Vinohrady: Prague's grand residential quarter
Built up mostly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a well-to-do residential extension of the city, Vinohrady is full of ornate Art Nouveau and neo-Renaissance apartment buildings, wide tree-lined streets, and a noticeably calmer pace than the historic centre a short tram ride away. Riegrovy sady park is the local favourite for a summer evening beer with a skyline view; Náměstí Míru and Jiřího z Poděbrad squares anchor the neighbourhood's café and restaurant scene, covered in more detail in our coffee culture guide.
Žižkov: grittier, and proud of it
Next door, Žižkov has a different personality entirely — historically working-class, still known locally for having one of the highest concentrations of pubs per capita anywhere in the city (see our beer hall guide). Its skyline is dominated by the Žižkov Television Tower, a Brutalist 1990s structure made strangely famous by a set of giant, faceless crawling baby sculptures installed on its exterior by artist David Černý — polarising, unmissable, and very much worth seeing in person.
On Vítkov Hill, overlooking the district, a huge national monument and one of the largest equestrian statues in the world commemorate Jan Žižka, the Hussite military leader the neighbourhood is named after.
Why visit, beyond staying here
Even if you're based elsewhere, both neighbourhoods reward a deliberate visit rather than a walk-through: better, cheaper food than the centre, real neighbourhood life, and a couple of genuinely striking sights (the TV Tower babies especially) that don't appear on a typical first-day itinerary.