Prague's jazz clubs

Are there jazz clubs in Prague?

Yes. Four clubs have live jazz most nights: Reduta, Jazz Dock, AghaRTA and U Malého Glena, plus the Jazz Boat on the river.

The four clubs below publish their programmes online and play almost every evening. They sit in different parts of the centre: Reduta near the National Theatre, AghaRTA in the Old Town, U Malého Glena in the Lesser Town and Jazz Dock across the river in Smíchov. None of them is more than a short tram ride from the others.

Entry prices are given only where the club itself lists them. Reduta, AghaRTA and U Malého Glena sell tickets per concert on their own sites, and the price depends on the band, so check the night you want.

What is the best jazz club in Prague?

Reduta for a first visit: the history, a reserved seat and a show every night. Jazz Dock if you want a big international name.

The honest answer depends on the night you want.

• Reduta is the classic. A seated hall, a show every night at 7 p.m., the Saxophone Bar where beer is tapped from a golden saxophone, and VIP seats where Václav Havel and Bill Clinton once sat. The programme leans towards swing, big band and tribute evenings (Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Coltrane), which suits visitors more than hardcore fans.
• Jazz Dock books the biggest names. In November 2026 the programme includes the Bill Frisell Trio (sold out) and the Gerald Clayton Trio, alongside Czech bands and a Sunday Dixieland afternoon.
• AghaRTA is the late-night cellar in the Old Town, with a set every evening at 9 p.m.
• U Malého Glena is the smallest room of the four, a few minutes from Charles Bridge, with a jam session most Sundays. Bring an instrument and you can sit in.

A reserved seat at Prague's oldest jazz club, with the VIP option for a welcome drink and the best seats.

★ 4.5 · 2 hours · from $25

Explore the Reduta Jazz Club concert → Tour details

What is the oldest jazz club in Prague?

Reduta Jazz Club on Národní, founded in 1957 by the bassist Jan Arnet. It is the oldest jazz club in Prague.

Reduta opened when jazz was still frowned on by the regime. Wikipedia records the premiere of the modern-jazz group Studio 5 there on 2 June 1958, and names Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck and Chick Corea among later guests. The club helped run the Prague International Jazz Festival from 1964 and became one of the meeting places of the Velvet Revolution at the end of Communist rule.

The famous night came in 1994. Bill Clinton, then president, joined a jam session and played a saxophone that Václav Havel had given him. He came back to the club in 2024. Reduta's own site calls it the oldest continuously operated jazz and theatre club in the world and one of the three oldest clubs in Central Europe.

Is it the oldest jazz club in Europe? Nobody keeps an agreed list. Le Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, a 16th-century cellar, has been a jazz club since 1949, which is earlier. Reduta's claim rests on combining jazz and theatre without a break.

Why is jazz so popular in Prague?

Because it was the music of resistance. Jazz was banned by the Nazis, distrusted by the Communists and kept alive by a jazz society that ended up in court.

Czech jazz has roots between the two world wars, when the composer Jaroslav Ježek mixed jazz and classical music into some of the most popular songs of the day. After the German occupation jazz was banned. It came back in 1947, when the Australian pianist Graeme Bell brought his Dixieland band to a youth festival in Prague.

The Communist government never liked it. Writers such as Josef Škvorecký made jazz the music of young people who wanted something the state did not control. In 1971 a Jazz Section was set up inside the Czech Musicians' Union; it was capped at 3,000 members and reached about 7,000, publishing banned books alongside its jazz bulletins. The authorities dissolved it in 1984, and two of its leaders, Karel Srp and Vladimír Kouřil, were jailed in 1986.

That history is why the music still matters here. It also explains the numbers: four clubs and a jazz boat find an audience every night in a city of this size.

What is Reduta Jazz Club like?

A seated concert hall a few steps below Národní, with one show a night at 7 p.m. and a second at 9:15 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Plan the evening around the door. The GetYourGuide listing asks you to arrive 45 minutes early for the 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. shows, and 15 minutes early for the 9:15 p.m. show. Concerts last 2 hours from Sunday to Thursday and 90 minutes on Fridays and Saturdays, when there are two shows. A standard ticket gets a seat from the manager; VIP tickets reserve the best seats and add a welcome drink.

A few house rules: no coats, jackets or bags in the hall (the cloakroom is free), no meals, only bar snacks, and children under 5 go in free. It is not wheelchair accessible, though the listing says there are only a few steps to the hall and the staff will help.

The Jazz club was the highlight of our trip. The atmosphere was amazing and the music was fantastic. The musicians were very talented.
Leah, Oct 2026

Which jazz club in Prague has music every night?

Reduta and AghaRTA both list a concert every evening. U Malého Glena plays most nights, and Jazz Dock most nights with bigger names.

Jazz Dock sits on the Smíchov bank of the Vltava at Janáčkovo nábřeží 2, with a ten-metre bar and a terrace café in spring and summer. It opens at 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday and at 3 p.m. at weekends, and the kitchen serves until midnight. Its own programme lists seated and standing tickets: CZK 200 standing for a Sunday Dixie afternoon at 4 p.m., up to CZK 1,500 seated for a headline show. The two biggest shows of early November were sold out by the start of the month.

AghaRTA Jazz Centrum opened on 29 September 1991, the day after Miles Davis died, according to Prague's official tourist site. It is at Železná 16, between Old Town Square and the Estates Theatre, opens at 7 p.m. and starts the music at 9 p.m.

U Malého Glena is a bar, restaurant and jazz and blues club at Karmelitská 23, a few steps from Charles Bridge. Its November programme runs most nights at 8 p.m.: blues on Mondays, the Najponk trio on many Wednesdays, a jam session on Sundays, and Tuesdays dark. The club's own line is "You've never been so close to music", so reserve.

Can you hear live jazz on the Vltava?

Yes, on the Jazz Boat: a live band plays three sets during a 2 hours 30 minutes cruise. The other cruises with jazz in the name play recorded music.

The Jazz Boat runs like a club afloat. A different band each night (on 4 November 2026 it was the František Kop trio), three sets, 7:30 p.m. from Terminal 18 on Dvořákovo nábřeží by Čech Bridge. The basic ticket covers the cruise and the concert; drinks are ordered at the table and paid on board in CZK, and dinner is optional. Some tables are shared with other guests.

Two things to keep straight. The one-hour jazz-style cruise plays recorded jazz with audio commentary, and costs from $14. The Prague Boats dinner cruises have live background music (a pianist, an accordionist, a band and singer), not a jazz concert. Our Jazz Boat review has the full picture.

Live jazz on the river: three sets, the lit Charles Bridge outside, and dinner only if you want it.

★ 4.7 · 2 hours 30 minutes · from $46

Explore the Jazz Boat → Tour details

How much does a jazz club cost in Prague?

Expect a few hundred to about 1,500 Czech crowns for a club ticket, plus drinks, and from €49 for the Jazz Boat.

Here is what the venues publish for 2026. Drinks are always extra: on the Jazz Boat a small Budvar is CZK 70 and a mixed drink CZK 180. Most clubs sell tickets online per concert, and the big nights go first.

Dressing for the evening is simple, and our guide on what to wear on the boat and in the clubs covers it.

Frequently asked questions