Letná and Petřín are a large park and a hill respectively and each have their own attractions and what they have in common is plenty of greenery and superb aerial views of Prague central. They are a slight detour away from the usual tourist routes but can be reached on foot in a reasonable time span.
Letná Park (Letenské Sady)
The route to Letná Park from the Old Town Square is literally a straight path along the high street Pařížská and then cross the Čech Bridge (Čechův Most) with its four pillars and an angel atop each pillar. After the bridge, cross the main road (Benes) and climb several flights of stairs and you are there at the park.
To back track a bit, church architecture buffs may be interested to note that to the left of the bridge along the main road, is a lonely structure perched on a rock ledge right by the Vltava. Visitors pass it by but probably take little notice of it - a Baroque rotunda that used to be on the bridge but shifted in the 1950s to where it is now.
The first sight that greets you is a giant metronome located near to a stone wall. It was placed there in the early 1990s but, four decades prior at the very same spot stood an imposing group of giant statues with the sculpture of Stalin at the helm. Being a symbol of tyranny and mass murder (today, in hindsight), it was destroyed in 1962. The area is a favourite of skateboarders so watch out.
If you have young children, there are apparently several playgrounds in the park and one is nearby the Letná beer garden. The beer garden is popular with locals and tourists, with drinks (only one type of beer I believe) served from the Letná Chateau (Letenský Zámeček). The beer garden is closer to the eastern end of the park, has many picnic tables and you have a nice view of the northern section of Old Town. On the way from the Metronome to the beer garden, you may come across tennis courts.
To sidetrack a bit outside Letná park, about a 15 minute walk north of the beer garden is the National Technical Museum (Národní Technické Muzeum). Exhibits cover a broad range of technological achievements including modes of transportation, printing equipment, photography, timepieces, household appliances, chemistry and others. Looks like an interesting place to spend a few hours.
A mid-20th century landmark at the far eastern end of the park is Bruselský Pavilon - Restaurace (Expo 58), a modern building with a semi-circular structure which was an entry at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels and, winning the award for best pavilion. It was disassembled and rebuilt at its present location in Prague. The building housed a restaurant until 1990 and is probably now an office space.
Finally, for the best aerial views of Prague from Letná, and for me, some of the best views of Prague, head over to the far western end of Letná to Hanavský Pavilon. The pavilion is a cast iron structure (the first in Prague) built as a showcase piece by an ironworks company owned by a Prince William Hanavský, for the 1891 Jubilee Exhibition held at the Industrial Palace in the suburb of Holešovice. Designed in a neo-Baroque style, the pavilion was moved from the exhibition and reconstructed at its present location and has since undergone extensive restoration works twice. A restaurant currently operates here. But let's not forget the main reason for making the journey to the pavilion - the view of Prague's historic centre, the Vltava and five of the bridges along the river (picture at the top of this page). It is truly a sight to behold, marvelous at night (I missed that!) and still gorgeous even on a heavily overcast day.
Petřín
It takes under 30 minutes to get to the base of the hill from the Old Town Square and then of course more time on the hill and to the summit depending on how you get to the top. The easiest way up the hill is via the funicular which makes two stops either way, one just after/before midway and obviously, at the summit. The funicular is located off the street Újezd in Little Quarter.
Before going on Petřín proper, you may want to view some bronze sculptures on a flight of stairs built at the base of an area of the hill. They are collectively called Memorial to the Victims of Communism (Pomník Obětem Komunismu) and were first seen by the public in 2002. The message conveyed by these sculptures - the degradation of the human spirit and destruction of lives of all those under the yoke of Communism, not just political prisoners but also the average citizen. Their location is accessed from Újezd and, if you are headed to Petřín via Legion's Bridge (Most Legií), these sculptures can just about be discerned from the end of the bridge on the Little Quarter side.
Alright, confession time. My climb of Petřín was neither with my feet nor via the funicular but with a two-wheel contraption called the Segway, which is quite a bad-word amongst many Prague residents and even tourists. That said, I used it prudently at a reasonable speed and it got me to many places on the hill within a few hours where it would have taken a full day of walking, 'killed' my feet and with that, the rest of my tour.
The journey by Segway commenced at the gates to the hill at the end of Újezd street. From here, it was a quick ride to the ex-summer palace of the Kinský aristocrats (same family that owned the Kinský Palace in Old Town Square), followed by a series of twists and turns in the Kinský Garden (Kinského Zahrada) to get to a wooden church well hidden amidst the greenery and slopes. The Kinský Garden takes up the entire south and south eastern part of the hill.
The Church of St.Michael @ Carpathian Church of the Holy Archangel Michael, was originally constructed in the village Velké Loučky (big "glades") near Mukacheve, Zakarpats'ka oblast in far western Ukraine in the latter half of the 17th century. It was later moved to a wealthier village or town in that area of Ukraine before being disassembled and brought to Prague in 1929 and reconstructed on Petřín hill as per the original. This act in 1929 was to mark the 10th anniversary of the Carpathian-Ruthenian region being absorbed into the then Czechoslovakia. The Carpathian-Ruthenian region has now long been returned to Ukraine but this church with vastly different architecture from any other church in Prague remains. There are other sights in Kinský Garden, a pond, statues and a sundial (where a spear through the engraving of Jesus is the hand that tells the time).
From Kinský Garden, we head north to a section of the Hunger Wall (Hladová zed'). It stretches from near Újezd street (not far from the Memorial to the Victims of Communism metal sculptures) cutting across the hill to Štefánik's Observatory and spanning most of the western part of the hill up to Strahov Monastery. It is a white/cream coloured wall and sections of the wall are visible from numerous locations across the river including from all along Legion Bridge up to Cafe Slavia. 
Built on the orders of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV from 1360 to 1362, out of stone quarried from the hill, the wall was for the protection of the southern part of Little Quarter and to fortify Prague Castle defences to the west and the south. However, the romanticised version suggests that the wall was built to provide wages for the hungry residents who could then buy food for their families. Probably the best explanation for the name is that the wall was built for strategic reasons at a time of widespread hunger and the work generated by the construction helped feed families. There are numerous hidden spots - mini gardens and picnic sites with great views - on Petřín that only locals are aware of. However, if you follow the funicular line, you can obtain fabulous views of the Vltava and Old Town.
On to the summit next where you will find a mirror maze, a church, chapels, rose gardens and a lookout tower. It is rather busy at the summit with locals and tourists thus, in this sense this area is not an Off the Beaten Path in Prague.
The Church of Saint Lawrence is a Baroque church but with origins dating to the 12th century. Next to the church is the 18th century Calvary Chapel. Its facade is a sgrafitto designed by famous Czech artist Mikoláš Aleš. There is a path leading up to this area which has 14 chapels along the way, to emulate the Calvary, a hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified - I believe the chapels depict this.
Petřín Lookout Tower (Petřínská Rozhledna) often termed the mini Eiffel Tower, was built in 1891 for an exhibition. This metal structure rises 63.5 metres and has several platforms that provide great views of the city. To get to the high platform, either climb the more than 220 stairs or use the elevator. The tower is illuminated at night and can be seen from Prague central.
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| Photo source: www.strahovskyklaster.cz |
The order was founded by St. Norbert in 1120 with the one in Prague formed in 1143. There is a statue of St. Norbert (flanked by St. Wenceslas and St. Sigismund) on Charles Bridge - it is the seventh group of statues on the right as you look towards Little Quarter.
You can either have a cursory view of the libraries from the entrance or arrange to have a guided tour to enter and have a closer inspection. The beautiful frescoes in the vaulting of the theological hall are early Baroque and celebrate genuine wisdom and knowledge. Apart from the libraries, there is a small natural science exhibit nearby the libraries - one of the exhibits being a specimen of a dodo bird.
That's not all at the monastery - behind it is in an open area where you have fabulous views of Little Quarter and across to Old Town.
There's more! Within monastery grounds, is a microbrewery-restaurant (Klášterní Pivovar Strahov) where you can taste the special monastic beers. With that, you can cap your visit to Petřín with a cool one or several.
Na Zdraví !
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