Features > The Pleasure Activist

by Doug McClelland

(posted August, 2007)

Prague

Prague is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and has a thousand years of history. With its castle, the bridges along the Vltava River and the romantic streets in the Old Town, Prague has always been an attractive city. It became an accessible city in 1989 after the Berlin Wall fell and the Czechoslovakian Velvet Revolution freed it from communism and Soviet domination. In 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two countries, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic.

Since 1989 Prague has become one of the most visited and talked about cities in Europe. In 1992 UNESCO included the historic center of Prague in its list of World Heritage Sites and it is now almost perfectly restored. Amazing, unique and fairytale-like Prague is a beautiful place to visit because of its special charm from past centuries. The currency is the Czech Republic koruna and the exchange rate is roughly 20 koruna to the American dollar. The Euro currency is also widely used, as the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union. Most things are relatively cheap in Prague except accommodations. So many people are coming here that there is a hotel room shortage, which has driven up the prices to the same as those in Paris, but you’ll find everything else very reasonable. The city has fantastic public transit with a subway, trams and buses criss-crossing the city to everywhere you’ll want to go. Unfortunately, the taxis have a reputation as total ripoffs and should be avoided.

I have three recommendations for tourist attractions to visit. In the beautiful Old Town Square is the Prague Astronomical Clock, a medieval astronomical clock built in the 1400’s. It is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the positions of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Christian Apostles and other moving sculptures; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. It is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall and its hourly display is a popular tourist attraction. Get close and watch for the skeleton representing death to shake his hourglass.

Secondly, the beautiful Charles Bridge is a famous historical pedestrian bridge that crosses the Vltava River. Its construction started in 1357 and finished in the beginning of 15th century. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of thirty statues, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700. During the night Charles Bridge is a quiet reminder of medieval times but during the day it is packed with tourists, buskers, painters and all sorts of activity.

Third, the Prague Castle is the biggest castle in the world according to Guinness Book of Records, with a history stretching back to 870. The castle buildings represent virtually every architectural style of the last millennium, including the gothic St. Vitus Cathedral, the Romanesque basilica of St. George, a monastery and several palaces, gardens and defence towers.

The laws of the Czech Republic have become very favourable for gays in recent years. Since 1999 sexual orientation is treated as a private matter. The 2001 national Labour Code also provides anti-discrimination protection on the basis of sexual orientation, in line with European Union guidelines. The age of consent is fifteen years old for both gays and straights. The Army doesn't question the sexual orientation of soldiers and allows homosexuals to serve openly. Homosexual prostitution was decriminalized in 1990 (more on this later). Since July 1st, 2006 the Czech Republic offers civil unions for same-sex couples, with some of the rights of marriage.

I stayed at The Castle Steps, a gay friendly hotel with a price range of 46 to 170 Euros. They are spread over a couple of buildings, which were well located in the historic center and allowed me the option of bringing in guests with no problem. If you stay in the right place you can walk to a lot of the sights. There are gay guesthouses too; the Arco Guest House, the Ariva, and Ron’s Rainbow Guest House.

Prague has become famous in gay circles for its escorts and hustlers since gay prostitution was legalized in 1990. Lots of porn has been made in Prague featuring the handsome Slavic men. Check out the videos made by William Higgins to see hot Czech guys in action. There are some interesting bars to find these guys in. I went to Escape to Paradise that is set up totally to sell hustlers and has been operating for six years. There is a small stage where some of the boys take turns stripping to show their wares, and the crowd consists of hustlers and those shopping for them. On weekends the show includes duos and a sex show. It is a bit intense and my companion was taken aback by the aggressive come-ons from the boys. Personally, I thought it was all really interesting and narrowed down my interest to a particular guy. When we got down to negotiations he started at $200 but we ended up agreeing on $50 for him to come back to my hotel for an hour. Another very interesting place is Drakes, a fantastic sexclub. You pay a fee to enter and get a ticket good for 24 hours. There is a bar with friendly, handsome staff that features strip shows. But the real attraction is the cruising labyrinth, which has two floors of dungeons, video booths, gloryholes, prison cells, and darkrooms. The video booths all have constant multi-channel porn showing for no extra charge. It attracts a wide variety of guys including hustlers and tourists, but also regular locals into the hot scene. If I wanted to go dancing I’d go to Club Valentino, which claims to be the biggest club in Central Europe and attracts a hot crowd. Street level is a regular fun dance bar, the basement is a cooler dance space, and the sub-basement is a dungeon/darkroom. If you are into sex shop cruising then the place to go is the Heaven sex shop, which has a three-floor cruising labyrinth and is busiest from 7 to 10 pm. Another wild spot is Alcatraz, open daily 10 pm to 5 am. It’s a BDSM bar and sexclub where you will find naked parties, spanking, medieval torture chambers, slings, examination tables, piss halls, video cabins, barrack bunk beds, orgies and more. The main bar hosts theme evenings such as leather, fetish and live sex shows. The place actually has a friendly vibe because many of the patrons know each other, so it’s not too intimidating.

There are three saunas in Prague. Sauna Babylonia is a popular, inexpensive sauna in the center of Prague, just through a passage across from the TESKO shopping center. Bright and friendly, with fitness equipment, a bar, steamroom, dark sauna, whirlpool, videos and massage, and middle-aged clientele. David Club Gay Sauna, the first gay sauna in Prague, was recently remodeled and has massage, a mini-fitness area, and oxygen masks as well as the usual sauna and steam facilities. It attracts a fun, young clientele. Sauna Marco has two separate dry sauna rooms, steamroom, whirlpool, video lounge, bar and booths. It tends to attract a somewhat older crowd.

For something interesting and different, you could visit the Podoli Baths, which are an old-fashioned public bathhouse frequented by the general public of all ages. It has one big basin inside and two pools outside, with a winter toboggan slide, restaurants, hairdresser and a fitness center. There are also showers, a sauna, solarium and sun terrace. You’ll find a lot of gays there, especially on the nude rooftop sunbathing area in the summer. Lots of cruising and viewing in the showers too.

Outdoor cruising is mainly in the summer here because of the cold winters. But Eastern Europeans have a very liberal attitude about nudity so there are a couple of nude beaches at local lakes that can be fun. Seberak Lake has nude bathing and you can reach it by taking the Metro to Kacerov and a bus to Seberak (end station). From the bus stop walk to the opposite side of the lake where there is a nude beach with some cruising. Sarka Lake also has nude bathing and you get there by taking the Metro to Dejvicka and then Tram 26 to the end station. You can also cruise at Letna Park, Praha 7 in the area near the 'Metronom' on the top and next to the Belvedere Palace. Cruising goes on in the bushes on either side of the pavilion, near the Hanovsky Pavilion Restaurant.

As well, like most European cities, the railway station can be cruisy. The main railway station is called Hlavni Nadrazi, and I’m told the gallery above the ticket counters is cruisy, and also outside the station by the benches for rough trade rent boys at night.

If you want to sample the higher end legal rent boys the biggest agency seems to be Callboys Agency Prague.

I’d highly recommend Prague for a sexy time in a beautiful historic city. Have fun.

 

Recommended in this article (also see the Sex Listings):

Alcatraz Borivojova 58, Praha 3. Cruise bar with dark room.

Club Valentino Vinohradska 40, Prague 2, Vinohrady. Cruise bar with dark room.

David Club Gay Sauna Sokolovska 44, Praha 8. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Drakes Zborovska 50, Praha 5. Sexclub.

Escape to Paradise, V Jame 8. Men for hire.

Heaven, Gorazdova 11, Praha 2. Theatre showing porn and sex shop.

Letna Park. Cruisy Park.

Podoli Baths, Podolska 74, 147 50, Praha 4. Sauna with covert action.

Sarka Lake. Nude sun bathing and cruisy beach.

Sauna Babylonia, Martinska 6, Praha 1. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Sauna Marco, Lublanska 17, Praha 2. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Seberak Lake. Nude sun bathing and cruisy beach.

 

 

Comments, suggestions, compliments, criticism? You can write to Doug, The Pleasure Activist, at doug@cruisingforsex.com.

Doug McClelland originally entered the adult entertainment business as a centerfold for BEAR magazine, but he soon moved from the front of the camera to behind it. In 1995 he founded chisel.com, one of the original gay porn sites, which in 1996 was the first gay site to netcast live video. He has produced, directed, and occasionally appeared in adult videos. His association with Cruising for Sex began when Chisel became the second sponsor of our site. For the last few years he wrote our advice column called the Guidance Counselor. In the Pleasure Activist column he is our travel reporter, sharing tips and stories from his personal travels.

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