10 lovely forests and child-friendly nature excursions in Prague

What´s probably most fascinating here in Central Europe is the amazing nature that feels very special. It reminds me in many ways about Gotland in Sweden´s magically beautiful cliff landscape because of the surroundings around Prague that is based on a several 100 million-year-old seabed. The landscape here is dramatic with many ravines, caves and strange rock formations. You can find fossils and dinosaur tracks if you are looking in the right place. Some of the better specimens of mammoth bones have been found here in the Czech Republic. One can imagine that mysteriously cone-shaped mountains once had been volcanoes.

In order to find the beautiful scenery, you don´t need to go far from the city. You can even find the exciting nature in the city and get to the areas that I mention here with the public transportation. But one thing is certain, that it isnt as wild and breathtaking near the city but still quite okay to get your nature dose that you are longing for. You can see old and new traces of humanity everywhere in the most easily accessible nature such as strange statues and mini-chapels, and quite a lot of graffiti that the Prague teenagers seem to have a penchant for. The best nature areas are therefore, in my opinion, outside the local traffic network, but there are many gems in and around the city. These are our favorites:

Obora Hvezda

Translated from Czech, it roughly means "the star-park". This forest / park has been named by the beautiful star-shaped castle-like building in the middle of it. It is located in Prague 6 which is easy to reach by both tram and metro. In the spring, the ground is covered with wood anemones and wild garlic. Many of the trees are covered in ivy. There are several playgrounds and a traffic playground outside. This place is suitable for picnics and family meet-ups.

 Ďáblicky Haj

This forest is slightly off the beaten path in Prague 8 but is still relatively easy to reach by tram. It´s very nice to spend a day in it. There is a large play area with several barbecue spots and many beautiful ravines and cliffs. There is also an observatory at the top.

Lysolaje Udoli

Údolí means "valley" in Czech. This is a nature area where you can walk around in a valley or rather in sort of a mini-canyon as it is very steep. The natural landscape is quite dramatic. There are also exciting things that humanity has left behind - including a cold spring water pool, chapels and statues here and there. The valley is located in Prague 6 and is most easily reached by car. You can also walk through Divoká Šárka to get there.

Tiche Udoli

The "quiet valley" is quite deafening when there are incoming airplanes as they go in for landing at the airport over this forest but otherwise it seems to be pretty quiet there. There are some wild animals that you can read about on the informative signs. We saw a gray heron and a squirrel as well as various common birds. There seemed to be traces of otters or beavers in the stream as well. It is easiest to get there by car, but there are also buses from Prague.

 Cibulka

This forest, located in Prague 5, is quite central and easy to reach by bus 123 which goes up the hill. Here are both deciduous and coniferous trees. There are a few playgrounds and picnic huts, as well as some ponds, a number of statues, caves / tunnels, a mini-castle that you can walk up in and a lot of other interesting things. There is a stream to play in too.

 Divoká Šárka

"Wild Šarka" is a nature reserve in Prague 6 that extends to the two valleys mentioned above. It's big and wild for being so close to the city. There are dramatic cliffs and ravines that the stream meanders its way through. There is also a pond where you can swim in and spring water pools. Although it´s partly tamed by humans, there are surprisingly wild areas that fit well for a day-trip. It is easy to reach the nature reserve by public transport or by car.

 Draháň-Troja

This nature area is located in Prague 8 and is pretty close to Dáblice so you can explore both areas the same day if you want. We went there on a sunny autumn day and parked in Cimice (which you can also go by bus to). We walked in the valley along the Cimice stream and then crossed the fields and meadows to get to the lookout picnic spot near the river. There is a big drop there, maybe 80 m high, so it is definitely not suitable for toddlers and babies but the view is quite nice. You can skip that part if you have littles as there is plenty of other things to explore. There is also a small lake.

Kunratice

This forest is probably our kids favorite. It´s located in Prague 4 and is a fairly large natural area. Friends who live near have reported wild animal herds of different kinds. If you don't see them, you might be content with the mini-zoo there. There is an excellent forest pub with outdoor playground and large areas to run around. The children's favorite place is the stream where there is blue clay and the playground with fireplace where you can have a bbq.

Mala Chuchle

This forest called "Little Chuchle" is located next to "Big Chuchle" which we haven´t visited yet. It´s a large forest in Prague 5 which is a little more tricky to reach but you can both take the bus or drive. We went there on an ice cold winter day. You have to go up a really steep hill to get to the minizoo.place. In hindsight I would definitely not have taken the stroller with me. We all had to push it up the worst bits. But the nature is beautiful and the mini-zoo at the top of the hill has a playground and quite a few animals. In the summer, the pub will be open too. At the "entrance" there is a beautiful church.

Prokopske Udoli

The Prokop Valley is also located in Prague 5. This is an area rich in fossils. You can find them in the stream and on the slopes. The valley, like the others we explored in Prague, is dramatically steep. Here it´s possible to get up on the hill and then you can walk past a natural well with drinking water. There are barbecue areas, playgrounds and several areas for picnics. It´s easy to get there with the tram. The pub on the way down to the valley has a large playground and good food which can be good to know if you don´t bring food.

Google maps with mentioned nature areas above. However, you will find your way easiest by using mapy.cz. Then you will see the markings for wells, view points and points of interest that are not listed on Google.

No need to hibernate - here are 20 great worldschooling activities for the cold season!

Time to get the winter clothes and toboggans out and store away the summer stuff. (yes we still have the air-con and summer toys out). Its chilly for sure and the trees have dropped most of their leaves. Its still green grass and colourful though. The sky is crisp when its sunny. It is actually quite nice then.

So here are some ideas for those sunny, lovely days. If someone would like to do a group excursion to something, please say! As it is for now, we are too busy to arrange things but are happy to do so when requested if we can.

This is the best things to do outdoors on lovely days now:

1) Stromovka park is always at the top of the list for us, simply because its one of the best parks in the world. Its beautiful, you can find climbing trees, there is a bike dirt track, nice road to rollerblade and cycle at, areas to play football, put up a slackline and other things, beautiful ponds, and best of all is the Vozovna playground where you have things for different ages and its really easy to have a baby and toddler (changing table at toilet, and overall kid-friendly.

2) Prague zoo - is one of the top places for kids in Prague definitely. Most of their info is in english also, and its so big you would have to come several times to see all properly. The playground tower thing is excellent. Monday is the cheap day.

3) The maze at Troja castle. This is a beautiful place, if you have time you can walk from Stromovka and take the boat to the other side. Its fun to play hide and seek in the big maze. In the middle is a climbing tree. Its free of charge to go in the gardens.

4) Toulcův dvůr - This is a farm place that arranges activities for kids. We havent been there but have many friends that reported that this is a really nice place, so this is the next thing we will do when we can.

5) The climbing play ground at Branik. This is a really fun place with a big play ground, with things from toddlers up to adults actually. The cafe there has an indoor play ground as well and activities for kids.

6) From a couple of sources we have heard that the play ground Dětské hřiště Točná which is located by a small private airport is really fun, we would like to try that also. See link for location.

Ice skating at Letna with the Prague castle in the background.

7) Soon there will be "free" (well tax funded) ice-skating in different parts of Prague. If you dont have ice-skates you will be able to rent there. For a list see this link.

The biggest natural stone arch in Europe in Bohemian Switzerland.

8) Our favourite activity on nice sunny days when our energy levels are up and all of the family is free is to skip town. There are so many lovely places to explore outside of Prague, not far away at all. The Kokorin forest for instance is amazing, as well as Bohemian Switzerland or Bohemian paradise. Its stunning in the autumn.

Skiing at Bozi Dar

9) Go to the mountains and go skiing! The ski resorts should open soon, probably in the beginning of december. Or so, we hope, this year being warmer than usual. Some favourite places includes Lipno, Bozi dar and Severak for families.

10) Botanical gardens. Its so beautiful, even in the late autumn. There is also a tropical green house and often some kind of activity.

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This is the best things to do indoors on those rainy and dark days now:

1) Go swimming! There are plenty of good swimming places in Prague, both for learning to swim, exercising and just having fun. We tend to practise at our own but happily have company when we just are going for fun swimming. One good place for both learning and playing is Aqua centrum letnany lagoon. There is a 25 m pool that is about 1 m deep at one end, that we practise in, and there is a warm baby pool, some bubble pools and a big slide that is slow enough that I can go with our 1 year old on. Another good pool is Sutka, there are a couple of slides and its not so big at the fun area but the exercising pool is huge. There is a learning pool that seems to be open just sometimes and maybe on fridays.

2) Go climbing! There are many climbing places. Czechs seems to have a thing for that. We enjoy going to boulder bar that doesnt have high walls where you can just climb without ropes. Its toddler-friendly also. And sometimes we go to Big Wall, where we can climb with ropes and they have affordable private lessons. 

3) Go to the museums! There are many good museums here. Some that we enjoy again and again are the Technical museum where they have a play area with mecano, the Agriculture museum and DOX.

4) Go for walks for fresh air and then warm up in cosy cafes. A maze in Tchaiovna is our top choice for that, were we can warm up with the best chai tea in Prague and play board games.

5) On every other wednesday there are art workshops for kids 1-5 years on Narodni Galerie near Veletrzni Palac. Our kids that are 6 and 8 enjoy it. I guess the age range is set thinking that all kids over 5 would be in school. Sometimes we see other older kids there too! The cafe next to it has a baby play area and really nice pita bread with hummus, so we go sometimes there for that.

6) The Christian library arranges kids story reading and activities. You can see their events here

7) Visit science centers. There are two big ones that I know about, like VIDA science center in Brno and IQLandia in Liberec, both are well worth a trip out of town.

8) Shopping centres! Maybe it sounds dull or doesnt appeal but even for those that oppose the consumer culture the shopping centres can indeed be a savior those days when the rain pours and you just have to get out of the house and dont want to spend money on kids activities. In Letnany they have a creative building area for kids which we enjoy, they can easily spend one or two hours there without getting bored. In Cerny most you have one free area for toddlers and big kids and one play area that is staffed and that you can pay for. Also IKEAs play area "Småland" is not so far from the Cerny most shopping center.

9) Book a lego or lego robotics lesson with Kiddum. We do this every now and again and enjoy it very much.

10) Get artsy at Draw planet arts school. They have drop in or you can arrange a class or private lessons. We used it for a few months and thought the teachers were very good. Our kids enjoyed it but have other interests now.

Saint Mikuláš

And of course with Christmas times coming up there will be tons of activities for children, so we are counting on doing lots. Like the devil and angel - thing! Yes in Czech republic the angel or devil will tell your kid if he/she has been nice or not. If nice youll get presents if not coal. We will try it this year. So mark 5th september in your calender if you want to try this strange czech tradition. For more info on that see here.

Worldschooling apartment

Are you not worldschooling in Prague yet? Our worldschooling apartment is available again. Wwe have been fully booked through out this year and the next booking is until 10th jan. We are looking to host a worldschooling family that would like to stay +1 month, preferably longer term! 

This apartment is located in the Holesovice which is our favourite area in Prague, well, our base is here also! It is fully equipped, having learned many lessons staying in 100s of airbnbs and temporary places through our many travels, so we know whats missing. We have toys, books, even a hammock and very good wifi. For more info please see www.familyapartmentprague.com