Things to do
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Charles Bridge
Thirty baroque statues line the stone crossing between the Old Town and Malá Strana, built under Charles IV after a flood destroyed its predecessor. Crowds are heavy from breakfast until late evening, and the bridge empties only around dawn. Photographers come for the light then; the towers at each end open later and give the view from above.
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Dancing House
Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić set a curving glass tower against a straight one on a riverside corner bombed in the war, and the pair are read as a dancing couple. Offices fill most of the building. A rooftop bar and terrace are open to the public for the view along the embankment towards the castle.
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Jewish Quarter
Six synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery survive in Josefov, where layered graves stand crowded under the trees and the Pinkas walls carry the names of Czech victims of the Holocaust. One ticket covers the sites, which are closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Two hours is a realistic minimum, and the cemetery is often the slowest stop.
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Letná Park
A plateau of plane trees above the river, Letná opens on a terrace where a giant metronome turns on the plinth once occupied by a Stalin monument. Skaters and a beer garden hold the eastern end through summer evenings. Bridges and the Old Town roofs line up below, which makes it a common stop at sunset.
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National Museum
Reopened after a long restoration, the neo-Renaissance building at the head of Wenceslas Square is as much the attraction as the collections of minerals, fossils and Czech natural history inside. A tunnel links it to the modern annexe. The dome walkway gives a view down the square, and the marble stairhall is what most visitors photograph.
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Old Town Square
Pastel houses, a Gothic church with twin spires and a monument to Jan Hus frame the square at the heart of the medieval core. Cafés spill across the cobbles in summer and a Christmas market fills it in December. Restaurant terraces on the square trade on the address, and quieter kitchens sit a street or two back.
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Petřín Hill
Orchards and rose gardens climb the hill above Malá Strana, topped by a lattice lookout tower raised for an exhibition in 1891. A funicular runs from Újezd and a steep walking path takes about twenty minutes. The tower stairs are narrow and busy at sunset, when the view over the river reaches the castle.
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Prague Astronomical Clock
Mounted on the Old Town Hall since 1410, the medieval clock tracks the sun, moon and zodiac on painted dials, and its apostles parade on the hour. The show lasts under a minute and the crowd beneath it is dense. Climbing the hall tower gives the square from above and a closer look at the mechanism.
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Prague Castle
Spread along the ridge above Malá Strana, the castle complex covers courtyards, palaces, a cathedral and a lane of small houses, and has held Czech rulers since the ninth century. Circuits are ticketed and the grounds are free to walk. Security queues build from mid morning, so an early arrival or a late afternoon visit moves faster.
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St. Vitus Cathedral
Gothic vaults, the Art Nouveau window by Alfons Mucha and the jewelled chapel of Saint Wenceslas make this the centrepiece of the castle grounds. Entry is through the castle security check and needs a circuit ticket for anything beyond the entrance bay. Morning light favours the south rose; services close sections without much notice.
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Strahov Monastery
Premonstratensian canons have kept this hilltop house since 1143, and its two baroque libraries, the Theological and the Philosophical, are the reason for the walk up. Both halls are viewed from the doorway unless a guided slot is booked ahead. A brewery and a terrace next door look across the roofs towards the castle.
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Vyšehrad
South of the centre on a bluff over the Vltava, the old fortress holds a neo-Gothic basilica and the cemetery where Dvořák, Smetana and Mucha are buried. Ramparts and lawns stay quiet while the Old Town fills. Metro to Vyšehrad station arrives at the top of the rock, which saves the climb from the river.
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Wenceslas Square
Closer to a boulevard, the long slope runs from the National Museum down to the edge of the Old Town and has carried Czech protest since 1918. Velvet Revolution crowds filled it in 1989. Chain shops, exchange booths and late bars dominate at street level now, and the architecture worth looking at sits above the shopfronts.