Prague Castle & Hradčany
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About 3 km · Allow 2–3 hours
Explore Prague Castle’s courtyards and gardens, then walk through Hradčany to the vineyard viewpoint beside Strahov Monastery. Along the way, see St Vitus Cathedral from several sides, step out onto terraces overlooking Prague, and discover the palaces around Hradčanské Square.
The walk focuses on outdoor sights, with no sightseeing ticket needed for the main route. You can easily combine it with visits to the Castle interiors, rejoining the walking route after each visit. Allow around another 2½ hours for the interiors. After the Castle, continue along Loretánská towards Pohořelec and Strahov. Extend the walk through the small streets of Nový Svět if you wish, or add a detour to Loreta. Church interiors, museums and galleries are optional visits requiring extra time.
Before you start
Season: March-October. Recommended start: 10:00 or later, when the Royal Garden and South Gardens open.
Garden hours: March and October 10:00-17:00; April-June and September 10:00-19:00; July-August 10:00-20:00.
Latest recommended start: Aim to begin by 14:00 for the outdoor walk, leaving time to enjoy the South Gardens before the earliest seasonal closing time. This is a suggested start, rather than a strict cutoff. Start in the morning if you also plan to visit the Castle interiors.
Footwear: Wear comfortable shoes with a good grip for cobbles, steps and sloping paths.
Water: Bring a bottle of water, especially in warm weather.
Toilets: Free toilets are available inside the Castle grounds, including near the cathedral’s west front and at the foot of the Bull Staircase. Locations are noted along the route.
Weather: Much of the walk is outdoors, with exposed viewpoints and limited shelter. Bring sun protection or a waterproof layer to suit the forecast; cobbles and steps can be slippery when wet.
Food and drink: Vikárka Cafeteria, beside the cathedral on Vikářská, serves good-value canteen-style meals daily, 11:00-15:00. The route passes it later, but you can visit earlier – for example, before heading down to the South Gardens. Later in the walk, Café Melvin on Pohořelec is an option for coffee, while the Strahov brewery restaurant offers a meal or beer near the end.
Changing of the guard: A ceremonial changing of the Castle Guard, with music, takes place in the First Courtyard at noon. If you would like to watch, allow for it when planning your walk.
Distance: About 3 km. Estimated time: 2-3 hours, including looking around and photographs. Meals, interior visits and the Nový Svět extension are additional.
Mapy.com route map
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The bridge over the Deer Moat
Take tram 22 and get off at Pražský hrad (Prague Castle). The stop is also announced in English.
Use the pedestrian crossing to cross the road and tram tracks, then follow U Prašného mostu towards Prague Castle.
Just before the bridge leading to the Castle gates, turn left into the Royal Garden for a view of St Vitus Cathedral across the Deer Moat.
From here, St Vitus Cathedral rises above the Castle buildings, with the round Mihulka Powder Tower below. The wooded hollow between you and the Castle is the Deer Moat.
Continue to the Second Courtyard
Return to U Prašného mostu, cross the bridge and pass through the Castle entrance into the Second Courtyard.
The Second Courtyard
The palace buildings surrounding the Second Courtyard owe their unified appearance to an eighteenth-century rebuilding under Empress Maria Theresa. Their façades give this part of the Castle the character of a royal residence.
The ornate stone fountain dates from 1686 and takes its name from the sculptor Jeroným Kohl, who created its decoration. It once formed part of the Castle’s water supply. Nearby is a separate well, recognisable by its decorative metal cover.
The eighteenth-century Chapel of the Holy Cross projects into the courtyard from the palace buildings.
Tickets and optional interior visits
The ticket office is on your right as you enter the Second Courtyard from the bridge. No sightseeing ticket is needed for this outdoor walk.
If you would like to add interior visits, the Prague Castle Main Circuit is a combined ticket covering:
• St Vitus Cathedral
• The Old Royal Palace
• St George’s Basilica
• Golden Lane
You can visit these sights as you reach them along the walk, then rejoin the outdoor route. Allow extra time for the visits and any queues.
Optional tower climb
The cathedral’s Great South Tower is a worthwhile option if you would like to add one paid visit without doing the full interior circuit. Its viewing gallery offers sweeping views over Prague and the Castle grounds, reached by climbing 287 steps. The tower requires a separate ticket; allow approximately 30-45 minutes extra, plus any queue.
Continue to St Vitus Cathedral
Take the passage on the left-hand side of the courtyard as you entered from the bridge. It leads into the Third Courtyard, directly in front of St Vitus Cathedral.
St Vitus Cathedral and the Third Courtyard
As you emerge from the passage, the cathedral’s western front appears suddenly at close range. The twin towers, rose window and decorated bronze doors fill the view above you.
Construction of the Gothic cathedral began in 1344, but the western front and its twin towers are much later additions. They were built in Neo-Gothic style during the cathedral’s final completion between 1873 and 1929, reviving the forms of medieval Gothic architecture. The bronze doors depict episodes from the cathedral’s history and legends of Czech saints.
Continue around the cathedral
Once you have finished admiring the cathedral’s western front, continue around to its southern side, into the wider part of the Third Courtyard.
Southern side and courtyard
From here, the Great South Tower, with its Renaissance gallery and Baroque roof, presents a different profile from the western twin towers. Above the Golden Gate is the Last Judgement mosaic, created in 1370-1372. Christ appears as judge above the scenes of judgement, with Charles IV and his wife, Elizabeth of Pomerania, among the kneeling figures.
Across the courtyard is the presidential balcony. From here, Václav Havel addressed the crowd on 29 December 1989, shortly after his election as president of Czechoslovakia.
Continue to the South Gardens
Find the Bull Staircase (Býčí schodiště) in the corner near the entrance to the Old Royal Palace. Its low green roof is supported by bronze bulls.
The Bull Staircase and South Gardens
The view over Prague begins as you descend the covered Bull Staircase. At the bottom, go straight ahead to the terrace viewpoint, marked 4b on the map.
Toilets: Free toilets are around the corner on the left at the foot of the stairs.
The terrace and gardens
The terrace is a good place for photographs over the roofs of Malá Strana, including the green dome of St Nicholas’s Church.
The terraces and framed views owe much to Jože Plečnik, who reshaped the South Gardens for President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in the 1920s.
Continue through the gardens
Follow the garden path east towards Na Opyši, leaving the gardens at their eastern end.
At 4c, leave the gardens and return through the eastern Castle entrance, then follow Jiřská uphill.
Jiřská and St George’s Square
Along Jiřská
As you follow Jiřská uphill, you pass Lobkowicz Palace, with courtyards opening off the street on your right. A little further uphill, a right turn leads towards Golden Lane, where there is another ticket office. You can explore this area before continuing uphill to St George’s Square and the basilica.
St George’s Square and basilica
St George’s Basilica stands out with its red Baroque façade and pale stone towers. Founded around 920, the church took on much of its present Romanesque form when it was rebuilt after a fire in 1142. Its twin towers date from that rebuilding, while the red façade received its Baroque appearance in the seventeenth century.
The square is also bordered by the New Provost’s Residence and All Saints’ Church, the palace chapel. The rounded roof above a columned entrance marks Rosenberg Palace, later home to the Institute of Noblewomen.
Lunch along the way
Vikárka Cafeteria, on Vikářská beside the cathedral, is a good-value lunch option serving canteen-style meals. It is open daily, 11:00-15:00.
Continue to the Fourth Courtyard
From St George’s Square, follow the narrow Vikářská street along the right-hand side of the cathedral until you reach its western front again. Return through the passage into the Second Courtyard, then cross towards the passage ahead on the right, which leads into the Fourth Courtyard.
The Fourth Courtyard and Garden on the Bastion
An unusual staircase designed by Jože Plečnik leads from the Fourth Courtyard into the Garden on the Bastion.
Beside the palace, broad, shallow steps rise towards an arched passage – a popular spot for photographs. The garden also offers an outlook towards the Deer Moat and benches where you can rest before continuing.
Continue to Hradčanské Square
Leave the Fourth Courtyard through the exit leading onto Hradčanské Square.
Hradčanské Square
From Hradčanské Square, the Gate of the Giants, flanked by fighting figures and guarded by Castle sentries, frames a view into the First Courtyard. Beyond it stands Matthias Gate, which leads into the Second Courtyard. The Gate of the Giants is an exit, so you cannot re-enter here.
The palaces around Hradčanské Square reflect the wealth and influence of the aristocrats and church leaders who lived close to the Castle. Beside the Castle stands the Archbishop’s Palace, the residence of Prague’s archbishops.
On the opposite side, Salm Palace and the adjoining Schwarzenberg Palace now house exhibitions of the National Gallery Prague. Schwarzenberg Palace stands out for its patterned façades, decorated using sgraffito – designs scratched through contrasting layers of plaster.
At the far end, Tuscany Palace has a grand Baroque frontage crowned with statues. Towards the centre of the square stands the Marian Column, topped by the Virgin Mary and surrounded by saints, dating from 1724-1736. Near Salm Palace stands a statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia.
Optional detour: Nový Svět
From here, you can add a detour through Nový Svět, a small neighbourhood of narrow lanes and modest historic houses. Use optional route A later in this guide, or continue towards Loretánská and Pohořelec on the main walk.
View the optional Nový Svět route →
Back to route overviewLoretánská and Pohořelec
Continue along Loretánská
With the Castle behind you, leave Hradčanské Square at its upper left-hand corner and follow Loretánská to Loretánské Square.
Optional detour: Loreta
A short detour into the square brings you to Loreta, a Baroque pilgrimage complex known for its bell chimes. At its heart is the Santa Casa, a replica of the Holy House venerated in Loreto, Italy.
Opposite stands the enormous Černín Palace, built for the aristocratic Černín family and now the home of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
View Loreta on the map — marker B →
Coffee stop
Café Melvin, on the left-hand side of Pohořelec as you walk uphill, is a recommended stop if you feel ready for a coffee.
Continue to Strahov Monastery
Continue uphill to Pohořelec, keeping to the left-hand side of the wide street. Look out for Café Melvin. Just next to the café, a signpost marks the entrance to a passage through the building. Follow it up the steps into Strahov Monastery.
If you miss the passage, continue uphill a little further to the monastery’s main entrance gate.
Strahov Monastery
Explore the monastery
Strahov is still a working Premonstratensian monastery. Spend some time looking around its courtyards and buildings before continuing to the viewpoint. When the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is open, you can step into its entrance area for a look inside.
Optional library visit
For a visit to the Strahov Library, buy a ticket at the information centre in the Church of St Roch, near the main monastery gate. The standard visit lets you admire the decorated library halls from their doorways; it does not include walking into the halls themselves.
Food and beer
If you are hungry or fancy a beer, Klášterní pivovar Strahov, the monastery brewery restaurant, is a recommended stop for a meal or one of its own St Norbert beers.
Back to route overviewThe vineyard viewpoint
Continue to the vineyard viewpoint
Head towards the wall beyond the grassy area and find the arched gateway topped by a cross, shown in the photograph. Pass through it and walk downhill for a short distance. The vineyard viewpoint is through a gate on your right.
If you miss the gate, the paths further downhill also offer lovely views over Prague.
The itinerary finishes here, overlooking Prague. For a downhill walk towards Nerudova and Malá Strana, return to the path and follow the hillside paths to the left.
Alternatively, head back to the monastery brewery for a beer, or return through the monastery grounds to the Pohořelec tram stop, where you can take tram 22 downhill to Malá Strana.
Optional extension: Nový Svět
Directions to Nový Svět
With your back to the Castle gates, leave Hradčanské Square at its upper right-hand corner and follow Kanovnická. After about 120 metres, you reach a junction; follow the street to the right, downhill. Then take the next left into Nový Svět.
Along the street
Near the beginning of the street, a plaque on No. 1, U Zlatého noha, commemorates the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. The house is traditionally associated with a short stay during his time in Prague.
Nový Svět is a longer street than its small entrance might suggest. Follow it all the way to the timbered house at the far end, passing compact houses with colourful façades, small doorways and house signs. These modest buildings give this part of Hradčany a different character from the grand palaces around the Castle.
This was historically a poorer neighbourhood, although many houses have grand “golden” names, including the Golden Pear, Golden Grape and Golden Star.
At the far end stands U Raka, meaning “At the Crayfish”. With its wooden walls and shingle roof, this rare log-built cottage looks more like a country house than a building in central Prague.
Rejoin the main walk
From U Raka, follow Černínská uphill to Loretánské Square. Here you can see Loreta and Černín Palace, described in the main route, before continuing towards Pohořelec.
Route maps
Tap a map marker to open its stop description.
Open the main walking route in Mapy.com
M1
M2a
M2b
Open the main walking route in Mapy.com
M3
Open the Nový Svět extension in Mapy.com
