and perceptive guy. The video is excellent as always. Thank you and please keep on going :-)

[chrisdunn]

I go through Kačerov every morning - will definitely check out the Balkan cheese and the farm eggs... thank you! BTW, after the vote for Brexit I sold my 4 bedroom house with garden in the UK, moved to Prague and bought a flat in a panelák. I've never been happier!

[katerinasera]

It is quite surreal experience to watch an expat giving tour of your periphery neighborhood in english like in some National Geographic documentary. 🙂 Thank you.

[elmono]

You have the best pronunciation of Czech words I have heard from non-native speaker. Words like Krč, Česká Pošta, or Žižkov are usually pretty hard for foreigns to pronounce, but your pronunciation is spot on. PS: Hůrka is a small Hora ( small mountain ). It is more of a dialect, or poetic way of saying "small mountain" rather than proper Czech. Another good vid !

[paulzellman]

'Many Czech-Americans who live in America for over 50 years want to come back to Czechia and retire in Czechia with an option to return to the US for vacations. This is a great video to get idea how to live in Prague (and close to Prague) and start to feel at home again

[cz.travelmaster]

This was a very interesting insight. I've been living in Prague for more than 10 years but I've never even been to most of the places you mentioned :-D For me, the best places to live in Prague are Vinohrady and Zizkov - they are very lively districts with great transportation options (frequent trams, metro, and the city center is easily reachable on foot), lots of green areas (Riegerovy sady, Parukarka, Vitkov...), the houses are old but very well maintained and the rents are reasonable.

[bitkarek]

panelaky changed color because there is an insulation put on them and you have to paint them some color. And any color looks better than gray. Some are just a bit yellow or so, not every one is so rainbow colored :)

[kristynaberankova]

And funny story. When a guy from England found out that panelaka were actually a safe neighborhood, he told me it would be great to buy an apartment here. Rent him, fly to Prague for parties ... I told him: go on. The price of the studio (25 square meters) begins (at 3.5 million, that is 138 000 euros). For some reason, he thought that apartments in panelaks are cheap. :-)

[experience]

I lived in that very same flat you did in 2022. The very same year you posted this video. The place is great. You have everything you need nearby. I rarely went to city centre,

[TheMrNomadus]

Moving to Prague next year. Your channel is golden

[BuriBuster]

In the Lord of the rings, there is a town called Bree, which in czech translation is also called Hůrka.

[michaelhannigan]

So great to see all these neighborhoods in Prague!! Thank you for your intelligent and articulate tour of where and how to live in Prague...

[deiwi]

Great tour around the Prague. I am native Czech living in Prague for more than 5 years and your review might come handy in the future. You're killing the pronounciation of the neighborhoods and services. Great stuff!

[jaroslavtusek]

My wife Sara and I lived in Prague from 2010-2013 and have been vising Prague every year since 1990 til 2019. Based on that experience, I think we experience the best quality living in Vinohrady, Zizkov, Bubenec and Modrany.

[JennaCollinsFitness]

This is such a great video. I’m from New Zealand and likely moving to Prague with my partner who’s polish around June this year, so it’s great to see the different areas to live! Thank you

[irenatriskova]

Hi Brendan, paneláky are not the Czech or Soviet invention. The first panelak was built in the Netherlands after the Great War. This idea was later used by Le Corbusier, when the French government asked him to built a large block of flats in Marseille in 1946 to solve the lack of appartments after the WW2. Such block of flats were built later in Paris or Sweden, too, but they soon become a ghetto as many immigrants moved in.

This is not the case in the CR. Věra Chytilová, the famous Czech movie director, made a film Panelstory about their construction in 1980s.

And their quality differs - the older the better. The first ones from the 1960s were built on the architect' s design, later they begun to save materials and space so the ones from the 1980s are usually much worse.

[j.allenheineken]

Oof feeling the nostalgia again! I lived in Krc near the Budejovicka metro for the first year, then moved to Vinohrady after I got a pay raise at the company I worked at...panelaks are not much to look at, but pretty nice inside. Indeed lots of expats in Vinohrady, but lots of bars, cafe's and restaurants and loved going out with my friends within close walking distance from my apartment.

[MakeUpWitch]

I've lived in panelák most of my life, 10 minute bus ride from Kačerov. I can't say I particularly enjoy it but I know it could be worse. Funny thing is that when my mother married an Englishman he freaked out regarding the "safety" in that area and had a thick safety door installed immediately. He never realized Czech paneláky are totally different from what he knows from growing up in London suburbs.

[ozlemslakurul]

As an expat, your videos are giving me so much ideas and point of views. I'm learning so many from you, thanx..