Beyond Beer: The Best Wine Bars in Prague (and Where to Stay Near Them)
Three Prague wine bars worth crossing the river for — a modern room below the castle, a candlelit cellar, and the best list in Old Town — plus where to stay to walk to all of them.
This post contains affiliate links, marked (ad). If you book through one I earn a small commission at no cost to you. Every glass here was paid for by me, and most of them were earned.
I used to think wine bars were for other people — sterile rooms where you needed to know your Burgundy from your Bordeaux to be allowed a seat. Prague cured me of that in four days.
Prague is a beer city; everyone knows that. What fewer people know is that it has been a wine city for seven hundred years. In the fourteenth century Emperor Charles IV, who had grown up in France and liked French wine, had vineyards planted across the hillsides so he wouldn't have to import it. Most of those vines are long gone from the centre, but the habit stayed, and it lives on in the vinotéky: small neighbourhood wine bars, half shop and half living room, where nobody is going to test you.
I was there with a very close friend and we walked roughly twelve kilometres a day, which changes your priorities. By four o'clock we weren't looking for luxury. We were looking for somewhere to sit down, and these three places gave us permission to just be.
The short answer
| Bar | District | Go for | Price | Book ahead? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKONA Wine Bar | Malá Strana, below the castle | Modern room, cured meats and cheese | ££ | Just show up |
| Vinoteka U Mourenina | Lesser Town Square | Cellar, candlelight, the warmest service in Prague | £ | Just show up |
| Lot of Wine | Old Town | Serious list — French, Czech, Italian — and a sommelier who listens | £ | Just show up |
1. IKONA Wine Bar
Our first find, and the one that set the tone. It’s in Malá Strana. Modern but warm, a short walk from the castle, with plates of cured meats and cheeses that turn a glass into supper. We arrived on legs that had done the castle hill twice and left an hour later ready to do it again.
2. Wine Bar Vinoteka U Mourenina
A cellar off the square: small, dimly lit, exactly the Prague you have in your head before you arrive. What made it was the people — the warmest service we met in the city, the kind that refills before you ask and doesn't hover. Perfect after a long day of walking on cobbles; time stops for a few hours down there.
3. Lot of Wine
This spot is in the Old Town. As the name suggests, there is a lot of wine to choose from, French, Czech, Italian etc. However, I know what I like so I stuck with my usual taste profile – integrated oak/vanilla, medium-full body, and balanced acidity. In my defence, I did entertain the sommelier with a few tastings, but I kept coming back to that one I'd first set my eyes on (upon AI's, so far consistently good, recommendation).
Where to stay for a wine-bar trip
Two answers, depending on which side of the river you want to fall asleep on.
Malá Strana, the Lesser Town, if you want the castle above you, the cellars below you and quiet streets at night. IKONA and U Mourenina are both here. Browse hotels in Malá Strana (ad).
Old Town, if you want Lot of Wine on your doorstep, the restaurants from Eating in Prague within walking distance, and more noise. Browse hotels in Old Town (ad).
We stayed Hotel Leon D'Oro which was perfectly located, avoiding the party areas and close enough in walking distance to everywhere else - I would happily stay there again (ad). The rooms were spacious and breakfast was decent. Whichever side you pick, the other is a twenty-minute walk across the Charles Bridge, which you'll be doing anyway.
If you want someone to pour for you
You don't need a tour to enjoy Prague's wine bars; you need a chair. But if you want the history with the glass, a Czech wine tasting evening (ad) is a good way to spend the first night and learn which grapes to look for after that.
What to eat while you're at it
Wine bars feed you, but they don't feed you dinner. For that, the six places in Eating in Prague: A Food Guide Beyond Goulash and Dumplings — marinated carp at Kuchyň, buckwheat galettes at Marthy's, risotto on a boat on the Vltava.
Before you go
You don't need to be an expert. You just need to be ready to slow down. Prague will do the rest.
Know a vinotéka we missed? Tell me in the comments — we're plotting a return.
I'm Lorna — Mauritian appetite, Midlands postcode, and a habit of planning holidays around lunch. I write about the food that got me here and the food worth travelling for.
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