Prague is fabulous. But its also super touristy. And super congested,, especially around its main tourist sites, such as the Old Town Square and Hradčany castle. While I loved Prague, there were definitely more than a few times when I just wanted to lose the tourist hoards and enjoy the city.

Cue Nový Svet. Nový Svet is a charming neighborhood in Prague behind Hradčany Castle. For whatever reason, Nový Svet lacks the crazy crowds in most of Prague, yet retains loads of classic European charm. We ended up in Nový Svet somewhat on a whim – I had read about a “local” coffee shop there by the same name, and Nový Svet was recommended by our tour guide in Ceský Krumlov. We ended up fitting in a stop on our past day in Prague.

So where is Nový Svet? Nový Svet is located right behind Hradčany Castle. When you arrive at Hradčany Castle, turn your back to the castle and walk walk down the square and to the right.

Follow this street, a few minutes until you hit Nový Svet. This entire area is gorgeous and largely devoid of tourists, especially in the morning. The coffee shop were were looking for is almost all the way down the street. Be sure to walk the end of the street (past the coffee shop), turn right and head up the stairs for some of the best views of Prague!

The main purpose of our visit to Nový Svet was to have breakfast at Kavarna Novy Svet, the coffee shop that I had read about and that our tour guide recommended. We did end up having breakfast at the coffee shop, and we were the first people of the day to enter the store!  

While not difficult to find, Kavarna Nový Svet is located nearly all the way down Nový Svet, if you hit the firewood stack, you’ve gone too far. Open at 10 daily, Kavarna Nový Svet serves delicious coffee, cakes, and brunch food. Super casual and no reservations.

For my breakfast, I started with a delicious cappuccino. It was tasty, and made from a fancy Italian espresso machine. Just what I was looking for on our last morning in Prague.

For food, we had our pick of several homemade cakes in a display window! There is also a menu on the wall if cake is not your thing.

For starters, Dan and I split a slice of peach cake, which was a pound cake made with fresh peaches, and I love peaches! This cake was really good and definitely large enough to share. 

To go with the tasty peach cake, we also split a chocolate cake with raspberry topping. Both were excellent, but I do like peach better than raspberry (and vanilla better than chocolate.

The coffee was so good Katavarna Nový Svet, we took some to go on our way to visit the John Lenin Wall (about a 20 minute walk from Nový Svet).

STEAL OUR TRIP

Kavarna Nový Svet: Nový Svět 2, 118 00 Praha 1, Czechia. Closed Monday. Open otherwise 10 – 19h, 18h on Sunday. Pro tip, there are nice WCs in the basement.

ON A BUDGET

While certainly not the cheapest coffee shop in town, Kavarna Nový Svět is not expensive and the food is quite good. Other wise, Nový Svět is free to walk around and photograph!