5 Best Sights in Prague, Czech Republic

This giant modern art hub makes up the trio of big-beast artistic institutions in Prague 7 that have seen the district christened the city's most creative, alongside the Trade Fair Palace and the Academy of Fine Arts college next to Stromovka Park. This one is arguably the most fun, from its witty slogans (emblazoned on the building and sold as postcards) to its often flamboyant modern art collection, via a discussion space located in a life-size suspended airship. Housed in a former factory, DOX is more than just a brilliant modern art gallery, though; it is also a cultural center aiming to put art at the forefront of modern ways of thinking about the world.

This free-to-enter (donations welcome) art gallery, set within a labyrinthine, brick-walled basement, houses an eclectic range of quirky, contemporary, and occasionally downright creepy artworks, from oil paintings to audiovisual installations. But it's one particular provocative sculpture that takes the headlines: David Černý's Brown-Nosers. Head through the rotating window out into the garden to see two giant, naked, lower halves of bodies, bent over at 90 degrees. Climb one of the two rickety ladders and peer "into" the sculptures to watch a video. In one of the videos—spoiler alert!—former president Václav Klaus is being clumsily spoon-fed human waste to the soundtrack of Queen's "We Are the Champions." In the other, he's the one doing the feeding. The scenes are a metaphor for the state of Czech politics, apparently.

The gallery is a 15-minute uphill walk from Anděl Metro station. Ring the buzzer at the door to be let in.

This sometimes overlooked gallery, boasting the National Gallery's The Art of a Long Century (1796–1918), as well as the art of The First Republic (1918–38), has a real claim to being the city's best. Touring the vast spaces of this 1920s functionalist exposition hall filled to the brim with quirky, stimulating, comprehensive modern and contemporary local art is the best way to see how Czechs surfed the forefront of the avant-garde wave until the cultural freeze following World War II. Keep an eye out for works by František Kupka, credited as one of the first-ever abstract artists, and other Czech giants like Josef Čapek. Also on display are works by Western European—mostly French—artists from Delacroix to the present, with paintings by Gauguin, Picasso, and Braque an unexpected bonus. But painting is only the beginning—also occupying the many levels of the museum are collages, cubist sculptures, vintage gramophones, futuristic architectural models, art deco furnishings, and an exhaustive gathering of work from this new century, some of which is just as engrossing as the older stuff. Also, watch the papers and posters for information on traveling shows and temporary exhibits.

Near the river between Pařížská and Revoluční ulice, in the northeastern corner of Staré Mĕsto, this peaceful complex has Prague's first buildings in the Gothic style. Built between the 1230s and the 1280s, St. Agnes's Convent provides a fitting home for the National Gallery's marvelous collection of Czech and Central European Gothic art, including altarpieces, portraits, and statues from the 13th to the 16th century. There is an interesting collection of contemporary Czech sculpture in the gardens, too, which are free to enter and open year-round. 

Kampa Island's gem is a remodeled flour mill that displays the private collection of Jan and Meda Mládek, leading Czech exiles during the communist period who supported the then Czechoslovak nonconformist artists. There's a large collection of paintings by Czech artist František Kupka, considered one of the founders of modern abstract painting, and first-rate temporary exhibitions by both Czech and other Central European visual wizards. The aim of the museum is to showcase the work and the difficult circumstances under which it was created. The museum itself has had some tough times: it was hit hard by flooding in 2002 and 2013 but rebounded relatively quickly on both occasions. The outdoor terrace offers a splendid view of the river and historic buildings on the opposite bank.