Time Out Prague

Book excerpt: As the newest member of the EU, the Czech Republic formally sheds its East Bloc past - but that development only formalizes what's been a rollercoaster of change since the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Written and researched by Prague residents, the Time Out guide leads you to medieval Old Town's new design bars, to the crusty Zizkov district's classic pubs, to the romantic restaurants of Mala Strana and the hippest of clubs in the reclaimed industrial quarter of Holesovice. The poet president Vaclav Havel may have stepped down and returned to scribbling but the opening up of Bohemia is still gaining momentum every year. A mad community of expats call Prague home, having been attracted, like so many newly minted Bohemians down through the centuries, by the city's affordable lifestyle, gorgeously spooky architecture, and reputation for decadence. Meanwhile the Old European side of Mozart's adopted home beckons with improbably grandiose opera houses, Vienna-style coffee houses, and fairy-tale palaces that serve as gallery space - like as not, for the latest modern art experiments.