Summer cinema 2024: The best outdoor film venues in Prague

If you’re anything like us, the upcoming months in Prague mean movie screenings enjoyed from comfortable lounge chairs under the open sky, accompanied by the gentle breeze of a summer night.

The number of open-air film venues in the Czech capital – many offering free entry – has considerably expanded over the past few years. From botanical gardens to converted churches, rooftop venues, and historic villas, here’s our selection of the best places to settle in for an evening of entertainment under the stars.

Note that these screenings typically begin at dark, around 9:30 p.m. this time of year, and 9 p.m. in August. Drinks and refreshments are usually available on-site, and many showings are English-friendly; however, double-checking these details beforehand is always a good idea. See complete programs via the links provided here.

Every Wednesday from the end of June to the end of August, the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Holešovice, in cooperation with Edison Filmhub, will host unique screenings of movies gathered under the loose theme of “Kafkaesque” – linked to their current exhibition. For 200 Kc, you’ll enjoy groundbreaking artsy films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Under the Silver Lake, or Sunset under the starry sky with a view of the gallery’s iconic airship.

But you’ll have to head to Prague 5 for arguably one of Prague’s very best open-air cinema venues: Letní Kino Kinska, located in the eponymous park on the edge of Petřín Hill, screens movies five days a week, with tickets costing just CZK 129. This summer’s program is filled with classics to rewatch for a hundredth time, including Amélie, Inception, Big Lebowski, or Laputa: Castle in the Sky – as well as more recent releases, like the beautiful Fremont or heartwarming Aftersun. In bad weather, screenings may be moved indoors to Kino Atlas.

On a smaller scale, Dejvice nightlife staple Klubovna also has outdoor summer screenings in its laidback garden. Weekly screenings – including Zoolander, How to Have Sex or Hundreds of Beavers this month – are held every Wednesday evening for CZK 100 per ticket.

For the same price, you can also head to Cross Club’s summer cinema, held just in front of the iconic Prague 7 nightclub and a stone’s throw away from DOX. The next screenings include Bob Marley: One Love and the unmissable Miyazaki animated film My Neighbour Totoro.

Every Wednesday, the Food Truck Point in Holešovice offers free screenings of mostly international movies. In its twelfth season, MeetFactory’s summer cinema is held weekly on Wednesday. Upcoming films include Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, the latest Miyazaki The Boy and the Heron, or the post-apocalyptic White Plastic Sky.

Smaller and more remote venues also have their pick with Letní Kino Spirála, Letní kino v podzámčí, which screens mostly Czech films under the Libeň castle, Hostivar Brewery (for old classics and new releases every Tuesday), or open-air movies at Pragovka Gallery in Prague 9.

If location is your main criterion, we’d recommend the weekly summer cinema at Žluté Lázně right by the river, or the nice set-up put together at the CAMP Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning, just by Karlovo náměstí, with screenings held every Tuesday and Thursday.

For the seventeenth year running, the popular cinema on wheels Kino Bus will offer 22 films in 12 different places around Prague throughout the summer, including locations in Holešovice, Zličín, Letňany, or Suchdol. Check out their website for the exact locations. Letní Kino Prague 12 is also back this year, with about a dozen screenings planned in a different location in Prague’s 12th district every Thursday.

Believe it or not, there’s more. Outdoor films will be shown throughout the summer months in the courtyard of the beautiful Clam-Gallas Palace, focusing on art-related movies for CZK 160 per entry. The former monastery turned arts and cultural venue Gabriel Loci in Prague 5 offers a program for true film buffs, including Casablanca, The Blues Brothers, Kill Bill, and much more.

For a great selection of classic films, visit Dlabačov’s summer cinema. They feature a near-daily outdoor program including Fight Club, The Wizard of Oz, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and many Hitchcock masterpieces such as Vertigo, Rear Window, or North by Northwest. Baden Baden Štvanice hosts a Summer of American Film beginning on July 25 with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Unbeknownst to many, Prague’s Botanical Garden also joined the summer cinema craze. Top Hollywood productions are screened every Friday and Saturday throughout August, always preceded by a short film from the EKOFILM environmental movie festival. Tickets cost CZK150. For more independent movies (Perfect Days, Fallen Leaves), head to Letní kino u Keplera in the Max van der Stoel Park in the Hradčany district.

Slightly pricier but nonetheless worthwhile options can also be found at the Sunset Cinema in Pankrác (CZK 310 per ticket, with international movies screened pretty much every day), or on the roof of the OC Westfield Chodov (CZK 250 to see Barbie, The Devil Wears Prada, Pulp Fiction and many more).