Awesome things for kids in Holesovice

We ended up in Holesovice pretty much because it was easy here and we felt a little lazy after 1,5 years of living as nomads in 26 different countries. Holesovice is a fairly quiet area but rich in things to do near central Prague. It was the first area we stayed in here and after exploring other parts of Prague we decided it was our favourite. There is so many things to do here for families, just outside our door step. Its a surprisingly nice part of the world that is not very well known and often gets missed by visitors. I´ll list our favourites! All of these places are near the two worldschooling flats that we offer to rent when we are travelling.

1) Kralovska Obora / Stromovka Park

The royal park is the largest park in Prague and is great for kids. There are several play parks. Many of them have a pub or restaurant attached. (where else would you find a play park where you also could get some cheap quality beer if not in Prague??) There is a planetarium, exhibition grounds in the stunning Vystaviste Holesovice where there are some interesting exhibitions every now and again, duck ponds where you can feed the ducks and where there are some summer activities, or in the winter where you can skate. There is a fun fair as well, and you can rent pedal cars and do some other things in the summer. When there is snow there is a good hill for toboggans and people also go cross country skiing here. There is plenty of trees which is nice in a big city, and some lovely spots for picknicks and ball games. There are also stables and you can walk to the zoo over the river.

2) DOX arts museum

The contemporary arts museum offers workshops for families and homeschoolers, and you can get an interactive kit in english. There is a huge wooden zeppelin on top.

3) VELETRŽNÍ PALÁC - Narodni Galerie arts museum

This is another arts museum with some impressive paintings that also have events for kids sometimes.

4) Krokodyli zoo

There is a little crocodile zoo in the middle of Holesovice. Its just a stones throw away from one of our worldschooling flats. You can see when they feed the crocodiles at certain times. They have some events and childrens activities.

5) Morsky Svet

This is the biggest aquarium in Czech republic where you can see sharks and exotic fish. It is located just near Vystaviste Holesovice so its a great combination together with the park, or instead of the park if its bad weather.

6) Planetarium

The planetarium is located in the Stromovka park. Sometimes they have events for families.

7) Národní zemědělské muzeum (Agriculture museum)

The Agriculture museum is an interactive museum for kids that is a little more exciting than it may sound! We found farm animals outside the entrance. Lots of old tractors, and some small tractors for kids. It can be good fun for a rainy day.

8) Montessori kindergarden

There is a little montessori kindergarden called Marina academy by the marina in Holesovice. The language is english but the kids come from different countries. Its 100% private which means they dont have to follow the government rules. From 3-6.

9) Pražská tržnice (Prague market)

The big market in Prague is just a short walk from our two worldschooling family homes. Most of the sellers are Vietnamese, so we nicknamed the market "the Vietnamese market". They sell really a mish mash of stuff, everything from clothes to weapons, toys, some indecent stuff, home decor and souvenirs. You can also buy things for cooking asian food there. There is an vietnamese eatery that serves the best pho soup in Prague for about 100 czech koruna. In the summer when it was over 30 degrees celsius and there were so many vietnamese kids playing there late at night, it really felt for a while like we werent in Prague but in south east asia! The big vegetable market is an interesting place to take the kids. The size of some of the vegetables like pumpkins and beetroot are pretty impressive. Its good for getting your vegetables and locally produced milk and eggs.

10) Draw planet arts school

This arts school have drop in kids lessons on saturdays which is great if you dont want to commit to something. There are also workshops and classes for adults. Its located in a giant old communist building.

11) Muddum arts school

This arts school is run by a spanish couple. They do workshops for kids in english and spanish, pottery and african arts for instance.

12) Paralelni Polis

This is a creative place for people interested in a state free society, crypto currency and arts. There is a 3D printing workshop where adults and kids can take lessons. Sometimes there are interesting lectures in english, and once a year there is the hackers congress (hacking applies to worldschooling too as we hack through the school system :) ) Most important, it is bitcoin only and a great place for families and children to learn about how the monetary system works and what the difference is for decentralized currencies like gold and bitcoin. The corrupt czech finance minister made fun of below.

13) Tančírna dance studio

This is a dance studio on Delnicka street near both our worldschooling flats, the lessons are in czech but the staff can instruct in english a little too. You will find lessons for kids, adults and yoga also.

14) Letna Park - Letensky Sady

This is another nice park between Holesovice and Hradcany. You just take a tram to Korunovacni or Sparta. It is quite big, with a couple of play parks, some sports areas and iceskating at christmas. There are play park pubs of course where you can get drinks and hot dogs if you forget a picnic. Walk to the metronome and have a look at the wonderful view over the city of Prague.

15) Mammut climbing centre 

This climbing centre has both courses and you can rent equipment to climb here yourself too. Suitable for both small kids and adults.

16) Vystaviste swimming pool and sports facilities

There are plenty of sports activities and facilities in Vystaviste like indoor iceskating and swimming. We particularly like the small newly renovated pool there. Its very cheap and clean, and just swimming lanes so its perfect for small kids to learn to swim and the adults to get some exercise. You will find the swimming pool and sports centres to the right side of the exhibition halls. Walk or take the tram to Vystaviste Holesovice.

17) Technical museum

This museum is located near the letenske namesti tram stop. Its perfect for a rainy day. There are several floors with interesting stuff and an ok restaurant.

18) Bio Oko 

This is an alternative cinema that shows foreign films, often with english text or in english.

19) Tennis club and lessons

On a little island just south of Holesovice you can find the CLTK tennis club where you can get lessons and play.

20) The Marina and around on the eastern side of Holesovice 

Holesovice is a traditional "workers area" that used to be where the meat packing industry was before in the communist times. It was quite run down and poor. This has changed totally just recently. Today its a cool place with many nice restaurants, clubs and things to do. The eastern area is full of renovated and new buildings, many tech offices, fancy homes  and therefore many nice lunch restaurants and small parks have sprung up. We love living here. The best restaurant in Prague (according to us) is located in the citys old brewery building and around it there are new shops, yoga studios and gyms, places for parents and toddlers and many healthy food options (with czech price tags). The camera shop Megapixel offers photography and studio lessons. We like walking along the river where there are many interesting boats and old run down warehouses. In fact since the last month or so we barely left Holesovice, not feeling the need for it!

Regarding information about our two worldschooling flats, one of them will be available for rent full time, and the other one that we live in will be available when we are travelling. It is free april 6th-may 6th. Please send a message for more info as they are both not listed for rent yet but I will post when they are.