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Minor Theatre
This children's theatre offers a fun mix of puppets, clown shows and pantomime. Performances (in Czech) are at Monday to Friday and at or Tuesday to Thursday, and you can usually get a ticket at the door before the show.
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Misch Masch
Good-time house and hip-hop is found at sticky-floored Misch Masch. Turn left for the large house area, with both female and (shock!) male podium dancers. To the right is the slightly more intimate hip-hop floor, bar and gallery. Fashionable without any unnecessary attitude, the place is popular with up-fer-it young locals, overseas students and a few older weekend-breakers. Watch for special themed evenings, too.
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National Theatre
Notable for its ornate golden roof, the National Theatre was erected in the late-19th century as part of the Czech National Revival of culture. Despite recent sackings and administrative upheavals, it's preserved its excellent reputation for drama, opera and ballet. English subtitles are provided for operas but not for plays. Many of the ballet performances are staged in the allied Estates Theatre .
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Novoměstský Pivovar
You realise this is going to be another over-touristed hospoda from the strains of oompah music the moment the door opens. Consequently, you'll be lucky to get a table without a booking. Why bother doing that? Well, the beer is slightly cheaper than in similar establishments and the food is not merely edible but actually rather decent.
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Palác Akropolis
This huge Prague institution is a sticky-floored shrine to alternative music and drama with a broad cross section of regulars. Its trump card is its innovative roster of gigs, from Boban Markovic to Sigur Ros to the Strokes. Otherwise, when the 850-capacity concert hall is shut and all you have is the speakeasy vibe in the two smaller DJ bars, the place's appeal might be a bit difficult for newcomers to fathom.
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Park Café
Perched on top of precipitous Riegrovy Park, this bustling beer garden has awesome night-time views of the castle, a big screen showing sport and the opportunity to play table football and table hockey with half of Prague. Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus.
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Pivovar U Bulovky
This initially unassuming suburban pub and microbrewery soon reveals why it's such a city legend. It's not just the range of award-winning beers, although these include a delicious house ležak (lager) as well as ales, stouts, Düsseldorf-style Alts and Bavarian-like Weissbiers . Part of the pub's appeal is its welcoming hum and local atmosphere. Staff don't always speak English, but it's not hard to make yourself understood.
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Pivovarský dům
While the tourists flock to U Fleků (below), locals gather here to sample the classic Czech lager (in light, dark and mixed varieties) that is produced on the premises, as well as wheat beer and a range of flavoured beers (including coffee, banana and cherry). The pub itself is a pleasant place to linger, decked out with polished copper vats and brewing implements and smelling faintly of malt and hops.
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Popocafépetl
Before this is like a moody version of a teenage American milk-bar but thankfully pulls in a crowd of 20-somethings in the evenings. By the time you read this, the branch in Malá Strana might have become more popular - or closed; popular PopoCafé always seems to be moving.
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Popocafépetl Music Club
The latest branch of this popular minichain is a small club and live music venue promising a deliberately eclectic mix: blues, Balkan, drum 'n' bass, ska, punk and more.
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Radost Fx
Another Prague stalwart, Radost is a high-profile, fairly mainstream club that pulls in big-name DJs and shiny punters. There's a chilled-out, bohemian atmosphere, with Moroccan-boudoir-meets-Moulin-Rouge décor and the upstairs lounge serves food late. Thursday's hip-hop night, FXbounce (www.fxbounce.com), is a weekly highlight.
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Reduta Jazz Club
Prague's oldest jazz club was founded in 1958 during the communist era, but is best known as the venue where US president Bill Clinton played the saxophone in 1994. It has an intimate setting, with smartly dressed (and sometimes bored-looking) patrons squeezing into tiered seats and lounges to soak up the big-band, swing and dixieland atmosphere. You can also book ahead through www.ticketpro.cz.
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Riegrovy Sady Park Café
On a balmy evening, you often hear this huge, German-style beer garden atop Riegrovy sady before you see it; a noise like waves breaking, interspersed with the heavy chink of sturdy glasses, rumbles out from under the trees. Inside, hundreds of Vinohrady and Žižkov denizens (and their dogs) are making merry with cheap Gambrinus, poured at a super-speedy rate to keep the perpetual queue moving.
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Rise Loutek
Although it shares a building with the National Marionette Theatre, whose Don Giovanni you want to avoid, Rise Loutek is the real (sadly off-season) deal. Fairy stories, folk tales, variety shows and other one-hour shows are performed by hand puppets and marionettes. In Czech, but charming.
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Roxy
The expansive floor of this ramshackle old theatre has seen many a hard-edged DJ and band over the years, plus plenty of experimental fare in the form of drama, dance and short films. All shadowy nooks and crannies usually fill up quickly once the doors open.
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Rudolfinum
Despite a surprisingly small stage, the neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum's main Dvořák Hall has good acoustics and the cachet to attract internationally acclaimed troupes. Home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the venue's excellent reputation is also boosted by their sterling musicianship.
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Sahara Café
This designer souk looks fantastic, with a merger of neutral stone, rattan chairs, teak mahogany tables, Moroccan pillows, embroidered drapes and palm fronds throughout its unfolding warren of rooms. (Don't forget to explore the downstairs garden in summer.) Sadly, the Mediterranean and North African food doesn't live up to the interiors, so stick to drinks.
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Saints
Sealing the deal on Prague's booming 'gay quarter' in Vinohrady, this British-run bar is laidback, friendly and serves decent drinks. With a multinational staff speaking many languages, for newcomers it's the perfect entrée to the local scene.
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Sedm Vlků
'Seven Wolves' is a cool, two-level, art-studenty café-bar and club - at street level there's candlelight, friendly staff, weird wrought-iron work and funky murals; down in the darkened cellar DJs pump out techno, breakbeat, drum'n'bass and ragga from on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Smetana Hall
Acoustics? Who cares about slightly imperfect acoustics when a concert hall looks this good? Decorated with stunning ceiling murals, the 1200-seat Smetana Hall creates sufficient atmosphere on its own. House musicians the Prague Symphony Orchestra kick off the Prague Spring music festival here annually. Day-to-day performers are often less experienced.
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St Nicholas Café
Descend from the bustle of Malá Strana into this dark and peaceful Gothic cellar, a favourite midday refuge in the heart of the tourist zone. Dimly lit alcoves, flickering candlelight and worn wooden tables make an appealing setting for a few quiet beers or a bottle of wine; later in the evening it gets busier and develops a cool, jazzy atmosphere.
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State Opera
The State Opera's ballet troupe has been wooing international audiences on recent tours, and its opera ensemble has also had one or two recent hits, so it's always worth investigating their home performances in this impressive neo-rococo building. An annual Verdi festival takes place in August and September.
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Strahov Monastery Brewery
Dominated by two polished copper brewing kettles, this convivial little pub serves up two varieties of its St Norbert beer - tmavý (dark), a rich, tarry brew with a creamy head, and polotmavý (amber), a full-bodied, hoppy lager.
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Termix
Although losing its number-one slot to the newer Valentino, Termix is still popular on the gay scene. There's an industrial-looking bar (with a car sticking out of one wall), smallish dance floor and dark room. The leading Wednesday night goes native with Czech pop tunes and is nicknamed 'Hezky Cesky' after the cute Czech customers.
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Tretters
If you're looking for a bar with flashy bar staff and some of Prague's besuited power brokers and beautiful people, start with this 1930s New York-style cocktail bar, or head to sister bar Ocean's Drive (V Kolkovně 7) for a slightly more laidback Latin theme.
