Something that I think is absolutely fantastic with Prague is that there is so much to do for kids here. There seems to be a never ending supply of kids activities and kids play areas that fits well with the digital nomad family life style. Here in Prague many restaurants and cafes often have something called a "Detsky Koutek" (which means "kids corner").
I think the reason why there are so many "detsky kouteks" in Prague is probably because its cheaper to run places like that here as the running costs are lower for staff, rent and the things, it doesn't seem to be as many rules here in eastern europe, and that the parental leave is longer than a lot of other countries. I heard that most kids stay at home until they are 3 years old. Some of these "detsky kouteks" are staffed. Its some kind of very temporary child care that is perfect for us that are digital nomad families and don't want to sign up our kids for a school.
I prefer these kids corners because I don't want to leave my children really with someone else but I need to work sometimes when my husband also needs to work. And I can work in or near a temporary child care place like this where our children can see us and go to us if they need to.
Prague is a fantastic place for the digital nomad families who need this kind of temporary child care. Nowhere else have we found such a wide range of opportunities for digital nomads as in Prague. Here is a list of our favorite places that we have been working (and playing) in and some that we have been recommended to try:
Králík v rádiu (Rabbit on the radio) is a very child-friendly cafe that we've been going to several times. There is a small black rabbit there. The café is perfect for families who are digital nomads or for families who need a little break. They have a separate playroom that is staffed. You pay Kc 50 which is a little more than £1 for your kid to play there up to 3 hours. Most of the toys they have are for the younger children such as baby toys, DUPLO, cars and games. Our children loves it. (They are 4 and 6 years). They have a cozy area with a little house, a market stall and activities with the teachers such as rythmics and singing. The staff speaks Czech and English. They have good internet and good homemade food like that I would make at home. The raspberry lemonade is yummy!
Our boys go to the Lego school Kiddum where they build robots and learn programming while we work. If you are not enrolled in any course you can go to their drop-in play area that is sometimes staffed and play there. They have giant Lego for building houses with, DUPLO and some other stuff. Enough to keep them busy for a while. The broadband speed is very good - we had 60MB / s and a good ping last time we were there.There are tables to work from just next to the playroom. It's not very cheap but it's fun for the kids. I think they've had good teachers and it is not just play - they learn a lot with lego. The school is located right next to the subway stop Flora.
There are two IKEAs in Prague. We usually go to the Zlicin one because it is closest to us. It is perfect to leave the kids to have some fun for 1-2 hours while enjoy a little bottle of wine or some cheap coffee while we work. The kids love to jump in all the balls. We justify our free child care in IKEA with our purchases for our two previous homes in Sweden and that we will get a new kitchen from there soon to our worldschooling rental flat so I think its ok! Plus, we often eat at IKEA so I really dont think they loose out on it!
I have heard that this café is one of the best ones for indoor play rooms for kids in Prague. They have a kitchen to play in and some other things. I heard the food is good too and very kid-friendly. We haven't tried it out yet but it is on our list for this week! The café is located in Prague 6.
They should have thought twice when they named this playland! Fortunately, it's not at all about any time out. It's a nice little place that is staffed that they have in shopping malls here. There are several places in Prague. It's the perfect work and play place for digital nomad families where the kids will have good fun for a few hours and the parents can get their work done. We tried the one in the Metropole mall in Zlicin. There is a cafe attached to the play area where you can see the kids from while you work - which is exactly what we prefer. It was pretty quiet when we were here so I would say this is good if you need to make some calls also. The internet was fast in the morning but went slower in the afternoon. I guess it is all the shoppers using the same network. We used our phones as hot spots in the afternoon. This play area is good for kids from 3-12 years and is quite cheap.
This is a wonderful little café located right next to a really nice nice playground just above the metro stop Jiriho z Podebrad in Vinohrady. There is a small separate play area inside and a nice work area for the parents. The kids can busy themselves for a good 1-2 hours and then one adult will probably need to take them to the play ground on the other side of the street so they don't get bored of it. We ordered some really nice homemade lemonade and delicious cupcakes.
This restaurant doesn't quite look like a work place for digital nomads but I can assure that it is very nice in the summer! There is an outdoor area with chunky wooden tables and benches that has a play area which is also outdoors. It is a bit worn out but it's got a house and slide which our younger one liked. What we especially liked here was the amazing "Nefiltrovany"-beer, (unfiltered beer that looks like a latte). In Bali we always had a latte next to our lap top. Here at Hanspaulka we have beer :)
The food is czech and very good with kid-friendly options. The ginger lemonade is really refreshing. The restaurant is right next to Tesco by the bus stop Hanspaulka in Prague 6th. This place looks like it belongs to Tesco! When the kids have enough one parent can walk down the hill with them to a nice green area with some play grounds.
We have not had time to visit this Czech-Belgian restaurant yet which is located in Vinohrady but I've heard it's a good candidate for a digital nomad family work space! There are two restaurants that are connected with a playground in between. The kids can play a good few hours while the parents are working.
Zlute Lazne is a summer park next to the river. There are swimming pools, a kids area, a beach and lots of summer activities. They also have a summer camp for kids where you pay kc 700 for a full day. It is an educational activity with teachers who take care of the kids and do things with them all day. It includes food and beverages. It is quite expensive for being in the Czech Republic so I can imagine that they spend some money on doing good things I hope. We haven't tried it yet as our children are not interested in being away from us a whole day yet. I think it may be more suitable for older kids. Maybe we will try it later this summer for our older son.
The digital nomad life style has made it possible to run our business from anywhere (well..as long as we have good internet!) We spent the last 19 months in more than 25 countries in 4 continents. Of all these places we think Prague is one of the best places for a digital nomad family. We also liked northern Thailand and Ubud in Indonesia. We enjoyed Egypt a lot although the bad internet was holding us back a bit.
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Here I am working hard sipping on a cup of coffee while posing in one of our hammocks that we sell on one of our websites www.hammockheaven.co.uk!
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