The Sights You Shouldn't Miss

The castle complex itself is free to enter, daily 6:00-22:00, and the view from its terraces is worth the climb alone. To go inside the buildings you need a ticket: the standard circuit is 450 CZK for adults, 300 CZK reduced and 950 CZK for a family, and it covers the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica, Golden Lane and St Vitus Cathedral in one ticket valid for two days. The cathedral is not free to walk into - it is included in that ticket, and only people attending a service get in without one. St Vitus opens Monday to Saturday 9:00-17:00 (to 16:00 in winter), Sundays from noon.

Two things worth planning around: the Changing of the Guard at noon in the first courtyard is free and the best of the hourly ceremonies, and the castle's only official online sales channel runs through GetYourGuide - buy there or at the castle's own information centres. Historical buildings close on 24 December, and individual buildings occasionally close at short notice, so check hrad.cz before you go.

The bridge itself is free and open all night; 2026's works are routine cleaning of the stonework and do not close it. The towers at either end are separate climbs. The Old Town Bridge Tower - the one that frames every photograph of the bridge - is 250 CZK for adults, with the first opening hour of the day at half price. The Lesser Town tower at the other end is 200 CZK. Prague City Tourism is the only official seller of tower tickets, in person or online.

Cross before nine in the morning if you can. By mid-morning the bridge is a slow-moving queue, and the statues - thirty of them, beginning with the bronze St John of Nepomuk of 1683 - are best met in relative quiet.

The apostles' procession at the top of the hour is free, every hour from 9:00 to 23:00, watched from the square. The paid part is the tower: 380 CZK including the Old Town Hall's historic interiors, plus 100 CZK if you want the lift instead of the stairs. Open January to March 10:00-19:00, April to December 9:00-20:00. In 2026 the clock's statues are being restored in stages from May to the end of October, but the clock itself is running as normal.

One combined ticket covers the Old-New Synagogue, the Pinkas and Maisel and Spanish Synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery: 600 CZK for adults, valid for three opening days. It closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays - plan the Jewish Quarter for any other day. Hours run in three bands: 9:00 to 19:00 from 1 May to 31 August, 9:00 to 18:00 in April and from 1 September to 17 October, and 9:00 to 16:30 in winter. Buy online at jewishmuseum.cz to skip the ticket-office queue.

Prague's hillside answer to Montmartre got its funicular back on 22 September 2026 after a two-year reconstruction: new fourth-generation panoramic cars, every ten minutes, daily 07:00 to 22:15. A single ride is 100 CZK, or 90 CZK through the PID Lítačka app — one way only, not a return. Be careful with tickets: your 24-hour, 72-hour or long-term Prague pass covers it, and so does the Prague Visitor Pass, but an ordinary 30- or 90-minute single does not, and has not since 2021. Under-15s and over-65s ride free.

At the top there is a small Eiffel-inspired lookout tower (250 CZK, 299 steps; the lift is an extra 150 CZK) and the funhouse mirror maze (150 CZK).

The great neo-Renaissance building at the top of Wenceslas Square reopened in 2018 after a long reconstruction and is now linked to the modern New Building by an underground corridor. One ticket covers the whole complex: 360 CZK for adults, under-15s free, open daily 10:00-18:00. Around busy weekends entry can pause when capacity fills, so go early or late.

One of the most beautiful libraries on Earth, and you will see it through doorways only - the historic halls are closed to protect the books. Even from the thresholds, the two baroque halls and their painted ceilings justify the 190 CZK standard ticket. Open daily 9:00-17:00, closed 24-25 December. Combine it with the Strahov monastery brewery next door for lunch.

The one private palace inside the castle complex, holding the family's collection - Beethoven manuscripts among it - with lunchtime classical concerts daily in the Baroque hall. Separate from the castle ticket: 380 CZK for adults. Open daily 9:00-18:00 per the palace's own site (Prague City Tourism lists an earlier close, so confirm on lobkowicz.cz).

The older fortress on the rock downstream, where Czech legend places the first princesses of Prague. The grounds and the national cemetery of Slavín - Dvořák, Smetana and much of Czech cultural memory - are free all year, and it is the castle view without the castle crowds. The Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul is 130 CZK, and the dark casemates under the ramparts are a separate ticket.