A sunny flat in Prague
Light in a flat affects your mood, your sleep and your heating bills. Where in Prague the most sun falls, where slopes and narrow streets cast shade and how to recognise a sunny flat at a viewing.
Why sunshine matters
Daylight helps your sleep and mood, in winter the sun through the windows adds a bit of heating, and a well-lit flat needs less artificial light. On the other hand, west-facing windows overheat a flat in summer. So a sunny flat is not just about lots of sun, but about sun in the right rooms at the right time of day.
Which neighbourhoods get the most sun
Every address has a sunshine class based on incoming solar radiation, the slope and aspect of the terrain and the shade of surrounding buildings. We compare the average over addresses for 85 neighbourhoods, on a scale of 1 to 5. The sunniest are Slivenec (4.0/5), Řepy (3.9/5) and Kobylisy (3.7/5); the least sun is in Lipence (2.1/5), Košíře (2.2/5) and Bubeneč (2.2/5). The middle neighbourhood has 3.0/5.
South-facing slopes and loose development come out best; valleys, north-facing slopes and narrow streets with tall buildings worst. The neighbourhood is only a first guide, though: the light in a particular flat depends mainly on the floor and the side of the building.
How to spot a sunny flat
- Window orientation: a living room and kitchen facing south or west get the most sun; a bedroom facing east wakes you with morning light. A flat facing only north has diffuse light all day.
- Floor: on higher floors the surrounding buildings and trees cast less shade. In a narrow street the ground floor gets direct sun only briefly.
- Buildings opposite: look at what stands across the street and whether anything is about to be built there. A new building opposite can shade a flat for decades.
- View at the right time: come when the sun is shining, ideally in the afternoon. An evening viewing or one on a cloudy day tells you little about the light.
- Mind the summer: large south- and west-facing windows without external shading mean heat in summer. More in the guide Heat in Prague.
Frequently asked questions
Which neighbourhood in Prague is the sunniest?
The highest sunshine at their addresses is in Slivenec (4.0/5), Řepy (3.9/5) and Kobylisy (3.7/5). It is calculated from incoming solar radiation, the slope and aspect of the terrain and the shade of buildings.
Where in Prague is there the least sun?
The lowest sunshine is in Lipence (2.1/5), Košíře (2.2/5) and Bubeneč (2.2/5). The shade comes mainly from north-facing slopes, valleys and dense buildings with narrow streets.
Which way should the windows face for a sunny flat?
South-facing windows get the most sun, east-facing ones the morning sun and west-facing ones the afternoon sun, which also heats a flat the most in summer. North-facing windows give even light without direct sun.