Author(s): Time Out Guides Ltd

Travel

As Prague settles into the European Union club, its rebirth as a vibrant Western-style city continues to blossom, with the traces of East bloc communism increasingly hard to uncover. But the City of 100 Spires is also returning to its roots as a decadent, jubilant place that made the word bohemia into a common noun. The smoky jazz clubs, rowdy, cruisy bars and stunning symphony halls have been restored to the spirit and role they once served. And it's fast making up for lost time with local designers and artists creating confrontational work at dozens of galleries while the frisson of the Cold War remains in Soviet-era meat shops and chilling monuments.