Letná Park and Beer Garden

Letná is the broad plateau across the river from the Old Town, and its park, Letenské sady, is one of the largest green spaces in central Prague. Walk to its southern edge and the whole city opens out below you: the Vltava curving away in a sweep of bridges, each one lined up behind the next, the spires of the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter on the far bank, and the castle on its ridge to the right. The terrace has a dark history. In 1955 the communist regime unveiled here a monumental statue of Joseph Stalin, some fifteen metres high on a huge plinth, the largest image of Stalin in Europe, showing him leading a queue of workers and soldiers; Prague people nicknamed it the meat queue. After Stalin was denounced, the statue was blown up in 1962. Since 1991 the plinth has carried the Metronome, a giant red-armed sculpture by Vratislav Karel Novák, ticking slowly over the city, and the plaza around it is a gathering point for skateboarders, students and anyone watching the sunset. The other great draw is the beer garden at the eastern end of the park, near the Letná chateau, a nineteenth-century pavilion with a restaurant and café; in the warm months, long rows of picnic tables under chestnut trees fill up with locals drinking Czech lager from plastic cups, with that view of the river below. At the western end, the Hanavský Pavilion, an ornate cast-iron building made for the 1891 Jubilee Exhibition, houses a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the bridges. The park itself is free and open at all hours, with long avenues for walking, running and cycling.

Letná is where you see how Praguers live. On a summer evening, the beer garden is full of friends, families and dogs; the plateau's lawns host frisbee games and picnics; and the Metronome plaza has a laid-back, slightly scruffy charm. Beer is served from kiosks at the garden, and the atmosphere is the opposite of the Old Town's tourist terraces. The beer garden is seasonal, typically open from spring to early autumn and closing in bad weather, so in winter enjoy the views and the walk instead, or warm up in a café in the neighbourhood.

Getting there: from the Old Town, cross the Čech Bridge at the end of Pařížská and climb the steps to the Metronome, about fifteen minutes from Old Town Square, which is the most dramatic approach. Trams to the Letenské náměstí stop bring you to the northern side of the park, and from Prague Castle you can walk east through the Royal Garden and the Chotek Park to the Hanavský Pavilion, a lovely way to end a castle day. The southern edge is a steep slope, so stick to the paths.

Beyond the park, Letná and neighbouring Holešovice are among Prague's most interesting residential districts, with cafés, bistros and bakeries along the streets around Letenské náměstí, the National Gallery's modern art collection in the Trade Fair Palace, and, further north, the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art and the huge Stromovka park. For a perfect late afternoon, walk from the castle along the Royal Garden to Letná, watch the sun set over the bridges from the Metronome or the Hanavský terrace, and walk down to the Old Town for dinner. Families can combine the park with the playgrounds and the long flat avenues, ideal for strollers and scooters.