Prague tourist attractions
Known for
Gothic and Baroque skylines on both banks of the Vltava
Must-see landmarks
Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and the Jewish Quarter
World Heritage
Historic Centre of Prague, UNESCO listed since 1992
Getting around
Walkable historic core, with trams and metro covering the rest of the city
The 10 tourist attractions to see in Prague
For a first visit, the tourist attractions in Prague come down to Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and 7 more sights ranked below, plus 32 hidden gems, free things to do, tickets and visitor FAQs. The 10 sights are numbered on the free Prague tourist map with a walking route, with the hidden gems.
1. Prague Castle
Prince Bořivoj founded the castle above the river in the 880s, and Prague City Tourism calls its 45 hectares the largest castle complex in the world. Bohemian kings, Holy Roman emperors and today the Czech president have all ruled from here, and the buildings trace almost every European style as each century added to them. Gothic St Vitus Cathedral rises at the centre, beside the Old Royal Palace, the houses of Golden Lane and the Romanesque St George's Basilica.
Style: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque
Location: Hradčany, on the hill above Malá Strana
Access: A single ticket covers the historic interiors, St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, Golden Lane and St George's Basilica; the courtyards can be walked through without one. · Tickets and tours
2. Charles Bridge
Charles IV commissioned this stone crossing over the Vltava in 1357, and it was finished around 1402 under the master builder Peter Parler. Thirty Baroque statues line the balustrades, most raised between 1706 and 1714, from the bronze figure of St John of Nepomuk to groups added as late as the twentieth century. For four hundred years it was the only bridge linking the Old Town with the castle side, and it still carries a steady current of walkers, buskers and portrait artists between the two banks, while boats for river cruises on the Vltava leave from the piers beside it.
Architect: Peter Parler · Style: Gothic
Location: Across the Vltava, linking Staré Město and Malá Strana
Access: Free; an open pedestrian bridge at any hour.
3. Old Town Square
The heart of Staré Město has been a marketplace since the tenth century and now gathers the city's finest facades around a wide cobbled space. The twin Gothic towers of the Church of Our Lady before Týn rise on one side, the Baroque St Nicholas Church on another, and the Art Nouveau monument to the reformer Jan Hus stands at the centre. Cafes and pastel houses fill the edges, and the Old Town Hall with its astronomical clock anchors the southwest corner, where crowds gather on the hour.
Location: Staré Město, between Charles Bridge and the Powder Tower
Access: Free; an open public square.
4. Prague Astronomical Clock
The clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň mounted the orloj on the Old Town Hall in 1410, and Hanuš of Růže refined it later that century, making it the oldest astronomical clock still working anywhere. Its blue and gold dial tracks the sun, moon and zodiac around a fixed earth, while a painted calendar wheel below marks the saints' days. Every hour from 8:00 to 23:00 the Walk of the Apostles turns above the crowd: two windows open, twelve figures pass, a skeleton tolls the bell and a golden cockerel crows to close the show.
Location: Old Town Hall, Old Town Square
Access: Watching the hourly show is free from the square; the Old Town Hall and its tower are ticketed. · Tickets and tours
5. St Nicholas Church
Three generations of the Dientzenhofer family and their son-in-law Anselmo Lurago spent close to a century raising this church, consecrated in 1743, and it calls itself the most famous Baroque building in Prague. Its green copper dome and bell tower dominate the skyline of Malá Strana, the Lesser Town below the castle. Inside, a soaring nave carries a vast ceiling fresco of the life of St Nicholas above marble, gilding and statues that make the church a set piece of Central European Baroque.
Architect: The Dientzenhofer family and Anselmo Lurago · Style: Baroque
Location: Malostranské náměstí, Malá Strana
Access: Ticketed.
6. Franz Kafka Museum
The museum opened in the summer of 2005 in the Herget Brickworks on the Malá Strana bank of the Vltava, a short walk from Charles Bridge. Its long-running exhibition sets out the world of the German-speaking Prague writer Franz Kafka, who lived from 1883 to 1924 and became one of the defining figures of twentieth-century literature. Original letters, diaries, photographs and first editions sit inside a deliberately dim, unsettling design of dark corridors, distorted models and audiovisual rooms meant to echo the anxiety and absurdity that run through his writing.
Location: Hergetova Cihelna, Cihelná 2b, Malá Strana
Access: Ticketed, open daily from 9:30 to 18:30.
7. Statue of Franz Kafka
The sculptor Jaroslav Róna unveiled this bronze in 2003 on Dušní Street in Josefov, beside the Spanish Synagogue. It draws its image from Kafka's early story Description of a Struggle: a small, sharply dressed Kafka rides on the shoulders of a huge empty suit that strides forward with no head or hands inside it. Rising well above head height, the figure has become one of the city's favourite modern landmarks and a fixed stop on any walk through the old Jewish Quarter, where Kafka spent nearly his whole life within a few streets.
Location: Dušní Street, Josefov, beside the Spanish Synagogue
Access: Free; an outdoor sculpture, visible at any hour.
8. Prague Metronome
A giant red metronome nearly 25 metres tall has swung over Letná Park since 1991, on the terrace where a colossal granite monument to Stalin once stood before it was demolished in 1962. The artist Vratislav Novák built it as a comment on time and political change, though the great arm is more often still than moving. The plinth below has become an open-air gathering place for skateboarders and one of the widest views in the city, looking across the Vltava and its bridges to the Old Town and its spires.
Location: Letná Park, above the Vltava on the north bank
Access: Free; an outdoor landmark in a public park.
Photo: "Prague Metronome" by Hynek Moravec (CC BY).
9. Žižkov Tower
The tallest structure in Prague rises 216 metres over the Žižkov rooftops, a cluster of grey steel tubes built between 1985 and 1992 for television broadcasting. Ten giant faceless babies by the artist David Černý crawl up its columns, added in 2000 and now a fixed part of the outline. An observation deck 93 metres up gives a 360 degree view across the whole city, and the tower also holds a restaurant and a single one-room hotel suspended in one of its pods.
Location: Mahlerovy sady, Žižkov, east of the centre
Access: The observation deck is ticketed. · Tickets and tours
10. The Jewish Quarter
Josefov, tucked into the northern corner of the Old Town, was the walled home of Prague's Jewish community for centuries before most of it was cleared and rebuilt around 1900. What survives is remarkable: several historic synagogues, the Jewish Town Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery, where thousands of worn headstones lean together in a small space. The Gothic Old-New Synagogue, from the late thirteenth century, is described as the oldest active synagogue in Europe, and legend places the clay Golem of Rabbi Loew in its attic.
Location: Josefov, northern Staré Město
Access: The Jewish Museum sites and the Old-New Synagogue are ticketed; the streets of Josefov are free to wander. · Tickets and tours
Prague attraction tickets and tours
What to do in Prague for free
Vyšehrad
The fortress's outdoor park, ramparts and cemetery are free to explore all year; only the underground casemates, home to original statues moved off Charles Bridge, need a booked and paid tour.
Photo: "Vysehrad above the Vltava" by Miaow Miaow (Public domain).
Letná Park
Letná itself costs nothing to walk at any hour, its hilltop lawns and paths framing one of the best free panoramas in the city without a queue or a ticket in sight.
Photo: "View over the Vltava from Letna Park" by ekeidar (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Lennon Wall
This wall in Malá Strana has been freely repainted with John Lennon inspired graffiti, lyrics and peace messages by visitors and artists since the 1980s, and anyone can add to it or simply see it at any hour.
Photo: "The Lennon Wall in Mala Strana" by Lennonova zeď (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Náplavka riverside promenade
This free public promenade along the New Town riverbank is lined with cafes, houseboats and a weekend farmers market, liveliest in the evening when locals gather along the water.
Photo: "Naplavka riverside promenade" by Jagro (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Churches, monuments and Old Town history in Prague
St Vitus Cathedral
The foundation stone was laid in 1344, yet the cathedral was consecrated only in 1929. Completion took 585 years and more than a dozen architects.
Location: Prague Castle, Hradčany, Prague. Website
Church of Our Lady before Týn
The organ, built by Hans Heinrich Mudt in 1673, is the oldest in Prague. About 60 known tombstones include that of astronomer Tycho Brahe.
Location: Staroměstské náměstí 604 (entrance through the passage at no. 14), Prague.
Photo: "Nave and high altar of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn" by Uoaei1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Golden Lane
Alchemists never lived here. Castle marksmen and goldsmiths did, and Kafka wrote at number 22 in 1916 and 1917. The last tenants left in 1953.
Location: Zlatá ulička u Daliborky, Prague Castle, Prague. Website
Photo: "Golden Lane at Prague Castle" by Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Wenceslas Square
Laid out in 1348 as the Horse Market and renamed in 1848, it is where Alois Jirásek read Czechoslovakia's independence declaration on 28 October 1918.
Location: Václavské náměstí, Nové Město, Prague.
Petřín Lookout Tower
After seeing the Eiffel Tower in 1889, the Czech Tourist Club built this 1:5 copy in 1891, opening it on 20 August.
Location: Petřínské sady 633, Malá Strana, Prague. Website
Photo: "Petrin Lookout Tower" by Suisant7 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Malá Strana
Founded in 1257 as the New Town beneath Prague Castle, it became the Lesser Town after Charles IV founded Prague's own New Town in 1348.
Location: Below Prague Castle, on the left bank of the Vltava, Prague.
Old-New Synagogue
Built by stonemasons working on the Convent of St Agnes, it was first called the New Shul and became Old-New in the late 16th century.
Location: Červená Street, Josefov, Prague. Website
Old Jewish Cemetery
Carved animals echo names: a lion for Loew, a deer for Hirsch. Burials from 1439 to 1787 lie up to ten layers deep, researchers say.
Location: Široká 3, Josefov, Prague. Website
Municipal House
Here the Three Kings Declaration of 6 January 1918 called for an independent Czechoslovakia, and from 28 October the first National Committee sat as parliament.
Location: náměstí Republiky 5, Prague. Website
Photo: "Municipal House facade" by Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Dancing House
Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry built it between 1992 and 1996 on a bombed site, its stone tower Fred Astaire, its glass tower Ginger Rogers.
Location: Rašínovo nábřeží 80 / Jiráskovo náměstí 6, Prague.
Museums and collections in Prague
Museum of Communism
Opened in 2001 on Na Příkopě, the museum moved in 2017 to V Celnici. Exhibits include a schoolroom, a grocery shop and an interrogation room.
Location: V Celnici 4, Prague. Website
Photo: "Workshop wall exhibit at the Museum of Communism" by Shitvia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Speculum Alchemiae
Uncovered after the 2002 floods, this Haštalská workshop is presented as an alchemist's laboratory from the reign of Rudolf II.
Location: Haštalská 1, Prague.
Photo: "The alchemists' laboratory in the cellar of Speculum Alchemiae" by Edelmauswaldgeist (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Museum of Alchemists and Magicians of Old Prague
A 60-step wooden staircase, attributed to Edward Kelley, leads to an attic laboratory in the house where the alchemist lived.
Location: Jánský vršek 8, Malá Strana, Prague. Website
Photo: "Dům U Osla v kolébce, Jánský vršek 8, Prague" by Tilman2007 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Parukářka Nuclear Bunker
Built between 1950 and 1955 beneath Parukářka hill in Žižkov, this Cold War shelter now holds an exhibition about civil defence before 1989.
Location: Parukářka Park, Žižkov, Prague.
Photo: "Airlock chamber of the Parukářka fallout shelter" by Jagro (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Hrdlička Museum of Man
Opened in 1937 and named for Aleš Hrdlička, the museum occupies the Viničná building where Einstein was a professor in 1911 and 1912.
Location: Viničná 7, Prague. Website
Photo: "Faculty of Science building on Viničná street" by Juandev (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Gulliver Airship
Designed by Martin Rajniš, this 42-metre timber and steel airship, completed in 2016, sits on the DOX roof as a venue for literature.
Location: DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Poupětova 1, Prague. Website
Photo: "Gulliver airship at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art" by Nan Palmero (CC BY 2.0).
Statues, sculpture and street art in Prague
Head of Franz Kafka
A kinetic work by David Černý, 10.6 metres tall, whose 42 stainless-steel layers rotate individually; unveiled in 2014, it returned after repairs in February 2024.
Location: Piazza in front of the Quadrio shopping centre, Spálená 22, Prague. Website
Photo: "Kinetic Head of Franz Kafka" by Kritzolina (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Proudy
David Černý's 2004 fountain: two mechanical men, 210 cm tall, write messages in the water of a basin shaped like the Czech Republic.
Location: Outside the Franz Kafka Museum, Cihelná, Malá Strana, Prague.
Photo: "Proudy by David Černý outside the Franz Kafka Museum" by Andrew Milligan sumo (CC BY 2.0).
Man Hanging Out
David Černý made this life-size Sigmund Freud in 1997. He hangs by one hand from a pole above Husova Street, the other in his pocket.
Location: Husova Street near Betlémské náměstí, Old Town, Prague.
Photo: "Zavěšený muž by David Černý" by Sumit Surai (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Kůň (Horse) at Lucerna
David Černý's polystyrene Kůň, made in 1999 for the main post office, has hung in Lucerna since 2000, St Wenceslas astride its belly.
Location: Lucerna Passage, Štěpánská 61 (also entered from Vodičkova), Prague.
Photo: "Praha - Pasáž Lucerna Kůň" by Fred Romero (CC BY 2.0).
Idiom Book Tower
Slovak artist Matej Krén's column of 8,000 books has stood in the library vestibule since 1998, with mirrors inside at top and bottom suggesting infinity.
Location: Municipal Library of Prague, Mariánské náměstí 1, Prague. Website
Photo: "Book Tower - Idiom" by Deror_avi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
R2-D2 Ventilation Shaft
Street artists painted this Cold War bunker vent as the Star Wars droid in 2017 and added concrete legs; it was restored in 2022.
Location: Folimanka Park, Pod Karlovem, Prague 2.
Photo: "R2-D2 statue in Prague" by Eliška Jindříšková (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Yellow Penguins at Kampa
The Cracking Art Group made these yellow plastic penguins in 2008. They stand above the Vltava beside Museum Kampa and are lit at night.
Location: Vltava embankment beside Museum Kampa, U Sovových mlýnů 2, Prague.
Photo: "Yellow Penguins by Cracking Art Group, Prague" by Giorgio Galeotti (CC BY 4.0).
Lesser-known things to do in Prague
Olšany Cemetery
Wallenstein Garden Dripstone Wall
Lime-stucco stalactites built over roof ridge-tiles form this artificial grotto wall, laid out with the Wallenstein Palace garden between 1623 and 1630.
Location: Wallenstein Garden, beside the sala terrena, Letenská, Malá Strana, Prague. Website
Photo: "The dripstone wall in the Wallenstein Garden" by Tugrul Kagan Ates (CC BY 3.0).
Grotta in Havlíčkovy sady
Between 1870 and 1887, Moritz Gröbe's garden gained an artificial cave of plastered brick stalactites, neglected for over 60 years before reopening in 2011.
Location: Havlíčkovy sady (Grébovka), Vinohrady, Prague. Website
Photo: "The Grotta in Havlíčkovy sady (Grébovka)" by Michal Kmínek (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Paternoster Lift at the New City Hall
Osvald Polívka's Art Nouveau New City Hall, built from 1908 to 1911, holds a paternoster billed as Prague's first continuously moving lift.
Location: Mariánské náměstí 2, Staré Město, Prague. Website
Photo: "Prague City Hall (Nová radnice) on Mariánské náměstí" by Stanislav Dusík (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Thief's Arm at St James the Greater Church
By legend, the Pietà of about 1500 held a thief fast until his hand was cut off; the blackened relic still hangs in the church.
Location: Basilica of St James the Greater, Malá Štupartská 6, Staré Město, Prague. Website
Photo: "The nave of the Basilica of St James" by Flejberková Monika (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Prague's Narrowest Street
Built as a fire-safety gap between houses, this passage is 70 cm wide at most and has been controlled by traffic lights since 1992.
Location: U Lužického semináře 24, beside Vinárna Čertovka, Malá Strana, Prague.
Photo: "The narrow alley to Vinárna Čertovka with its traffic light" by Bobby-John de Bot (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Deer Moat Tunnel
Josef Pleskot's 84 m dark red brick tunnel cuts through the Powder Bridge rampart, following a former Theresian tunnel that carried the Brusnice stream.
Location: Deer Moat (Jelení příkop), under Prašný most, Prague Castle, Prague.
Photo: "Tunnel under Prašný most, Prague Castle" by che (CC BY-SA 2.5).
Cross Club
Founded in 2002 by friends, this Holešovice culture centre is furnished with gears, machine parts and moving installations made largely from recycled material.
Location: Plynární 1096/23, Holešovice, Prague.
Photo: "Cross Club Prague, Praha 7 - Holešovice" by Fry72 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Why Prague deserves your time
Prague grew from a river crossing at the foot of a fortified hill, where legend places Princess Libuše prophesying a great city before Vyšehrad rose in the mid-10th century and Prague Castle itself followed soon after under Prince Bořivoj. Charles IV made it an imperial capital in the 14th century, founding the university, the bridge that bears his name and much of what is now the Old Town. Spared serious bomb damage in the Second World War, Prague's compact medieval core survived close to intact, its Gothic spires and Baroque facades still climbing the same hillside above the Vltava. Its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most complete anywhere on the list of tourist attractions to see in Europe.
Neighbourhoods to know
Hradčany and Malá Strana climb the castle hill on the river's west bank, all cobbled lanes, embassies and Baroque gardens. Staré Město, the Old Town, spreads east from Charles Bridge around Old Town Square, with Josefov, the Jewish Quarter, tucked into its northern corner. Nové Město, the New Town, fans out further east and south around Wenceslas Square and down to Vyšehrad, while Žižkov and Vinohrady keep a more local, residential pace further east.
When to go and for how long
April, May, September and October bring milder weather and thinner crowds than the peak of summer, when Charles Bridge and Old Town Square fill by mid-morning. Three to four full days cover the castle, the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter at a steady pace, with a fifth for Vyšehrad or a day trip further out. Evenings often turn to a traditional dinner show pairing folklore and beer with a view of the illuminated skyline.
Getting around
The historic core is compact enough to cross on foot, and trams and the metro's three lines reach the rest of the city quickly on a single ticket. Hop-on-hop-off buses link the main sights for visitors who would rather ride between them, and combined attraction passes suit anyone packing several paid sights into a short stay.