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Art lovers should peruse this small gallery’s sale exhibition of local art. The original oils and sketches capture Josefov’s bittersweet warmth and humanity.

The museum’s collection of Judaic art is perhaps the world’s largest, while other exhibits present a picture of the life and history of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia. The collection is spread out around the synagogues of Josefov.

The hands of the town hall’s Rococo clock turn backwards, as the Hebrew letters on its face are read from right to left. The building was one of Mordecai Maisel’s gifts to his community in the late 16th century (see Mordecai Maisel), but it was renovated in Baroque style in 1763.

Menzel won the country’s first Academy Award with Closely Watched Trains .

The German astronomer (1571–1630) pioneered studies of planetary motion.

Prague hippies and the secret police once waged a long-running paint battle here, as the latter constantly tried to eradicate the graffiti artists’ work. The original artwork, created by a Mexican student after Lennon’s assassination, has been painted over many times (see Czech Hippies Painted the John Lennon Wall), but the so-called John Lennon Peace Club still gathers annually at this self-made shrine to sing the former Beatle’s songs and praises.

A club chronicler in the mid-1990s wrote that Jo’s had its finger on the pulse of Prague’s “expat scene”. Little has changed here since. The backpack set still bump eagerly to pop tunes on the cramped cellar dance floor. If you’re hungry, upstairs is a restaurant serving passable Tex-Mex food.

Sip an espresso on the rooftop while peering through one of the telescopes at the city below. The quiet patio has large tables where you can lunch and plan your visit to the castle next door.

Recently acquired by Best Western, the Kampa is a happy blend of the familiar standards and local peculiarity; the in-house restaurant takes the hotel’s medieval arms-and-armour theme to a delightful extreme. The 84 rooms are smallish, but quite cosy.

Malá Strana residents love to sunbathe, sip wine and play frisbee on the island green of the Little Quarter in summer. However, they also like to smoke marijuana, beat drums well into the night and use the grass for a public dog toilet, so watch your step (see Kampa Island).