The Strangest Places to Watch Movies in Prague in 2022

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Are you going to be in Prague for at least a few days this summer season? Do you like sitting under the open sky with a beverage when the weather is nice, but at the same time you’re also convinced that there is no activity watching a movie would not make even more enjoyable? (Doesn’t work 100 % of the time – I tried it while giving birth and… well, the results were mixed.) The good news is that Prague is full of open-air cinemas. The other good news is that most of these only pop up for the summer and are more or less strange. Yay? These are our favourites:

Autokino Strahov

Do you know Petřín, that hill south of the Prague Castle with the little Eiffel Tower on it? Well, it’s also the site of the Strahovský stadion, a very large, dilapidated stadium built for the monumental pretensions of our former commie overlords. The current caretakers have set up a drive-in cinema on the almost post-apocalyptic premises (though not in the actual giant stadium itself) – Autokino Strahov (website is unfortunately in Czech only). The screen is 13 x 6 metres, set up on 6 shipping containers, and the cinema operates almost daily. Also, it’s on a hill, so there are views!

Entrance: 120 CZK/carless individual, 350 CZK/car, 370 CZK/carless group wanting to use a car parked on the premises

Refreshments: food and drinks can be purchased on site through a text-message ordering system only (menu here), no external refreshments permitted (or at least they’ll be very frowned upon)

Seating: either your own car, a car you hire on site, or any of the couches and beds available (for colder nights you can get pillows and blankets from the staff)

Film selection: mostly current Czech and international production

Kino v Klubovně

This hidden place not far from Dejvická metro operates from a former kindergarten. Klubovna (the Clubhouse) is mostly a concert venue under the auspices of the Prague 6 municipality, but it branched out into theatre, various charity events, poetry readings, even sauna and, you guessed it, cinema.

Entrance: 80 CZK

Refreshments: a full bar/pub on the premises (will have pub snacks, not a working kitchen), bringing your own would probably not be frowned upon too much

Seating: chairs, or bring a blanket

Film selection: generally a more thought out, festival-like selection of less mainstream films, but there are exceptions

Kino před Crossem

The Cross club is a venue near the Holešovice metro station, it is known for interesting interior and exterior design, some strange outside sculptures and a very varied cultural programme. So the fact that they use their front garden for film showings should not come as a surprise for anyone.

Entrance: 100 CZK (sold online via goout.net)

Refreshments: full bar, burgers and hot dogs on site, bringing your own considered not cool

Seating: there are various chairs and tables, but you can also bring a blanket if you want to be sure you get a seat

Film selection: everything that brings in the crowds, mostly tried and tested (Pulp Fiction, Gran Torino, Totoro, the occasional Czech crowd pleaser)

U Keplera

This is not really a cinema, just a regular film screening in the Max van der Stoel park in Prague 6 (the part of Prague above the Castle). The “cinema” is named Kepler after the famous school adjacent to the park which, in turn, is named after a famous astronomer. You can get there by the 22 tram, get off at Pohořelec.

Entrance: 100 CZK for a film, 120 CZK for a special screening (mostly concerts of Czech bands)

Refreshments: sold on site

Seating: 100 seats, blankets available

Film selection: a lot of cult classics and Czech oldies, just this June it’s Pulp Fiction, The Thing and Batman (yes, the one from 1989), among other, mostly Czech, things

Letní kino Kinská

You might remember when we wrote about the Kinský garden – well, that’s exactly where this “cinema” is, in the garden – which you get to visit while you’re at it – the films are screened on the back of the Kinský summer palace building (currently housing a part of the National Museum) in the rear part of the garden. The proprietors are very proud of the dog-friendliness of the place, so bring your pooch! Tickets are available online, or on site.

Entrance: 129 CZK for premieres, 109 CZK for older films

Refreshments: bring your own

Seating: foldable chairs

Film selection: mostly what’s currently playing in the Czech arthouse cinemas: documentaries, films showed at various festivals and such, mostly English friendly

Kasárna Karlín

This space in the large courtyard of a former military barracks building situated just a few steps from the Florenc bus station offers multiple forms of entertainment – there is a bar (and even a concert venue), a beach volleyball court, a children’s playground and, you guessed it, an outdoor cinema. Biggest perks of the Kasárna Karlín cinema are, in our opinion, the facilities on site including refreshments (and playground if you bring your kid over and they don’t like the film on offer) and the central location.

Entrance: 80 CZK

Refreshments: drinks and snacks can be purchased on site, also nobody is going to look at you funny if you bring your own

Seating: mostly lawn chairs with handy little tables in-between some of them

Film selection: eclectic, mostly well-established films from Grease to World War Z

Letní kino Zeď

Last but definitely not least – go to Lihovar, south of Anděl. Then walk uphill, over the railroad tracks and to the right. The venue is an old, disrepair-ish building with a cool looking courtyard. The atmosphere is legendary. This “cinema” is managed by MeetFactory – the building we just didn’t spent much time discribing, a concert venue and an overall interesting place to be.

Entrance: Free

Refreshments: drinks and snacks available at MeetFactory but bringing stuff in is not going to hurt anyone either

Seating: fatboys, lawn chairs, chairs of all kinds

Film selection: curated and thematic – this season it’s “women”, so there will be female-centred movies of all kinds and genres

We must admit that the open-air cinema selection has narrowed a bit throughout the Covid-ness and hasn’t yet fully re-established itself so new places and cinema ideas will probably pop up throughout the summer. This list only covers our favourites of what was available at the start of the outdoorsy cinema season.

You might also want to know that screening times move up as the season progresses (and as it gets darker) so in June we start at 9:30 pm and throughout July and August we generally move all the way to 8:30, but it varies venue to venue. Another thing that varies are screening days – most of the options on this list don’t screen every day, just once or twice a week, so be sure to check the programmes linked to thoroughly. That’s it, here’s your map, have fun!

June 8, 2022