Prague's Farmers Markets

The farmers market habit came back to Prague around 2010 and now runs in a handful of fixed places. The Saturday market on the Naplavka embankment below Vysehrad stretches along the river wall: vegetables from Bohemian growers, goat cheese, smoked fish, sourdough, apple juice pressed in autumn, sausages and coffee, with people eating on the stone steps down to the water. Jiriho z Podebrad in Vinohrady keeps a smaller market several days a week under the brick tower of its modernist church. In the Old Town, Havelske trziste survives from the Middle Ages as a market street, but it sells souvenirs and fruit at visitor prices rather than provisions.

What you actually see

• Naplavka on Saturday - the riverside market strung along the embankment wall.
• Jirak market - a working neighbourhood market under a brick church tower.
• Seasonal produce - asparagus and strawberries in spring, mushrooms and pressed juice in autumn.
• Havelske trziste - the old market street, now souvenirs, for what it is worth.

When to go

Saturday morning is the main event at Naplavka and it is packed away by early afternoon. Spring and autumn have the best produce; midwinter thins the stalls to root vegetables, preserves and hot drinks. Get there before ten to avoid the slow crush along the narrow embankment, and carry cash, since small growers do not always take cards.

Honest expectations

Prices sit well above the supermarket and some stalls resell imported produce rather than growing anything, particularly early in the season. By late morning the embankment is a single slow-moving line and the river path is narrow with no way past. Havelske trziste disappoints anyone expecting a food market. Seating is a wall, a step or nothing.

Nearby

The Vysehrad ramparts stand above Naplavka; Vinohrady surrounds the Jirak market.