Dejvice: the planned district of professors, embassies and villas

Dejvice is the sort of district that rarely appears in a tourist guide and shows up often in conversations about where to live. It sits north-west of the centre, on the plateau above the river, and combines three things not often found together: a university campus, a ring of villa streets and a cluster of embassies.

A district built from a plan

In the early 20th century the area around the village of Dejvice was still rural. After Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 the new state needed buildings for its institutions, and the municipality needed to house a growing population. The result was an ambitious plan for a modern district, laid out on a regular grid with a large central roundabout, Vítězné náměstí (Victory Square), nicknamed Kulaťák (the Round One).

The apartment blocks around the square and along the main avenues were built in the 1920s and 1930s, in a mix of styles including functionalism. The streets are wide, the blocks are of a consistent height, and the flats generally have good light and layouts. It is interwar town planning that still works for residents. After 1948 the district received additional buildings, including a large hotel of the early 1950s in the socialist realist style at the end of the main avenue.

Our overview of how Prague's spatial plan works explains how districts like this are managed today.

The universities

The Czech Technical University, whose history goes back to 1707, has its main campus in Dejvice, with faculties of engineering, architecture and other technical subjects in buildings spread along the main streets. The University of Chemistry and Technology is also in the district. Thousands of students and staff pass through each day, and this gives the area a character that is academic and young for a residential neighbourhood.

The effect on local life is practical. There are student cafes and bookshops, small businesses that cater to office and campus workers, and a rental market in which students and academics are visible. Demand for flats rises when the academic year begins.

Embassies and villas

The district neighbours Bubeneč, where many embassies occupy villas on quiet streets. Others are in Malá Strana, covered in our piece on Malá Strana. Diplomatic buildings have a visible but unobtrusive presence: flags, security posts and cars with diplomatic plates.

The villa streets near the edges of Dejvice and in the adjoining quarters were built in the 1920s and 1930s for professionals, academics and officials. Some are by well-known architects of the period. The Baba estate, a model colony of functionalist villas on a hillside nearby, was built in the early 1930s as an exhibition of modern housing, and remains a protected site. Houses of this period often have their own rules, so owners deal with the heritage authorities; see heritage protection and building restrictions.

Getting around

Metro A runs under the district, with Dejvická at the heart of it and Bořislavka nearby. The line connects directly to Malostranská, the Old Town and Wenceslas Square, so Dejvice residents reach the centre in minutes. The 2015 extension means that Dejvická is no longer the end of the line, and trains continue to Motol. Several tram lines and bus routes serve the area, and airport buses run from stops on line A; see getting to and from the airport.

The metro guide and the Prague transport overview explain how to use them. Cycling in Dejvice is easier than in many hill districts because the plateau is fairly flat, and the park of Stromovka is close; see cycling infrastructure in Prague.

Dejvice lies in Prague 6, whose district office handles registration and local services. The labels used in addresses are explained in Prague's districts and numbered areas.

Housing

The district has a mix of apartment blocks, villas and a few newer developments. The older flats are valued for their space and light, and the villa streets for their quiet. Rents and prices are not quoted here, because they change; the explainer on apartment prices in Prague by district sets out the sources.

New-build projects in the wider north-west are listed under new developments in Prague 6 on Novostavby.com (in Czech). If you are buying with a loan, the mortgage calculator on Hypoteky.com models repayments for a given amount, rate and term. It illustrates arithmetic and is not advice.

Daily life

Dejvice has a full set of local services: schools, health clinics, shops and a number of cultural venues. The streets around Vítězné náměstí hold a mix of independent shops and chains. For fresh food, see Prague markets explained, which covers market halls and farmers' markets across the city. For children, school places depend on catchment rules, covered in Prague schools and districts.

Villa colonies and the student market

Around Dejvice sit several quarters of villas that residents treat as part of the same area. Hanspaulka and Ořechovka are the best-known garden suburbs in Prague 6, built in the interwar years and in later decades, with detached houses on quiet streets, mature gardens and a village-like feel. They are not served by the metro, and their residents depend on trams, buses and cars. The effect is a sharp contrast with the dense avenues of Dejvice itself, a few minutes away.

The presence of the universities has a visible effect on the rental market. Demand for flats is strongest before the start of the academic year, and a flat in a block near the campuses is easier to let to students and staff than one farther away. Newcomers who rent should be prepared for competition at certain times of year. The contract basics in how to rent a flat in Czechia as a foreigner apply as in any district.

Embassies, universities and offices bring a daytime population of diplomats, academics and students, and the language schools, bookshops and cafes that serve them. In the evening the district is quieter than the centre, and the late-night economy is limited. That suits households that value calm, and it disappoints those who want nightlife on the doorstep.

Green space is plentiful. Stromovka lies to the east, Divoká Šárka to the north-west, and the smaller parks inside the grid give most residents a green view; see Prague's green spaces and parks.

How it compares

Dejvice is more orderly than Letná across the river and less touristed than Malá Strana. The villa districts to the south are covered in Břevnov and Střešovice, and the right-bank neighbour in the profile of Letná.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kulaťák?

The nickname for Vítězné náměstí, the large roundabout at the centre of Dejvice.

Which universities are in Dejvice?

The Czech Technical University has its main campus there, and the University of Chemistry and Technology is also in the district.

Is Dejvice close to the airport?

Buses to Ruzyně airport run from stops on metro line A, such as Nádraží Veleslavín. Check the Prague public transport (PID) site for current routes.

Which municipal district is Dejvice in?

Prague 6.

A short route that captures the district: take metro A to Dejvická, walk around Vítězné náměstí, then follow the avenue toward Stromovka. You will see the plan at work in half an hour.