Walks in the Prague parks (X) – Havlíčkovy sady (Gröbovka) in Vinohrady: 3 km

• Havlíčkovy sady is one of Prague’s most interesting (and probably least well-known) small parks. It was created at the end of the 19th century by Moritz Gröbe, a Prague-based industrialist, around his summer villa in the Vinohrady district. He planted more than 120 species of native and non-native trees in this unusually designed English-style park, which has fountains and grottos.
• The park also has an extensive vineyard area created at the same time as the English park, including a striking wooden gazebo that was used as a music pavilion (today it is a café-wine bar). There is an extensive view of the Prague skyline from the gazebo.
• The park can most quickly be reached by catching a tram to one of the stops along Francouská street, but for a slightly longer walk, take the metro to Náměstí Míru and explore some of the stylish residential area of Vinohrady on the way there and back. It is around a 3 km walk to/from Náměstí Míru, including a circle around the park. The park has various step sections (it is on a hillside), but these are avoidable if walking with a stroller.
• This part of Prague is packed with many good refreshment options – too many to list here. For an excellent guide to the latest in innovative cuisine in Prague and the rest of the country (as well as good cafés and bars), download Gastromapa which was created by Lukáš Hejlík. One establishment not yet included in Hejlík’s guide is the Puro ice cream store (located on Rybalkova street close to the northern entrance of the park – map point 9).

Note: click ‘Show on map’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• From Náměstí Míru, walk up Francouská (or one of of the parallel streets) and after 500m turn right down Rybalkova street. The northern entrance to the park is located 300m along the street
• Once in the park it is probably nicest to take a loop anticlockwise, visiting the fountains and grottos before heading over to the villa and vineyard. If not tempted by the restaurants in Vinohrady, there is a snackbar/cafe in the Games pavilion (third picture below)