Prague: one hotel, the castle at opening, Kutná Hora and Karlštejn

1. Day 1: Arrive in Prague

   Václav Havel Airport to the Old Town

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 1 details

   We meet you at Václav Havel Airport and drive you to the hotel, about 17 km and 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Land by about 2 pm to join the whole afternoon; later arrivals are met too and join at dinner. At about 4 pm your guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing, hands out transit passes and walks you into the Old Town: the Powder Tower, Celetná street and Old Town Square, with the Týn Church and the astronomical clock, first installed in 1410, on the Old Town Hall. The walk is short and flat, an hour and a half at most, and its point is orientation: where the trams stop, where to get coffee, how to get back to the hotel. In the evening we sit down together for a welcome dinner of Czech cooking in the old centre, with a glass of beer or wine, and go over the plan for the castle in the morning.

   Included

   • Airport pick-up
   • Briefing with your guide
   • Orientation walk: Powder Tower, Celetná street, Old Town Square and the astronomical clock
   • Welcome dinner in the old centre

   Easier option: Skip the orientation walk after a long flight and meet the group at dinner.

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon briefing

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km of flat walking.

2. Day 2: Prague Castle at opening, then Charles Bridge

   Hradčany to Malá Strana, Charles Bridge and the Old Town

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 2 details

   We take the tram up to Hradčany to be in the castle courtyards around 8 am, when the grounds are open but the day-trip coaches have not arrived. With space to look, we walk the three courtyards and around the outside of St Vitus Cathedral, then go in at the 9 am opening: the cathedral nave and its stained glass, the Vladislav Hall of the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and the small houses of Golden Lane. By late morning we walk down Nerudova street into Malá Strana, the baroque quarter under the hill, for a sit-down lunch. After lunch your guide takes you over Charles Bridge, started in 1357, past its statues and the view upriver, and into the Old Town, finishing around 2:30 pm. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free. On a Sunday, St Vitus opens later because of mass, so we see the palace and Golden Lane first.

   Included

   • Prague Castle with your guide: the courtyards before the crowds, then St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane
   • Walk down Nerudova street into Malá Strana
   • Sit-down lunch in Malá Strana
   • Charles Bridge and the Old Town with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • A river cruise on the Vltava, paid locally
   • An evening concert in one of the Old Town churches, paid locally

   Easier option: Take the tram back to the Old Town after lunch instead of walking over the bridge, and meet the group later.

   More active option: Climb Petřín hill from Malá Strana in the free afternoon for the view back over the castle and the river.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 7 km on foot, mostly downhill on cobbles, with stairs inside the castle.

   

3. Day 3: Kutná Hora by train

   Prague to Kutná Hora (Sedlec, then the old town) and back

   • By train
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 3 details

   After an early breakfast we take a regional train from Praha hlavní nádraží to Kutná Hora, about an hour through the Bohemian countryside, so there is no coach and no traffic. From Kutná Hora main station it is a short walk to Sedlec, and we arrive at the Sedlec Ossuary at opening, before the tour groups: a small chapel decorated with the bones of tens of thousands of people, including a chandelier and a coat of arms. Across the road is the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, restored after centuries of neglect. A short local train or city bus, included, takes us up to the old town, a silver-mining town whose historic centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List with Sedlec, for a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon we walk along the Jesuit college terrace to St Barbara's Church, the Gothic cathedral built by the miners' guilds, with its flying buttresses and painted vaults. We take the train back to Prague in the late afternoon; the evening is free.

   Included

   • Return train Prague to Kutná Hora, and the local train or bus from Sedlec up to the old town
   • Sedlec Ossuary at opening
   • Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec
   • Sit-down lunch in Kutná Hora
   • St Barbara's Church and the old town with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • The Italian Court, the old royal mint, paid locally
   • The medieval silver mine tour at the Czech Museum of Silver, paid locally (age and fitness limits apply)

   Easier option: Take a taxi between Sedlec and the old town, and rest in a café while the group walks up to St Barbara's.

   More active option: Walk from Sedlec to the old town, about 3 km, instead of taking the local train.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 6 to 8 km on foot with a gentle climb to the old town; two train rides of about an hour.

   

4. Day 4: The Jewish Quarter, a free afternoon and a beer and food walk

   Josefov, then the Old Town and New Town

   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 4 details

   This morning a local guide who specialises in the Jewish history of Prague walks you through Josefov from about 9 am, before it fills up. The circuit of the Jewish Museum in Prague takes in the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls carry the names of almost 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jews murdered in the Holocaust, the Old Jewish Cemetery with its layered gravestones, the Klausen Synagogue, the Ceremonial Hall, the Maisel Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue. We also go into the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in Europe, in use since the 13th century. The visit takes about three hours and ends near the river at lunchtime; lunch is on your own today so you have room for the evening. The afternoon is free. In the evening your guide leads a beer and food walk through the Old Town and New Town: a few stops for Czech pub cooking and beer poured in the local way, as dinner. The museum is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so this day never falls on one.

   Included

   • Jewish Quarter with a local guide: the Jewish Museum in Prague circuit (Pinkas, Klausen, Maisel and Spanish synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Ceremonial Hall)
   • The Old-New Synagogue
   • Evening beer and food walk with dinner

   Optional experiences

   • The Museum of Decorative Arts next to Josefov, paid locally
   • A performance at the National Theatre or the Estates Theatre, paid locally

   Easier option: Leave the food walk after the first two stops and take a taxi back to the hotel.

   More active option: Walk up to Vyšehrad fortress in the free afternoon for the cemetery, the basilica and the view down the Vltava.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 5 km on flat streets, with standing time inside the synagogues; the food walk is about 2 to 3 km.

   

5. Day 5: Karlštejn Castle, then the airport

   Prague to Karlštejn by train, back to Prague, then the airport

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 5 details

   Bags go into the hotel's luggage room after breakfast. We take a regional train from Prague to Karlštejn, about 40 minutes up the Berounka valley, and walk up through the village to the castle, about 2 km and 30 minutes uphill. Karlštejn was founded in 1348 by Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, to keep the imperial crown jewels and relics, and it still stands above the woods much as he built it. We join the first guided tour of the day through the imperial palace, then have an early lunch in the village below. We are back in Prague by early afternoon to collect bags, and the van takes you to Václav Havel Airport, about 30 to 45 minutes away. Book flights leaving after about 5 pm. If yours is earlier, you skip Karlštejn and we transfer you from the hotel at the time you need. The castle keeps shorter hours outside summer; we confirm the tour time with your dates.

   Included

   • Return train Prague to Karlštejn
   • Karlštejn Castle guided tour (standard route through the imperial palace)
   • Lunch in Karlštejn village
   • Transfer to Václav Havel Airport

   Optional experiences

   • The Chapel of the Holy Cross tour at Karlštejn, booked ahead, seasonal and with limited places, paid locally

   Easier option: Take the horse carriage or a taxi from the village most of the way up to the castle, or stay in Prague for a slow last morning.

   Activity: About 5 km on foot, including a 2 km uphill walk to the castle; two train rides of about 40 minutes.

   

Wildlife and weather: April, May, September and October are mild and the best walking weather, with fewer visitors than midsummer. June to August is warm and Prague is at its busiest, which is why the castle and the ossuary are booked for opening time. Rain showers are possible in any month.

• Prague4 nights