Sand beach at Náměstí svobody sq.

Beyond a beer garden: where to savor life on a street

Many people coming from western Europe are surprised by the fact that Czechs do not enjoy “living on a street” as much as other nations do. However, several pubs and cafés in Brno are changing this, despite the forced 10:00 p.m. closing time.

Bláhovka pub, 54 Gorkého st.

Bláhovka pub at Gorkého st. on a Friday afternoon

Bláhovka was probably the first place in the modern history of Brno that attracted a crowd of “guests” drinking beer (great Pilsen, by the way) standing on a street in almost any weather.

Falk café/Špargl bistro, 12 Gorkého st.

This combo of a hipster café and a student bistro has only three tiny tables at the street but on some warm summer evenings it atracts crowds of dozens.

Kamenná st., including Duck bar

Siesta in front of Duck bar

I may be posting about Kamenná kolonie too often, but here is just another reason: every day after 5 p.m., a small crowd of 5-20 people sits down in front of Duck bar. These folks sip beer, smoke, read newspapers and discuss news – which is something you can not experience anywhere else in Brno.

Zelená kočka and Varna, Solniční st.

Two of the biggest beer gardens in downtown Brno turn Solniční street into quite a living place. I prefer Zelená kočka for the excellent Dalešické beer.

Přístavní st.

The road from Přístaviště tram station to the Brno dam lake is filled with huge beer gardens and wide enough for careless promenading. Sadly, you have to get ready for some slow and unwelcome service here.

Where to cool down

• In some of the outdoor swimming pools, of course.
• In a café, drinking some home made lemonade.
• At the sand beach at Náměstí svobody sq.
• In an outdoor cinema.

Please, share your tips

It is quite likely I forgot about some cool places, maybe I even don’t know some great spots. Please, share your experiences with others in the comments.

There are several open air swimming pools in the town – try out one of these on your next day off!

Kraví hora

Outdoor swimming pool at Kraví hora (source: kravihora-brno.cz)

Kraví hora outdoor swimming pool is located five tram stops from the city centre, next to the great indoor swimming pool.

In July and August, the place is opened from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m; 3 hours of sunbathing and swimming cost CZK 50, all-day ticket is worth CZK 100.

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Riviéra

Riviéra in Pisárky quarter (source: rivec.cz)

Located next to the Exhibition ground, outdoor swimming pool Riviéra was a promising project in the early 1990s, but it quickly turned in one of the stillborn businesses of the early Czech capitalism. However, life is returning to the huge area and you may enjoy several swimming pools, as well as other leisure time facilities.

Riviéra is opened daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and all-day ticket costs CZK 90.

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Dobrák

You may know about Dobrák from a recent post about an open air cinema running there until the end of August.

All-day ticket costs CZK 95 but you’ll get a CZK 30 discount after 4 p.m.

Btw, you can check out a webcam capturing the swimming pool.

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Zábrdovice

Spa in Zábrdovice, next to Zbrojovka factory (source: lazne-brno.cz)

Designed in the 1920s by renowed functionalist architect Bohuslav Fuchs, “spa” in quarter Zábrdovice is not a shiny place anymore. Some of my friends have reported being robbed there, but if you leave your wallet and cell phone at home, it is actually a quite nice pool to try out. With entrance fee of CZK 80, it is actually the cheapest one.

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Brno dam lake

Technically speaking, Brno dam lake is not a pool, but hundreds or thousand people swim or ride boats there every day. State has invested a lot of money to clean out the water and there is a nude beach located on the northern bank, approx. 2 kilometers from the ship dock.

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source: Kohoutovice.cz

New wellness complex in quarter Kohoutovice opens on Thursday. Being focused mostly on families with children, it features 25 m pool, smaller pool with back flow, jacuzzi and sauna.

The building got unofficial nickname “Armadillo” for its distinctive design. Its total capacity is 350 visitors. Pools will open on 6 a.m. and close on 10 p.m. every day. According to idnes.cz, one hour of swimming costs only CZK 45 (€1.8).

The wellness complex was built by the town for CZK 211M (€8.4M). It does not have a website yet.

Map

The pool is located at Vaňhalova st.

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Sadly, there’s only one really recommendable, modern swimming pool in Brno — the one located at Kraví hora, in quarter Masarykova čtvrt.

The modern interior of the facility. Note Špilberk castle in the window. Image courtesy of www.kravihora-brno.cz

There is a 25 m long swimming pool with 6 separated tracks, a jacuzzi for 10 persons, steam and fountains.

Always check the number of avaible tracks in this table (empty place = empty track).

One hour costs CZK 70. It’s good to remember Czech words MUŽI (gentlemen) and ŽENY (ladies) to prevent yourself from entering bad showers.

It’s easy to park a car in front of the swimming pool, which is also easily reachable by a tram #4, departing from Česká st.

Map

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Other swimming facilities

When I lived in the eastern part of Brno I enjoyed the swimming pool in quarter Lesná. There’s no steam and the building is old, but the place is clean and nice. One hour costs CZK 50-60 and you also have to check the number of free tracks.

A stupid thing is you can not start swimming on 9:30 and quit the pool on 10:30 – the pool has to be empty on the 55th minute of every hour. Edit: according to reader Tomáš, you can enter anytime. And there is a sauna. Cool.

A brand new swimming pool is being constructed in quarter Kohoutovice. It will be opened sometime in 2010.