The largest ancient castle complex in the world by area — a walled district of palaces, a cathedral, a monastery and a lane of tiny houses, not a single building.
Not a castle, a district
Seventy thousand square metres on the bluff above the river, and by area the largest ancient castle complex in the world. It has been the seat of Bohemian kings, Holy Roman Emperors, Czechoslovak presidents and now the Czech president continuously since the ninth century.
What that means practically is that “visiting the castle” is visiting a walled quarter with a cathedral, two palaces, a Romanesque basilica, a monastery, gardens and a street of miniature houses in it. Half a day is the minimum and people routinely allocate two hours.
What is inside
St Vitus Cathedral dominates it, and has its own entry.
The Old Royal Palace, whose Vladislav Hall is a late-Gothic room with extraordinary rib vaulting, large enough that indoor jousting was held in it. Off it is the chancellery from which two imperial governors were thrown out of a window in 1618, starting the Thirty Years’ War. They survived, landing in a dung heap, which Catholics attributed to angels and Protestants to manure.
St George’s Basilica, Romanesque, founded 920, the oldest surviving church building in the complex and a complete contrast to the cathedral beside it.
Golden Lane, a row of tiny sixteenth-century houses built into the castle wall for the castle guard and later occupied by craftsmen and the poor. Kafka’s sister rented number 22 and he wrote there for a period in 1916. It is charming and, in the middle of the day, extremely full.
The Story of Prague Castle exhibition in the Gothic undercroft, which is the best of the museums and the least visited.
Tickets
The grounds, courtyards and gardens are free and open long hours. You can walk through the whole complex, see the changing of the guard and look at the exteriors without paying anything.
Circuit B — the standard ticket — covers the cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St George’s Basilica and Golden Lane. This is the one to buy.
Circuit A adds the Story of Prague Castle, the Powder Tower and the Rosenberg Palace. Worth it if you want the full morning.
Ticket prices and circuit definitions change; check the official site rather than a blog.
Timing and the queues
Go at opening or after three. Between ten and two the security queue at the main gate backs up and the cathedral interior is a shuffle.
There is an airport-style security check at the entrances. Large bags are not permitted and there is limited storage.
The changing of the guard happens hourly at the gates, with the elaborate version at noon in the first courtyard, complete with a fanfare. It is genuinely good and it draws a crowd twenty minutes beforehand.
Getting up and down
Tram 22 to Pražský hrad drops you at the top and is the painless option.
Walking up from Malostranská metro via the Old Castle Steps is steep and about ten minutes.
Coming down through the Nerudova street into Malá Strana, or down the vineyard steps to the metro, is the pleasant way and it is all downhill.
More Landmarks
Charles Bridge
A fourteenth-century stone bridge with thirty baroque statues, begun at 5.31am on the ninth of July 1357 because the numbers made a palindrome.
Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock
A medieval square that survived everything, with a 600-year-old astronomical clock whose hourly show is, by common agreement, the most overrated forty seconds in Europe.