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The spectacular views of Malá Strana from this series of gardens descending from Prague Castle can’t fail to inspire. This really is the best way to conclude a day of sightseeing at Hradčany (see Prague Castle).

Stop here after pounding the Wenceslas Square pavement and join the pensioners and office workers at lunch, quietly filling the benches behind the Church of Our Lady of the Snows.

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).

These formal gardens were laid out by Ferdinand I in the 16th century. After mulling over the Belvedere summer palace and the Communist-revised frescoes on the Ball-Game Hall, slip down to the Stag Moat (see Prague Castle).

Lose yourself watching the Vltava rush past. Early risers can watch the sunrise strike the castle. In summer there’s a popular outdoor cinema and live-music stage here.

Otakar II established the royal hunting park here in 1266. A public garden since 1804, its ponds are ideal for ice-skating in winter and duck-feeding in summer. Its meandering paths offer easy strolling.

Prague’s oldest garden was founded in the 13th century. It is home to peacocks, fruit trees and a heart-melting array of flowers.

Far enough from the centre to be largely tourist-free, Vyšehrad is the perfect place to be alone with your thoughts. Sights include the Neo-Gothic Church of Sts Peter and Paul, the graves of Dvořák and Smetana and reconstructed fortifications. There’s very little shelter from inclement weather (see Vyšehrad Sights).

General Albrecht von Wallenstein razed two dozen houses to make way for his expansive “backyard”. Among the garden’s stranger elements is the grotesquery on the southern wall, with stalactites imitating a limestone cave. The cries you hear all around you are the resident peacocks (see A Day in Malá Strana).