Studánka park

If you are thirsty, you can drink some water from Fons Salutis (“the spring of health”). Don’t get confused by the romantic name, it now is connected to the ordinary water supply system. The original spring was closed down in the end of the 19th century, after it caused a typhoid epidemic. Quite ironic, isn’t it?

Fons salutis spring

Studánka park was a part of the much more famous Denis gardens around Petrov cathedral from 1818 to 1941. Then the huge park, formerly known as Francisberg, was divided by the extension of Husova street, connecting Šilingrovo sq. with Nové sady st.

While Denis gardens have always been popular among the inhabitants and visitors of Brno, Studánka has been decaying for decades.

Petrov hill in the 19th century - with Denis gardens and Studánka park not yet divided by Husova st. (source: http://www.earch.cz)

Have you ever heard about Kurt Gödel? One of the most famous philosophers of the 20th century used to play in Studánka park as a kid, as he was growing up nearby, at 5 Pekařská st.

Map

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If you rent a flat near Obilní trh sq., then you may study in this beautiful park.

If you are coming to Brno for the Erasmus or any other study programme, chosing the right quarter may improve your “Brno experience” a lot. I recommend these parts of the town:

• Veveří is the true student quarter of Brno, with many university buildings (mostly of the Masaryk university), cafés and well known pubs. This is the place where hipsters ride their fixed-gear bicycles to get to the lectures on time.
  The rents are slightly above average – but it is still affordable to rent a 2-bedroom flat (CZK 12,000 or €500, including heating, gas & electricity), or even bigger apartment and share it with several other people.
• Královo pole may be a good quarter for these who study University of Technology or University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences – both have most of their buildings located right in this area. Královo pole is a neat quarter with cafés, clubs and pubs too.
• Cejl has been a poor, underdeveloped quarter of Brno for the whole last century. It is still dirtier than the rest of the town and pickpocketing is more common there (according to a police spokeswoman I interviewed last year). However, you can reach the town centre (and most university buildings) by foot within 10 or 15 minutes. There are many bars, and what is most important – the rents are approx. 15-25 per cent lower compared to the rest of the town.

Also, you may appreciate some more tips:

• If you want to commute by bike, avoid suburbs located on hills – Brno is actually a quite hilly town.
• Suburbs also usually suffer from poor social and night life. You’ll be lucky to find a good club or pub.
• On the other side, these quarters are usually located next to nice, large and safe forrests, great for hiking, running, cross biking etc. Rents may also be lower (but not significantly).
• Many students have to travel around the town on some days to get to different labs, libraries, etc. Don’t feel shy to contact your Erasmus guide or friends to figure out in which part of the town you are going to spend most of your time, to find the right place for renting a flat.
• But finally, don’t overthink it. Brno is quite small. The public transportation is great – even after midnight! The town offers a good level of safety everywhere. And it is not hard to find a new apartment quickly.

Enjoy your stay!

Tivoli palace at Konečného sq.

Several colleges, many pubs, clubs and wine cellars, beautiful parks… Veveří is not an official district but it clearly is one of the greatest places in Brno.

Veveří consists mostly of 19th century buildings. It offers cheap apartments for students as well as luxurious expensive residences for managers.

The quarter is located around the street of the same name, roughly between Česká st. at south, Úvoz st. at west, Lidická st. at east and Kotlářská st. at north.

You will love Veveří if…

• …you want to live downtown but not in the very centre of Brno.
• …you study (or work) at the Faculty of arts, Faculty of social sciences, Faculty of law, Faculty of civil engineering or some other school located here or nearby.
• …you love hanging out in cafés, bars and restaurants.

You may dislike Veveří if…

• …you want your car parked right in front of your door. (Parking is a big pain in the ass here.)
• …you prefer quiet neighborhoods without any noise from traffic, kids playing in parks, drunkards etc.

Veveří st. that have given the quarter its name

Cafés, restaurants and bars to try out

• PUXpub (11 Jaselská st.) – restaurant that offers beers from many small breweries. Don’t miss it during your next beer crawl.
• U žíznivého papouška (17 Veveří st.) – a wine cellar with charming atmosphere.
• Café Mezzanine (15 Údolní st.) – a youth spirited café with Svijany beer on tap and great coffee.
• Koishi (11 Údolní st.) – one of the best sushi bars with Brno, with renowed chef Tadayoshi Ebina (born 1957 in Tokyo).
• Stáj (38 Veveří st.) – quite popular pub, offering beers from many small breweries.
• U Richarda (7 Údolní st.) – new restaurant (opened in 2009) that quickly became popular. Main reason? Great beer from small brewery “Richard” (located in quarter Žebětín).
• Café Falk (12 Gorkého st.) – one of the newest cafés in the quarter (opened in 2010) with beautiful interior, charming waitresses and great pastries.
• Café Steiner (38 Gorkého st.) – one of the best designed cafés in the town, with Stella Artois on tap.
• Café Avia (1 Botanická st.) – a restaurant with probably the best value for money in Brno.
• Café Sausalito – a friendly café offering great breakfasts and snacks. Too much cigarette smoke for my taste.

Updated: venues I forgot about (big thanks, commenters!)

• The Immigrant – an expat-friendly Irish pub, run by expats. (Still haven’t been there, gonna try it out soon!)
• Salon Daguerre (1 Slovákova st.) – a gallery and café with beautiful interior, located in a former drugstore.
• Transistor (7 Bayerova st.) – a neat small bar, succesor of the legendary Promítačka bar. It has the same owner as Daguerre, Falk and Avia, btw.
• Skleněná louka (23 Kounicova st.) – a legendary centre of alternative culture in Brno.
• Pod lékárnou (1 Slovákova st.) and Modrá růže (2 Kounicova st.) – pubs popular for wide choice of beers and warm meals even at 3 a.m.

Lesná on a 1970s postcard by Josef Sekal and Severografia Červený Kostelec

A garden city consisting of blocks of flats? Well, socialist urban-planning had some bright moments and quarter Lesná (district Brno-sever) is a good proof.

The most important part of Lesná was built in the 1960s on the northern corner of Brno. Its name means “forestal”, because the whole quarter is a huge park with tall trees between buildings.

There are about 12 huge blocks of flats, 20+ smaller buildings and many family houses at Lesná. Unique urban plan causes that there is little noise from motor traffic – which is watched over by several non-profits that even want to protect Lesná by law as a landmark.

Most buildings have recently been repaired.

Pros

• Quiet, safe neighborhood.
• Many leisure time facilities, including swimming pool.
• Affordable rents and prices of flats.

Cons

• Flats in the original buildings are rather old-fashioned and small.
• Lesná is relatively far from town’s centre, it takes about 20 minutes to get to the main station by tram. However, you can use a train line that reduces the commuting time under 10 minutes.
• Parking issues.

Modern buildings at the northern corner of Lesná.

Interesting places

There are two shanty towns built in the 1930s close to Lesná. “Divišova kolonie” (map) is the largest neighborhood of its kind in Brno. “Písečník” (map) is a real slum, however its atmosphere is destroyed by several new, huge, modern houses.

Best restaurants

I fell in love with a small pub “Dýmkařský klub” (“Pipe-smokers’ club”, map) at Studená st. They have several beers from small breweries on tap and the place has a family-like atmosphere. My former collegue recommends restaurant Na vyhlídce (map) – but I have not tried it yet.

There are many playgrounds at Lesná.

Map

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Líšeň is one huge district with two totally different neighborhoods. Old Líšeň (Stará Líšeň) is an old village that joined Brno in 1944. There is a nice church and a castle owned by Belcredi family in Stará Líšeň. New Líšeň (Nová Líšeň or more often just “Líšeň”) is a big suburb built in the 1970s.

Blocks of flats in Nová Líšeň

Pros

St. Mary the Helper's Chapel in Stará Líšeň

• There is nice nature around Líšeň, with many hiking and biking paths.
• Living in Stará Líšeň may be quite romantic. You can have an old house with a huge garden for a reasonable price and yet live in Brno.

Cons

• Líšeň is far from the city centre, 20 minutes by tram (ok, this is relative, as you still wouldn’t commute by train).
• Suburb Nová Líšeň is quite ugly.
• Relatively few shopping facilities.

Best restaurant

With no doubt “Havana“, serving (mostly) Spanish cuisine. See the location of Havana on a map.

Trip ideas

Pub Muchova bouda at Mariánské údolí in winter

Valley “Mariánské údolí” is worth visiting even if you don’t live in Líšeň. There are three ponds used for swimming (although the water is not crystal clear) and several pubs. See the location of Mariánské údolí on a map.

Map

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Links

• A gallery at czech Wikipedia
• Aerial photos of Líšeň

A typical street of Husovice - with low village-like houses built in the 19th century.

Once described by Nobel prize laureate Jaroslav Seifert as a “workers’ republic”, Husovice is a poetic mix of a former village with an industrial zone at the western bank of Svitava river. It’s a part of Brno-sever district but it is very different from nearby neighborhoods Černá Pole and Lesná, both belonging to Brno-sever as well.

Pros

• Low rents.
• Cheap pubs.
• Romantic industrial quarter.

Cons

• Higher levels of criminality, esp. burglary and pocket-picking.
• Older houses.

Do you like reading Kerouac or Ginsberg and smoking cigarettes at rusty old balconies? Move to Husovice today.

You’ll love Husovice, if:

• …you are a poor student and live on a budget.
• …you are a free-spirited person, willing to live in a hipster neighborhood.

Don’t move to Husovice, if:

• you are looking for a “nice district”, period.

Best restaurant

I have studied a high school in Husovice for 7 years and never found anything which could be called a really great restaurant. However, there is an old pub with great atmosphere, called Mikulášek and located at the cross of Elgartova st. and Nováčkova st.

If live in Husovice and want to have a nice dinner, why don’t you walk 5 minutes to district Černá Pole?

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Links

Husovice has a nice Facebook group with a gallery of old photos. You can learn something about the history of Husovice on a machine-translated Wikipedia page.

Kamenka in the 1930s. Source: Encyklopedie města Brna

Built illegaly in the 1920s by the poorest workers and turned into a hipster quarter in the 1960s, shanty town “Kamenná kolonie” is probably the most poetic neighborhood of Brno.

Kamenná kolonie belongs to the central district Brno-střed. It lies in an abandoned quarry, across the Svratka river from the exhibition ground. There are several dozens of very small houses with streets so narrow that the quarter is sometimes nicknamed “Sparrow’s nest”.

Kamenná kolonie today

Pros

• The place is beautiful and has an unique spirit.
• There’s a great free-thinking community in Kamenná kolonie.

Cons

• The houses can’t be really bought, as the land still belongs to the town. (But I am not 100% sure with this.)
• It’s not easy to rent a house or a room in “Kamenka”, as the quarter is really small.
• The place is surrounded with woods – well, not deep dark dangerous woods, but it’s still not really comfortable to go to Kamenná kolonie at night.
• No services or shops, except a bar and a vet.
• The people living in Kamenná kolonie are sometimes considered to be vagabonds – put simply, this stupid prejudice killed a young German expat earlier this year.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Antoni Gaudí and Přemek Podlaha got drunk together in Kamenka once upon a time.

So you said this place is cool and now there are 5 reasons why not to live there?

Be cool. If you are a young artist, anarchist, leftie, pot-grower etc., you’ll love living in Kamenka and your neighbors will love you. Otherwise you must to visit Kamenná kolonie at least once during your stay in Brno anyway! Walk through the streets, explore all the street art and sit down in the Duck bar, once awarded “the best pub in Brno” in local newspaper (to put it clear, it certainly isn’t the best pub in Brno).

Kamenka can be reached by the bike path leading through the banks of Svratka river – it may be a beautiful Sunday trip.

Old Fiat and Škoda parked in Kamenka

Map

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Links

• A panoramatic picture showing Kamenka and the exhibition ground
• An article [CZE] and a gallery
• Gallery of pictures taken from the top of the quarry
• Gallery of pictures taken in the streets

Černá Pole (“black fields”) neighborhood is a part of Brno-sever district and offers a high quality of living. It is located close to the centre but most of its streets are quiet.

There are some great pubs and you can tell your friends that you live close to Villa Tugendhat, the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Way cool.

If you have enough money, buy a villa or a house there. Otherwise, why not to rent a small flat in Černá Pole?

A typical street of Černá Pole with tenements built in the 20th century.

Pros

• One of the most beautiful residential quarters of Brno.
• Many shopping facilities.
• Great restaurants and pubs.
• There are several masterpieces of modern architecture: Vila Tugendhat, Café Era etc.

Cons

• Parking issuses. Ask your landlord about parking in a court yard.
• The rents are slightly above average, but still afordable.

Semi-detached houses near Mendel University.

Best restaurants and pubs

Betlém (27 Krkoškova st.) is not only the best restaurant in Černá Pole, it is one of the best restaurants in Brno, thanks to delicious meals based on the traditional Czech cuisine, great Dalešické beer, nice interior and above-average waiters. It offers the best fried potato chips in Brno.

U Lasa (110 Merhautova st.) is one of the few tap-your-own-beer pubs in Brno. A good thing is they close as late as at 2 a.m., a bad thing is that the quality of the beer (Starobrno) went down during last year.

Hluchá zmije (34 Jugoslávská st.) is an almost legendary pub with less known Czech beers on tap (Polička or Dudák anyone?).

U žíznivé opice (46 Merhautova st.) is a swinging wine bar, popular among students and other alternative souls. Speaking of alternative places: Traubka (8 Traubova st.) and Mýdlo (3 Traubova st.) are among the most important hubs of alternative culture in Brno.

Map

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The Church of Virgin Mary in Tuřany is among the most beautiful and monumental churches in Brno

Before 1947, these three districts were independent villages, far from Brno. Even though they became part of Brno administratively, they are still village-like and separated from the rest of the town.

There are exactly 3,110 people living in Chrlice and around 4,500 people living in Tuřany. Brněnské Ivanovice is the smallest district, with 517 houses. (Btw, don’t confuse Brněnské Ivanovice with Brno-Ivanovice.)

Tuřany is known for an international airport (BRQ), serving 500,000+ passengers every year.

Pros

• No ugly blocks of flats or dangerous streets with game rooms; just neat old rows with trees.
• Low rents (but few avaible apartments).

Cons

• Too much traffic going through both districts — that is not something you would expect from countryside-like living.
• Noise from the nearby airport (but it’s no Frankfurt am Main).
• If you want to work in the centre, you should have a car to get there in less than half an hour. Bike can do it too, but prepare for bike-unfriendly roads and heavy traffic.

Catholic mass with pope Benedict XVI is probably the most important event in the history of Chrlice.

You’ll like these districts if:

• …you want to live outside the city, but not too far.
• …you have a job in a nearby business district “Černovické terasy”.

Maps

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Trivia

Physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach was born in Chrlice in 1838.

Before it joined Brno in 1919, Židenice had been the biggest village of the Austrian empire. Some of its streets still look like a neat hamlet, although the quarter lies no further than 5 tram stops from the main train station.

Židenice is located on the eastern bank of Svitava river, roughly between Zábrdovice and Vinohrady. The problem with a guide to Židenice is that the quarter is quite big and there are both places to avoid and the best places to live in Brno.

Another formerly independent village Juliánov is a part of Židenice today; even the locals don’t know where Židenice ends and Juliánov begins, so I will call the whole quarter Židenice, which is also its official name.

Bílá hora park in April

Pros

• Unique genius loci.
• Low rents and good quality/price ratio of flats.
• Close to centre.
• If there is a “melting pot” in Brno, it’s Židenice. Bohemians, Gypsies, Ukrainian workers, Indians, Italians and many Vietnamese businessmen live there and work together.

Cons

• Sleepy atmosphere, as the place is inhabited mostly by old people.
• Crime issues on some streets (read on).
• In next 10 years the railway tracks going through Židenice will be extended. Nearby streets may suffer from higher levels of noise and vibrations.

Jewish cemetery

Good places

• Residential areas around Filipínského st. and Viniční st. — both built in the 1920s, with expensive villas and nice apartment houses.
• Blocks of flats around Došlíkova st., a quiet place near nature and with a great view over the city.

Bad places

• Dirty alleys around Životského st.
• Markéty Kuncové st. — slightly terrorized by bilkers displaced from Cejl.
• Otakara Ševčíka st. and Gajdošova st. — 30,000 cars ride trough these roads every day, so prepare for noise and dust.

Best restaurants

• I love indian restaurant Goa, with reasonable prices, tasty meals and two friendly Indian fellows serving the guests.
• Nearby café Zastávka is also recommendable, give a try to their baguettes.
• Oro Caffé at Táborská st. is serving great pizza every Friday.

Shopping

• There is a supermarket Kaufland at Bubeníčkova st. (it used to be so nice post-industrial place…) and smaller markets at Stará Osada sq. (Albert) and Bělohorská st. (Tesco). Shopping can be done even until late hours in several small shops called “Večerka” (“evening shop”).
• For great but very cheap wine, try wine shop Svoboda at Táborská st. (bring your own bottle try Veltliner from Rakvice village for CZK 44/liter).

Chapel at Táborská st.

Insider’s tips

I lived in Židenice from 1997 to 2008, so I know a lot about the quarter:

• Parks Akátky and Bílá hora are perfect for dating or just walking with your friends. Bílá hora offers a nice view over the town. Its top is decorated with a monument of socialist workers, who were having demonstrations at the place in the late 19th century, demanding social advantages they have today.
• There are several churches in Židenice, both catholic and protestant, and also a nice cemetery (at Balbínova st.), so if you are looking for places to pray or meditate, try it there.
• You can find the house where Bohumil Hrabal was born at the top of Balbínova st. Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997) was one of the most popular Czech writers, whose novel “Closely watched trains” was adapted in an Oscar-winning-movie in 1967.
• The only Jewish cemetery in Brno is located in Židenice (tram stop “Židovský hřbitov”).

As I wrote before, it’s impossible to judge whole Židenice. If you are about to buy or rent an apartment there, explore nearby streets in day and in night to get a good opinion. Although I don’t live there anymore, Židenice is a life-long love affair in my case…

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Vinohrady (vineyards in Czech) is an interesting district, thanks to it’s unique demography. The quite modern quarter is inhabited by many young people – the average age is 33.9 years, while it’s 40.4 years in whole Brno.

However, Vinohrady is not an university-quarter pulsing with arts and culture. These fellows have rather blue collar jobs.

Vinohrady. The sign says: Ball games prohibited

There are many pubs and clubs but (almost) no family restaurants, you can find a basketball court behind almost every building and it’s quite easy to buy drugs there.

Basic facts

Vinohrady is located at a hill in the eastern part of Brno. The whole neighborhood unit was built in the 1980s and, for the first time in Brno, all the blocks of flats were painted with funny colors to be less depressive.

In 2005, there were 15,766 people living in Vinohrady. By the way, it is one of the most densely populated places in the Czech republic.

Pros

• Low rents, cheap flats.
• Close to nature.
• Although it is a concrete jungle, maybe you won’t notice that – the buildings are red, green, brown and orange and there are playgrounds, benches and other nice things at the streets.

Cons

• It’s a quite boring place if you are not 15-50 y.o. blue collar.
• Huge parking issues. So huge that people park everywhere and firemen have problems with getting to fires with their wide vehicles.
• It takes a while (20+ minutes) to get to the centre.

I have lived in Vinohrady for 11 years and I still have friends there. This was my band, called Vitamíni (Vitamins). I made this picture back in 2001 to put it on the booklet of our first album, but we've never recorded any.

Best restaurant

I have not discovered a really good restaurant in Vinohrady – take a short walk to Havana in Líšeň (9 Masarova st.).

Secret tips from former inhabitant (I have lived there for 11 years)

• There is a great long field ideal for sledging in the eastern corner of Akátky park.
• You can get a tasty slice of bread with “Olomoucké syrečky” cheese in pub “Teniska” (24 Bořetická st.). Be prepared that you’ll be their first English-speaking customer ever.
• If you like nude sunbathing, try out a half-legal nudist beach at Růženin lom.
• Thanks to Vinohrady’s demography, almost every pub offers some games. Give a chance to bowling at ProBe bar (5 Pálavské náměstí sq.).

Map

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We’re going to discover a part of the town that is not an official district, but it is still a world of its own: Cejl and Zábrdovice.

Assumption of Mary Church at Zábrdovice, designed and built by Giovanni Pietro Tencalla in the 17th century

Both neighborhoods lie east from the centre, at the banks of Svitava river. They allways have been a home of the poorest workers of Brno, but now they are changing into a swinging modern quater close to the town’s centre. However, the nickname “Bronx of Brno” still remains.

“Cejl” is officialy only a name of a certain street, but it commonly describes an area between Milady Horákové st., Koliště st., Křenová st. and Svitava river.

“Zábrdovice” usually describes the eastern bank of Svitava river, between Lazaretní st. and Olomoucká st.

Pros

• Affordable rents.
• Close to the centre.
• Lively quarter with many cool-looking industrial buildings.
• Both neighborhoods are slowly transforming – old factories turn into cool apartment housing etc. The value of real estate will almost certainly grow up.

Cons

• Prepare to lose something valuable sooner or later.
• Too much noise and dust.
• No really good restaurants or clubs.

Shopping and services

There is one big supermarket – Interspar at Cejl st. I don’t know about any really good restaurant – there’s a lot of cheap pubs and casions. Just go to the centre for a good meal, or visit club Mýdlo at Traubova st., an interesting space for beatniks, hipsters and other alternative souls.

Cejl street is one of the few boulevards of Brno. It is an interesting mix of modern buildings and ruined tenements.

I asked the spokeswoman of Metropolitan police, Denisa Kapitančiková, about the criminality at Cejl. She answered:

It’s true that Cejl st. is one of the streets with the highest level of criminality, along with Tkalcovská st., Vranovská st., Bratislavská st. and Životského st. in neighborhoods Zábrdovice and Husovice. The most common offences are: stealing things from parked cars, pickpocketing, mugging, ransacking apartmets, drug abuse etc. [...] However, the council is investing in the system of closed circuit cameras and constables are controlling the problematic areas all day and night long.

I also asked my friend Kristýna, who has been living at Cejl st. for 6 years, to share her opinion about the neighborhood. She told me:

Cejl is a perfect “starting quarter” for those who don’t have families. You can’t have any nice walks with bassinet around, but the rents are low and you can get to centre or to Stará osada st. by foot in less than 10 minutes. Shopping is easy thanks to supermarket Interspar. There certainly is a problem with criminality, but I haven’t experienced any offense in last 6 years, it is just very uncomfortable to look at all those 6 years old kids loaded with drugs. [...] It’s better not to walk trough Bratislavská st. in the middle of the night, but there are policemen watching over Cejl st.

An angel painted by children in front of the Assumption of Mary Church

You will love Cejl and Zábrdovice, if…

• …you are a stereotypical Mediterranean person that don’t mind noise at night or kids pooping in the middle of a street. (I am sorry for being slightly politically incorrect, but I could not think about better explanation.)
• …you are a poor student with a low budget for a rent.
• …you are a beatnik, a hipster or a punker.

You will hate Cejl and Zábrdovice, if…

• …you don’t qualify for anything mentioned above.

Map

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Links

• Machine-translated article about the biggest recent street fight at Cejl
• Machine-translated interview with a sociologist focused on Cejl