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This central Malá Strana hostel takes its name from a First Republic national fitness movement and shares the Tyrý Palace with the National Museum’s sport history exhibitions. The six doubles and eight 12-bed rooms are up a suitably athletic flight of stairs. No smoking.

This company has more than 10 years’ experience hosting wanderers in a network of hostels. This Old Town hostel is above the Roxy nightclub, but keep your carousing to a minimum, as you share the building with anxious neighbours. Other locations around town are open during the summer.

The Imperial was an elegant hotel of the First Republic, but owing to the difficulties of refitting a historic monument, the owner has recast it as a hostel. There’s no longer anything posh about the rooms, which range from singles to quadruples, but the place has charm.

The staff here go to great lengths to be hospitable, throwing the occasional barbecue and helping travellers find other accommodation when the hostel is full. The bedrooms, baths and kitchen are immaculate.

Located 20 minutes south of the centre and run by strict rules, the Boathouse is not a party hostel. It does, however, offer numerous services, such as laundry, internet access and bicycle and boat rental. Three to nine beds to a room.

The dormitory-style accommodation, with four to six beds to a room, are basic, but include little niceties like fresh lemonade and snacks.

Located just a stone’s throw from the centre, this is an ideal base to explore the city. It offers dorms as well as private rooms with en- suite bathrooms. Slightly more expensive are the apartments on the opposite side of the street, complete with kitchen.

On the second floor of a fin de siècle building near the main bus and train stations, Hostel ELF’s rooms range from singles to six-bed dormitories. There is a shared kitchen, common room and garden. The staff will arrange walking tours for you.

Accommodation ranges from singles to seven-bed rooms. Each floor has two kitchens and a TV room.

The dormitories are student housing through the school year. There is a beer garden adjacent Open July to September.