Prague opens a 40-meter hillside slide adults can ride too

Prague has a new playground attraction, and it isn't just for kids.

A 40.2-meter stainless-steel slide opens Tuesday in Dejvice, giving Prague what the city district says is one of the longest slides in the city and the Czech Republic.

The slide runs down the slope between Pod Juliskou and Nad Juliskou streets in Prague 6, alongside a staircase that connects the two streets. It is free to use and will be open during the day every day of the week, including weekends. It will be locked at night.

And unlike many playground slides, this one is explicitly designed with adults in mind.

People weighing up to 200 kilograms can use it, although riders must be at least 120 centimeters tall. Only one person can use the slide at a time.

The slide cost Prague 6 about CZK 3.8 million, including modifications to the hillside and installation.

The project is part of a broader effort by the district to make public spaces more playful and not restrict recreational features to traditional children's playgrounds.

“The idea is that public space should be pleasant and playful, not only inside children's playgrounds, and ideally for more age groups, including adults,” Prague 6 councillor Petr Palacký said.

Prague already has several popular slides, but the new Dejvice attraction is in another league.

The playground at Sacré-Cœur in Smíchov has a roughly 10-meter metal slide, while Parukářka in Žižkov has a 12-meter stainless-steel slide built into the hillside.

The Dejvice slide is more than three times longer than Parukářka's.

The ride is expected to be relatively fast, with riders able to influence their speed depending on factors such as their clothing and how they use their feet. A straight section at the end provides space to slow down safely.

It will be closed when temperatures fall below 4 degrees Celsius and during heavy rain.

The location also makes the new attraction an easy addition to a walk around one of Prague 6's more interesting neighborhoods.

The slide is close to Juliska Stadium, home of Dukla Prague, and the surrounding Dejvice area is known for its leafy residential streets, university buildings and 20th-century architecture. The steep staircase beside the slide is already used by local residents and amateur athletes as a training route.

A little farther north is Baba, one of Prague's most distinctive architectural neighborhoods.

Its 33 functionalist villas were built between 1932 and 1940 as an experimental modern housing development, with designs by architects including Pavel Janák and Josef Gočár. The colony is now an urban heritage zone and part of the European Heritage List.

The nearby Baba nature area also has a vineyard, Prague's only certified organic vineyard, and the ruins of Baba, a romantic 19th-century reconstruction of a former vineyard summer house overlooking the Vltava valley.

So the new slide could make for a fairly good family mini-trip: ride the slide, walk through Baba, and finish with the views over the river.

Practical: The slide opens September 1 and is free. It is for riders over 120 cm, with a maximum weight of 200 kg, and operates during daytime hours. It closes overnight, in heavy rain, and below 4°C.