Prague's Old Town survived the 20th century almost untouched, leaving a compact core of Gothic and Baroque architecture, a castle on the hill and a river crossed by a statue-lined medieval bridge. It's one of Europe's most beautiful and least expensive capitals.
Good to know
- Buy transit tickets from a machine or app before boarding — inspectors fine riders without a validated ticket.
- Restaurants right on Old Town Square are tourist-priced; walk a few streets over for better value.
- A menu with no prices, or a 'complimentary' bread basket, is a classic tourist-trap tactic — ask first.
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Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
A 14th-century stone bridge lined with baroque statues, crossed by street musicians and portrait artists by day — empty at dawn.
Quiet baroque gardens and steep cobbled lanes below the castle, far less crowded than the Old Town side of the river.
A wall repainted with graffiti and lyrics since the 1980s, beside a small riverside island park.
A medieval square anchored by a 600-year-old astronomical clock that still performs its hourly apostle parade.
Long communal tables, roast pork and dumplings, and Czech pilsner poured to a precise, foamy head.
An open-air market that's been trading since the 13th century, now selling produce, trdelník and souvenirs.
The largest ancient castle complex in the world, with the Gothic spires of St. Vitus Cathedral rising from its centre.
Europe's best-preserved Jewish quarter, with six historic synagogues and the crowded, centuries-old Old Jewish Cemetery.
A quiet hilltop fort south of the centre with cliffside views over the Vltava, largely free of the Old Town crowds.
Prague's edgier nightlife district — a hilltop beer garden followed by one of the city's small basement jazz clubs.
The city's modern and contemporary art collection in a vast functionalist building, quieter than the Old Town sights.
A UNESCO silver-mining town an hour away, home to a small chapel decorated with the bones of 40,000 people.