Narrowest street with traffic lights unique to Prague

Narrowest street in Prague has lights regulate the ‘traffic’! Obey the pedestrian lights if you want to walk through this alley that leads to Certovka Vinarna, the Devil’s Vinotheque, a welcoming restaurant where you can drink wine or enjoy a meal. The best place is the summer terrace with a view of the Vltava River. The narrowest street in Prague is actually a flight of stairs. Take the traffic lights with a grain of salt! It is true, it is almost impossible for two people from opposite direction to pass and squeezing against wall does not make the situation easier. That’s why the traffic lights were installed or is it a marketing trick?

Narrowest Street in Prague

The narrowest street in Prague is sandwiched between two buildings on U Luzickeho Seminare Street and is only 70 centimeters wide. At either end, you press the traffic light button if you want to pass. This narrow street is not a street at all, but a fire escape. In the fifteenth century, after a fire that destroyed almost the entire district of Mala Strana, the instructions were to leave narrow passages in between houses so that not all the buildings would burn down.

This alley in Prague is not the narrowest in the world. That honour lies with the 31-centimeter-wide Spreuerhofstrasse in the city of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The narrowest street in Amsterdam, the Trompettersteeg, is 1 meter wide, and compared to the alley in Germany it is a ‘grand boulevard.’

Narrowest street leads to Certovka Vinarna

Certovka Vinarna is wine bar and also an excellent restaurant. it is a true gem and serves traditional Czech meals meaning meat in large quantities but it also serves 100% vegetarian meals. You reach the restaurant via the narrowest street in Prague using the traffic lights: a clever marketing ploy or pure necessity?

Getting there

The narrowest street is located 150 meters from the Charles Bridge in the Mala Strana district. It is also close to Kampa Island once home to watermills and tanneries. On your way, you will pass the Kafka Museum which showcases the life and works of the Jewish writer Franz Kafka, who lived and worked in Prague in the early nineteenth century. The installation in the courtyard of the square in front of the Kafka Museum is made by David Cerny: two men pissing on the map of the Czech Republic.

Address
Narrowest street is the alley next to U Luzickeho seminare 24, and leads to Restaurant Certovka

Metro line A: Malostranska station
Tram 2, 18, 22 Malostranska stop

Related articles:
Kafka Museum his novels and his life
Kampa Island: off the beaten track

Photos Marianne Crone