Free Walking Tour Prague: Castle to Dancing House

Prague Walking Tour Stop by Stop: Castle, Bridge, Old Town, New Town

1. 1

   Strahov Monastery

   

   Your walk begins at a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143. The driving force was Jindřich Zdík, bishop of Olomouc, who came home from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1138 set on founding a house of regular canons in Prague. He had strong backing: the bishop of Prague, Duke Soběslav I and, after Soběslav's death, Duke Vladislaus II.

   Zdík's first attempt, in 1140, failed. So he invited the Premonstratensians, and their first members came from Steinfeld in the Rhine valley. They built in wood to begin with, around a Romanesque basilica at the centre of monastic life, and only gradually replaced the provisional wooden quarters with stone.

   Then came the hard centuries. Fire badly damaged the monastery in 1258. In 1420, in the Hussite period, citizens of Prague attacked and plundered it, burning books, objects of worship and the furnishings of church and convent. The buildings survived, but the community did not: through the Hussite Wars, the reign of George of Poděbrady and on to the end of the 16th century, Strahov barely lived, and several attempts at renewal came to nothing.

   The turn came with Jan Lohelius, a canon from Teplá Abbey who became abbot in 1586 and threw everything into the revival, the spiritual life as much as the buildings and finances. Keep those burned books of 1420 in mind as you look around: the combined ticket opens the library and the gallery, a visit for book lovers and anyone curious about monastic life. If your time is short, save it for the castle circuit.

   From here it is 1380 m, about 17 minutes, to Prague Castle, the longest leg of the whole walk.

   Local name

   Strahovský klášter

   Hours

   9:00–17:00

   Price

   390 CZK full price (combined ticket library + gallery), 220 CZK reduced, 790 CZK family

   Website

   strahovskyklaster.cz ↗

   Location

   Strahov Monastery on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Prague Castle

   

   Prague Castle is no museum piece: it is the official residence and workplace of the Czech president, so much so that Czechs simply say “Hrad”, the Castle, when they mean the president and his staff. Before the presidents of Czechoslovakia, Bohemian kings and Holy Roman emperors ruled from here, and somewhere inside, in a hidden room, the Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept.

   Take in the scale first. Guinness lists it as the largest ancient castle in the world: almost 70,000 square metres, about 570 m long and on average about 130 m wide. It is also the most visited sight in the Czech Republic, with 2.59 million visitors in 2024.

   The story starts in 870 with the first walled building, the Church of the Virgin Mary. In the first half of the 10th century Duke Vratislaus I and his son Wenceslaus I founded the Basilica of St George and the first church of St Vitus, and beside St George's the first convent in Bohemia was set up. A Romanesque palace followed in the 12th century; King Ottokar II strengthened the walls and rebuilt the palace for state occasions; Charles IV made it Gothic in the 14th century. During the Hussite Wars nobody lived here at all. From 1485 King Vladislaus II Jagiellon rebuilt the castle, and Benedikt Rejt added the massive Vladislav Hall to the Royal Palace.

   Is the ticket worth it? On a first visit, yes. The main circuit covers the Old Royal Palace with Vladislav Hall, St George's Basilica, Golden Lane and St. Vitus Cathedral, and it is valid for two days, so you can spread the castle over two visits.

   The cathedral is only 150 m away, a two-minute walk.

   Local name

   Pražský hrad

   Hours

   Castle grounds 06:00–22:00; historic buildings (Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica, Golden Lane, Picture Gallery) 09:00–17:00 from 1 April to 31 October and 09:00–16:00 from 1 November to 31 March; St Vitus Cathedral Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00, Sun 12:00–17:00 (in winter until 16:00), no visits during services

   Price

   450 CZK Prague Castle main circuit (Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica, Golden Lane, St Vitus Cathedral; ticket valid 2 days); reduced 300 CZK (ages 6–16, students up to 26, seniors 65+); family 950 CZK

   Website

   hrad.cz ↗

   Location

   Prague Castle on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   St. Vitus Cathedral

   

   Its full name is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert, though it was dedicated to St Vitus alone until 1997 and everyone still calls it that. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague and the largest and most important church in the country, yet it belongs to the Czech state as part of the castle. Inside lie the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman emperors.

   Stand back and look up. The church is 124 m long and 60 m wide, the main tower rises 102.8 m, the front towers 82 m, and the vault inside reaches 33.2 m.

   What you see is the third church on this spot. The first was a Romanesque rotunda founded by Duke Wenceslaus in 930, after he received a precious relic, the arm of St Vitus, from Emperor Henry I. There may have been a shrewder reason too: in Czech the saint is Svatý Vít, which sounds very like Svantevit, a Slavic sun god, handy if you want to win over pagan subjects. Christians and pagans lived side by side in the castle until at least the 11th century. In 1060 Prince Spytihněv II replaced the cramped rotunda with a large Romanesque basilica, probably with three aisles, two choirs and a pair of towers, modelled on great churches like Hildesheim and Speyer. The Gothic cathedral begun under Charles IV took almost six centuries to complete.

   The interior is part of the castle circuit and the reason many people buy it; the south tower costs extra on top.

   From the cathedral to Golden Lane it is 910 m, about 14 minutes through the castle grounds.

   Local name

   Katedrála svatého Víta

   Hours

   Mon–Sat: 09:00–17:00 | Sun: 12:00–17:00

   Price

   450 CZK (main circuit, cathedral included), 300 CZK reduced, 950 CZK family; south tower separately 200 CZK

   Website

   katedralasvatehovita.cz ↗

   Location

   St. Vitus Cathedral on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Golden Lane

   

   Golden Lane, officially Golden Lane by the Daliborka, squeezes into the northeast corner of the castle, in the gap between the older Romanesque wall and a late Gothic outer wall, probably built by Benedikt Rejt, the same man behind Vladislav Hall. Look at the houses: faded pastel colours, tiny windows and doors, low roofs and a forest of chimneys. They grew into the arches of the wall from the late 16th century and people lived in them until the Second World War.

   The lane began with a petition. In 1597 the marksmen guarding the castle gates asked Emperor Rudolf II whether they could wall up the arches of the newly repaired wall and make small rooms in them, no deeper than the niches. His rescript of 16 September 1597 allowed it. These “red marksmen”, named after their uniforms, got nothing for free: they built at their own cost, then bought and sold the little houses, first among themselves and later to porters, watchmen, bell ringers and other castle staff, and eventually to landlords who never lived here. Extensions and fireplaces soon crept out into the lane.

   And the name? An old story says goldsmiths lived here, but this was the poorest corner of Hradčany, so that is very unlikely. Another says alchemists tried to make gold here. A third points to castle guards with gold or yellow embroidery on their uniforms, and it may simply have been an ironic joke about a poor little street.

   Today the houses hold galleries, small shops and exhibitions, and care is taken not to change them much. Entry comes with the castle circuit ticket.

   From Golden Lane it is 310 m, about four minutes, to St. Nicholas Church.

   Local name

   Zlatá ulička

   Hours

   Daily 09:00–17:00 (included in Prague Castle ticket circuit)

   Price

   450 CZK Prague Castle main circuit (Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica, Golden Lane, St Vitus Cathedral; ticket valid 2 days); reduced 300 CZK (ages 6–16, students up to 26, seniors 65+); family 950 CZK

   Location

   Golden Lane on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   St. Nicholas Church

   

   St. Nicholas Church in the Lesser Town has been called the greatest example of Prague Baroque. A Gothic parish church of St Nicholas stood here from the 13th century. Some time after 1620 it was handed to the Jesuits, who opened a primary school and a junior secondary school in 1628 and then decided to build something far grander, first to plans by Giovanni Domenico Orsi.

   They built the Chapel of St Barbara first so that mass could go on during the works, and it still gives an impression of how the church was originally meant to look. The old church was demolished and the new one rose in two stages in the 18th century. Its biggest patron, Count Wenceslaus Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky, gave his entire estate to the church and the buildings around it.

   Inside is where it pays off. The nave, apparently built by Christoph Dientzenhofer, is a play of interlocking cylinders under an undulating vault based on intersecting ellipsoids, and the pillars between the wide arcades were meant to make the whole space feel in motion. His son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer designed the chancel and its copper cupola, built between 1737 and 1752; the tower was finished in 1752, a year after Kilian's death. Entry costs a fee, and if you only go into one Baroque church today, make it this one.

   It is 530 m, about seven minutes, to the Lennon Wall, a short walk through the lanes of the Lesser Town.

   Local name

   Kostel svatého Mikuláše na Malé Straně

   Hours

   9:00–18:00

   Price

   150 CZK full, 90 CZK reduced (seniors/students/children 10-26), under 10 free

   Website

   stnicholas.cz ↗

   Location

   St. Nicholas Church on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Lennon Wall

   

   The Lennon Wall stands on a quiet square, Velkopřevorské náměstí, the Grand Priory Square, across from the French Embassy. Long before Lennon, from the 1960s, people left love poems and short messages against the communist government on it.

   After John Lennon was murdered in 1980, an unknown artist painted a single portrait of him and some lyrics onto the stone base of a former public fountain. Candles, flowers, photos and newspaper clippings followed. Western media were banned at the time, so the authorities read the little memorial as Western culture and political resistance, and in April 1981 the secret police painted it over in green. The very next day the wall was full again, with poems and political slogans such as “Palach would cry”.

   The wall belongs to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which allowed any graffiti until 2019. Since the latest reconstruction it is only semi-legal: spray paint is banned and only some sections are open to the public. The themes go well beyond Lennon now, from local causes to global warming, and the idea travelled far: the Lennon wall in Hong Kong took its cue from this one. It is free and takes only a few minutes.

   From here it is 460 m, about seven minutes, to Charles Bridge.

   Local name

   Lennonova zeď

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Website

   prague.eu ↗

   Location

   Lennon Wall on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Charles Bridge

   

   Charles Bridge is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Vltava, 516 m long and nearly 10 m wide. Following the stone bridge in Regensburg, it rests on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. Two bridge towers stand on the Lesser Town side, including the Malá Strana Bridge Tower, and one on the Old Town side. Along the parapets runs an alley of 30 statues and sculptural groups, mostly Baroque and first set up around 1700; all of them are replicas today.

   According to Czech legend, Charles IV laid the first stone himself at 5:31 in the morning on 9 July 1357. He believed in numerology, and the moment forms a palindrome, 1357 9 7 5 31, a numerical bridge that was supposed to give the real one extra strength. Building finished in the early 15th century.

   It replaced the Judith Bridge, built between 1158 and 1172 and badly damaged by a flood in 1342. People called the new one the Stone Bridge or the Prague Bridge; the name Charles Bridge has only been used since 1870. Until 1841 it was the only way across the river, the vital link between the castle and the Old Town and part of a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe. It also lay on the coronation route of the Bohemian kings.

   A twenty-year programme of inspections, restoration and repairs began in late 2019, so expect some work in progress. Crossing is free.

   The Old Town Bridge Tower is 170 m away, about two minutes, at the far end of the bridge.

   Local name

   Karlův most

   Hours

   24/7

   Price

   Free

   Website

   prague.eu ↗

   Location

   Charles Bridge on Google Maps ↗

8. 8

   Old Town Bridge Tower

   

   The Old Town Bridge Tower is a Gothic gate tower built by Peter Parler between 1370 and 1380, right above the first pier of the bridge on the Old Town bank. It rises about 40 m above the roadway. Remains of the towers of the older Judith Bridge survive in the cellars of the neighbouring buildings.

   The side facing the Old Town, the east facade, is the one to study. Above the arch you see the coats of arms of all the lands that belonged to the Bohemian Crown when the bridge was built, along with those of the emperor and the Bohemian king, and a kingfisher framed by a veil, the emblem of Wenceslas IV. At second floor level, set in tracery, stand larger than life figures of Emperor Charles IV, his son Wenceslas and St Vitus. Higher up are a shield with an eagle and a lion, and at the top Saints Adalbert and Sigismund. Centuries of traffic and weather have darkened the stone.

   The other side tells a war story. In 1648, during the Swedish siege in the Thirty Years' War, the tower was shot at from the Lesser Town and its west facade decoration, a Madonna flanked by Charles and his wife Elisabeth of Pomerania, was destroyed and finally removed. Josef Mocker restored the tower between 1874 and 1878 and gave it its present roof, and Petr Maixner renewed the Gothic paintings in the arches.

   Before you walk on, look up inside the gate passage: the vault built after 1373 is a textbook net vault. Going inside the tower costs entry; the facade and the vault cost nothing.

   From here it is 300 m, about four minutes, to the Clementinum.

   Local name

   Staroměstská mostecká věž

   Hours

   Seasonal: Jan–Mar/Oct–Nov 10:00–18:00, Apr–May 10:00–19:00, Jun–Sep 9:00–20:30, Dec 10:00–19:30

   Price

   250 CZK full, 170 CZK reduced, 500 CZK family, 200 CZK youth 16-26

   Website

   prague.eu ↗

   Location

   Old Town Bridge Tower on Google Maps ↗

9. 9

   Clementinum

   

   The Clementinum is home to the National Library of the Czech Republic, and with 20,000 square metres it is the second largest complex of buildings in Prague after the castle. It is a major work of Baroque architecture.

   Its story begins with an 11th-century chapel of St Clement. A Dominican monastery followed, was badly damaged in 1420 in the Hussite Wars and became a Jesuit college in 1556. In 1622 the Jesuits moved the library of Charles University here, and in 1654 the college merged with the university. The great building phase came between 1709 and 1726, when the Baroque library was built.

   When the Jesuit order was suppressed in 1773, Empress Maria Theresa turned the Clementinum into an observatory, library and university. The National Library was founded in 1781, and from 1782 it received a copy of everything printed. In 1791 it even hosted the first World's Fair, an industrial exhibition for the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia, meant to show off the craft of Czech manufacturing. The collections include Mozartiana, material on Tycho Brahe and Comenius, and historic Czech literature.

   Entry costs a fee. If you saw the library at Strahov this morning, this is the same Baroque world in its city version; if you skipped Strahov, this is the library to see. Book lovers can also look for the Idiom installation, a tower of books, in the foyer of the Municipal Library next door on Mariánské náměstí.

   From the Clementinum it is 470 m, about six minutes, to the Old-New Synagogue.

   Local name

   Klementinum

   Hours

   Daily: 09:00–20:00

   Price

   380 CZK full, 230 CZK reduced, 300 CZK youth 16-26, 810 CZK family

   Website

   prague.eu ↗

   Location

   Clementinum on Google Maps ↗

10. 10

    Old-New Synagogue

    

    In Josefov, the old Jewish quarter, stands Europe's oldest active synagogue, still used by an Orthodox congregation. It was completed in 1270, is the oldest surviving medieval synagogue with two naves, and is one of the earliest Gothic buildings in Prague.

    The name has two explanations. The plain one: it was first called the New or Great Synagogue, and when newer synagogues went up in the 16th century it became the Old-New. The poetic one comes from the Hebrew al tnay, “on condition”, which sounds just like the Yiddish alt-nay, old-new. Legend says angels brought stones from the Temple in Jerusalem to build it, on condition that they be returned when the Messiah comes and the Temple is rebuilt. An even older synagogue nearby, the Old Synagogue, was demolished in 1867 and replaced by the Spanish Synagogue.

    Look for the number twelve. Above the entrance the tympanum carries twelve vines and twelve bunches of grapes, said to stand for the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve narrow Gothic windows of the hall echo them. Inside, two pillars carry a double nave of six vaulted bays, a plan probably borrowed from monasteries and chapels by the synagogue's Christian architects. Each vault has five ribs instead of the usual four or six, perhaps to avoid any hint of a cross. The old descriptions call it dark; today chandeliers light it.

    There is no single ticket: you go in with the Jewish Town combined ticket, which makes sense if you have time for more of Josefov.

    From here it is 450 m, about six minutes, to Old Town Square.

    Local name

    Staronová synagoga

    Hours

    9:00–17:00 (in summer until 18:00/19:00), Sat closed

    Price

    600 CZK (Jewish Town combined ticket; no single ticket since 1.1.2024)

    Website

    synagogue.cz ↗

    Location

    Old-New Synagogue on Google Maps ↗

11. 11

    Old Town Square

    

    Locals call Old Town Square simply Staromák. Gothic, Baroque and later buildings stand shoulder to shoulder around it: the Týn church with its twin towers, a second Baroque St Nicholas church (not the one you saw in the Lesser Town), and the Kinský Palace with an art museum of the National Gallery.

    On the Old Town Hall hangs the Prague Orloj, the astronomical clock, first installed in 1410. That makes it the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest still working. The town hall tower is open to visitors and gives a panoramic view over the Old Town.

    In the middle stands the memorial to Jan Hus, the reformer burned at the stake in Konstanz, whose death led to the Hussite Wars you have been hearing about since Strahov. It was unveiled on 6 July 1915, five hundred years after his execution.

    Now look down in front of the town hall. Twenty-seven crosses in the paving mark the men beheaded on this spot by the Habsburgs after the Battle of White Mountain, among them Jan Jesenius and Maxmilián Hošťálek. The crosses were laid during repairs after the Second World War; the plaque listing all 27 names dates from 1911. Many Czechs take care not to walk on them. The Marian Column, raised after the Thirty Years' War, was torn down on 3 November 1918 to celebrate independence from the Habsburgs, and put back up in 2020. At Christmas and Easter the square fills with markets in medieval style. It is free, open and the busiest stretch of the Old Town.

    The Church of Our Lady before Tyn is just 140 m away, two minutes on foot.

    Local name

    Staroměstské náměstí

    Hours

    24/7

    Price

    Free

    Location

    Old Town Square on Google Maps ↗

12. 12

    Church of Our Lady before Tyn

    

    The Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Týn for short, has been the main church of the Old Town since the 14th century. Its two towers are 80 m high, and each spire is crowned by eight smaller spires in two rings of four, the silhouette you know from every photo of the square.

    In the 11th century a Romanesque church stood here for foreign merchants trading at the nearby Týn Courtyard. An early Gothic church replaced it in 1256 and became the centre of the Old Town's German community. The present church was begun in the 14th century in late Gothic style, under the influence of Matthias of Arras and later Peter Parler, and by the early 15th century only the towers, gable and roof were missing.

    Then the Hussites took over, for two centuries. John of Rokycan, later administrator of the vacant archdiocese, became vicar in 1427. The building was finished in the 1450s, and under King George of Poděbrady the gable and north tower followed, with a statue of the king placed below a huge golden chalice, the Hussite symbol. The south tower was only completed in 1511 by Matěj Rejsek.

    After the defeat at White Mountain in 1620 came harsh recatholicisation. In 1626 the “heretic king” and his chalice came down and a statue of the Virgin Mary went up, her giant halo made by melting down the chalice. In 1679 lightning struck, and the fire wrecked the old vault, replaced by a lower Baroque one. Entry is free, so go in if the doors are open.

    From Týn it is 460 m, about six minutes, to the Powder Tower.

    Local name

    Kostel Panny Marie před Týnem

    Hours

    March–November: Tue–Sat 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–17:00, closed Sundays and Mondays; December–February: Tue–Thu 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–17:00, Fri 10:00–13:00 and 15:30–17:00, Sat 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–17:00, Sun 10:30–12:00, closed Mondays; no sightseeing during Mass

    Price

    Free

    Website

    tyn.cz ↗

    Location

    Church of Our Lady before Tyn on Google Maps ↗

13. 13

    Powder Tower

    

    The Powder Tower is a 65 m gate tower on Náměstí Republiky and a showpiece of late Gothic in Bohemia, the grand entrance to the Old Town. Here begins Celetná street, the first stretch of the old Royal Route from the Royal Court to Prague Castle, the same coronation route that crosses Charles Bridge.

    An earlier gate, the St Ambrose Gate and later the Horská Gate toward Kutná Hora, stood on this spot as part of the town walls. Once the New Town was built, the walls lost their purpose and the gate decayed so badly that people called it the “ragged gate”. Standing right next to the Royal Court, it became an eyesore, so from 1475 King Vladislav II had Matěj Rejsek, the builder of Týn's south tower, raise a new, representative tower, at first simply called the New Tower.

    In 1484 work stopped: the king moved his residence from the Royal Court up to Prague Castle, and the tower got only a temporary roof. It earned its present name at the end of the 17th century, when gunpowder was stored inside. Prussian guns badly damaged it in 1757, in the Seven Years' War, and what was left of the ornament was removed in 1799.

    What you see today is largely Josef Mocker's work. Between 1875 and 1886 he restored it in neo-Gothic style, modelled on the Old Town Bridge Tower, and freely invented much of the decoration. Going inside costs entry.

    The Municipal House is right next door, 90 m and one minute away.

    Local name

    Prašná brána

    Hours

    Seasonal: Jan–Mar/Oct–Nov 10:00–18:00, Apr–May 10:00–19:00, Jun–Sep 09:00–20:30, Dec 10:00–19:30

    Price

    200 CZK full, 130 CZK reduced, 400 CZK family, 160 CZK youth 16-26

    Website

    prague.eu ↗

    Location

    Powder Tower on Google Maps ↗

14. 14

    Municipal House

    

    The Municipal House, Obecní dům, at Náměstí Republiky 5, is a landmark of Prague Art Nouveau. It hosts events, exhibitions and concerts, is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra and is one of the venues of the annual Prague Spring festival.

    It stands on the site of the Royal Court, built by Wenceslas IV around 1380 as his residence and later used by Sigismund, Albrecht of Habsburg, Ladislaus Posthumous and George of Poděbrady. After unrest in the city and an outbreak of plague, King Vladislav moved up to Prague Castle. The old palace was demolished in 1904; the only piece left is the passage over Celetná between the Municipal House and the Powder Tower. The city held a competition, won by Antonín Balšánek and Osvald Polívka, and the building went up between 1906 and 1912, its style poised between historicism and Art Nouveau. The facade still mixes neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque.

    History was made inside. On 28 October 1918 the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed here. In November 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, the communist government met the Civic Forum led by Václav Havel here for the first time. The building became a national monument in 1989 and was restored between 1994 and 1997; it has around 1240 rooms.

    Entry to the interiors costs a fee and suits anyone who loves Art Nouveau craftsmanship; otherwise the facade and the story are enough.

    From here it is 750 m, about ten minutes, to Wenceslas Square.

    Local name

    Obecní dům

    Hours

    10:00–19:00

    Price

    320 CZK full, 270 CZK reduced, 660 CZK family, under 10 free

    Website

    obecnidum.cz ↗

    Location

    Municipal House on Google Maps ↗

15. 15

    Wenceslas Square

    

    Wenceslas Square, Václavák to everyone in Prague, is the heart of business and culture in the New Town and the place with the busiest pedestrian traffic in the whole country. It has long been the stage for demonstrations, celebrations and public gatherings, and it is part of the historic centre listed as a World Heritage Site.

    For centuries it was the Horse Market, Koňský trh, a name it carried from the founding of the New Town in 1348; Czechs still use it now and then, usually as a joke. A Baroque statue of St Wenceslas, patron saint of Bohemia, stood on the market from 1680.

    The new name came in the revolutionary year 1848. On 16 March Karel Havlíček Borovský proposed calling it St Wenceslas Square, in memory of a meeting held on 11 March in the St Wenceslas Baths, where the St Wenceslas Committee was founded. The mass celebrated at the statue on 12 June 1848 by the priest Jan Arnold is seen as the start of the Prague June Uprising.

    One more name: from the 1940s to the 1960s Prague's young rebels called it Trafalgar, or Trafo for short, after London's Trafalgar Square, which played the same role as a meeting place. The square is free.

    From here it is 1150 m, about 15 minutes, to the National Theatre.

    Local name

    Václavské náměstí

    Hours

    24/7

    Price

    Free

    Location

    Wenceslas Square on Google Maps ↗

16. 16

    National Theatre

    

    The National Theatre stands at the corner of Národní třída and the Masaryk Embankment, and Praguers nickname it the Golden Chapel. This neo-Renaissance building by Josef Zítek, built between 1868 and 1881, is the main stage of the National Theatre's opera, drama and ballet companies, and together with the National Museum and the Rudolfinum it counts among the key public buildings of its age in Prague.

    It was a national project from the start. A committee to build it was set up in 1850, and the plot was bought by the second Prague bridge, on land created by the city's oldest embankment. A Provisional Theatre came first. On 16 May 1868 the foundation stone was laid amid huge celebrations, crowned by the premiere of Smetana's opera Dalibor; the ceremony also marked a shift in Czech politics, as the Young Czechs took the lead from the Old Czechs. The theatre was built from Czech materials by Czech hands.

    It opened in 1881 with Smetana's Libuše, then burned in a great fire. Josef Schulz rebuilt it between 1881 and 1883, and it reopened, again with Libuše. The decoration is the work of the leading Czech artists of the day, known together as the National Theatre generation: look for the bronze chariots by Schnirch, and inside, Hynais's curtain. It has been a national cultural monument since 1999.

    To see the interior, buy a ticket for a performance at the box office; an evening at the opera or ballet here is the way to do it.

    From the theatre it is 630 m, about nine minutes, to the Dancing House, the last stop.

    Local name

    Národní divadlo

    Hours

    Box office Mon – Fri 09:00–18:00, Sat – Sun 10:00–18:00; performances evenings

    Website

    narodni-divadlo.cz ↗

    Location

    National Theatre on Google Maps ↗

17. 17

    Dancing House

    

    You finish at the Dancing House on the Rašín Embankment, the Nationale-Nederlanden building that looks like a couple mid-dance. It was designed in 1992 by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić together with Frank Gehry and completed in 1996.

    Gehry called it Ginger and Fred, after Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but later dropped the name himself because he was “afraid to import American Hollywood kitsch to Prague”. Today Ginger & Fred lives on as the restaurant on the seventh floor of the Dancing House Hotel.

    The plot carries history. An apartment building here was destroyed in the US bombing of Prague in 1945, and the site lay derelict until it was cleared in 1960. The family of Václav Havel co-owned the neighbouring plot until the communists took it over, and Havel lived there most of his life. In 1986, still under communism, Milunić talked through an idea for the empty corner with his neighbour, then a famous dissident. After the Velvet Revolution, the same Havel you met at the Municipal House became president, and his backing moved the project forward. He hoped for a cultural centre; in the end the Dutch insurer Nationale-Nederlanden sponsored an office building and asked Milunić to bring in a world-famous partner.

    Looking costs nothing; inside there is also the Dancing House Gallery. From a 12th-century abbey to a 1990s riverfront building, you have now walked nine centuries of Prague.

    Local name

    Tančící dům

    Hours

    Dancing House Gallery Mon–Sun 09:00–20:00 (January to December)

    Price

    Free to view from outside

    Website

    tancici-dum.cz ↗

    Location

    Dancing House on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Prague

The route splits naturally at Charles Bridge, so you can walk it in two halves or pick out only the free highlights.

Castle hill and Lesser Town

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

For anyone who wants the castle in depth. From Strahov Monastery to Charles Bridge it is 3.7 km and about 51 minutes of walking. Entry: Strahov, the castle circuit (which covers St. Vitus Cathedral and Golden Lane) and St. Nicholas Church; the Lennon Wall and the bridge are free. With the two-day castle ticket, this half and the next work well on separate days.

Old Town and New Town

Stops: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

For a second day or an afternoon. From Charles Bridge to the Dancing House it is 4.6 km and about 61 minutes of walking. Entry: Old Town Bridge Tower, Clementinum, the Old-New Synagogue (Jewish Town combined ticket), Powder Tower, Municipal House and a performance at the National Theatre; the bridge, Old Town Square, the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Wenceslas Square and the Dancing House from outside cost nothing.

The free highlights

Stops: 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 17

For a tight budget. Start at the Lennon Wall and follow the route to the Dancing House, passing the paid stops from outside: 5.1 km and about 68 minutes of walking, no tickets needed.

How Long This Prague Tour Takes, With and Without Interiors

The full route is 8.3 km with 1 h 53 min of pure walking. If you mostly look from outside and pause for the stories, plan about four hours. If you go into Strahov, take the castle circuit and add one or two Old Town interiors such as the Clementinum or the synagogue, it becomes a full day of around eight hours, and the castle circuit alone easily fills a morning.

The castle hill and Lesser Town half takes about three hours without interiors and most of a day with the castle circuit. The Old Town and New Town half takes about three hours with short looks, longer if you go into the library, the synagogue or the Municipal House. The free highlights take about two and a half hours.

Before You Set Off from Strahov

• Start and finish: The recommended start is Strahov Monastery, and the walk ends at the Dancing House on the riverfront. You can join at any stop; the recommended order simply runs from the abbey to the river.
• Best time to start: Start in the morning if you plan to go inside: the castle circuit takes the most time and the Old Town interiors follow later in the day. The bridge, the squares and the Lennon Wall have no gate and work at any hour.
• What costs entry: Strahov Monastery, the Prague Castle circuit (including St. Vitus Cathedral and Golden Lane), St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Bridge Tower, Clementinum, Old-New Synagogue, Powder Tower, Municipal House and performances at the National Theatre. Free: Lennon Wall, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, Church of Our Lady before Tyn, Wenceslas Square and the Dancing House from outside.

Food and Breaks Between the Castle and the Old Town

Prague eats heartily: duck with dumplings, pork knee, goulash and a good pilsner, with real Czech pastries for the breaks. These places fit the walk, from the castle hill to the New Town.

Tourist Traps to Avoid in Prague's Old Town and on the Bridge

• Exchange offices with 0% commission signs: The rate is where they get you: hidden markups of up to 20 percent on normal amounts. The bigger the sign, the worse the deal. (Around Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square)
• Restaurants on the big squares: Bread, pretzels or dips you never ordered land on the table and on the bill, sometimes with an undisclosed cover charge. One street back, prices can be half. (Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square)
• Petition and charity collectors: People with clipboards ask you to sign for “deaf children” or a charity, then press you for a large donation. Keep walking. (Charles Bridge and Old Town Square)
• Fake tourist police: Plain-clothes men claim to check for fake money and ask to see your wallet. Real police do not do this; don't hand it over.
• Costumed characters and photo animals: Mascots, gold-painted performers and people with snakes or birds demand high fees after the photo. Most are banned from Prague 1, but some persist. (Near Prague Castle and in the Old Town)

Common Questions About Walking Prague