visit prague

The best time to go to Prague

Feb 26, 2024 • 4 min read

From summer crowds to winter discounts, here's what's happening through the year in Prague © frantic00 / Getty Images

Prague is arguably Europe’s prettiest capital.

Travelers come in droves to stroll the cobblestones and admire the many historic buildings whose architectural styles stretch back some eight centuries. The view to Prague Castle from statue-lined Charles Bridge is breathtaking. The narrow alleyways of the Old Town spill out onto the grand Old Town Square, where a 15th-century Astronomical Clock keeps time to the rhythms of the Middle Ages.

It’s no surprise, then, that Prague has evolved into one of the continent’s most-popular destinations, and much of its medieval charm can quickly evaporate on a hot day in summer when those pretty backstreets are choked with thousands of other people.

Fortunately, it’s possible to time your visit in order to experience some of the city’s magic for yourself.

June to August is high season when it's hot, sunny and crowded

Most visitors come during the Czech Republic's short summer, when the weather is warm and the days reliably sun-drenched. All the attractions are open, parks and gardens are in full bloom, cafes and restaurants have put out sidewalk seating, and daylight stretches as late as 10pm near the summer solstice. The downside is that Prague is packed to the rafters. Expect higher prices for lodging and meals and long waits to see A-list sights like St Vitus Cathedral and the Prague Jewish Museum .

June brings plenty of sunshine, but without being uncomfortably hot. As July hits, daytime highs reach  the mid-30°Cs (upper 80°Fs and 90°Fs). The city empties out the first week of the month as locals decamp to summer cottages to enjoy the public holidays of St Cyril and Methodius Day (July 5) and Jan Hus Day (July 6). In August, which continues to be hot, t housands of people from around Europe come to attend the annual Prague Pride festival, a week of parties and happenings at venues across the city.

If you're visiting during these high-season months, double-check your accommodations have air-conditioning – not everywhere does.

April to May and September to October are better times to visit

The spring and autumn months draw fewer crowds to Prague but offer the possibility of sunny days and warm weather (though bring a jacket and umbrella just in case). April and May are particularly beautiful as trees and flowers bud and bloom. Book in advance during the busy Easter holiday, which heralds the unofficial beginning of the tourist season, when a festive, three-week Easter market takes over Old Town Square. In May, days are comfortably warm but the nights are cool. On May 1, couples traditionally climb Petřín Hill to toast their romance with flowers. The city’s ambitious festival season kicks off in mid May with the annual Prague Spring Music Festival , the high point of the cultural calendar.

September brings the best of all worlds: warm days, but without the summer crowds. The familiar rhythms of city life return as schools start up, theaters and concert halls reopen, and the first cool rains break the grip of the summer heat. Sidewalk cafes remain open as long as the weather holds. Days grow noticeably shorter and cooler through October, but it's still a good time to visit, particularly for lovers of live performances – the concert and theater seasons are in full swing and this is the best month to hear classical music or opera.

November to March are best for budget travelers

The pace slows considerably through the winter months, which bring on weeks of gray skies and cold, rainy and (occasionally) snowy weather. Some parks and gardens close for the season, though most attractions and museums remain open year-round. The downsides of cold temps and mid-afternoon darkness are compensated by lower prices for hotels , fewer throngs on the squares, the undeniable delights of a cozy Prague pub , and the chance to see Charles Bridge covered in snow.

November marks the start of winter, and on All Souls Day (November 2) locals visit cemeteries to lay flowers and light candles. The cool, dark evenings are tailor-made for a night in the pub . Book restaurants in advance on St Martin’s Day (November 11), when chefs traditionally scrap normal menus in favor of plates of roast goose and dumplings. Winter snows start to fall in December and big Christmas markets on Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square get rolling, running through to New Year’s.

New Year’s Eve festivities on Old Town Square linger well into the early morning of January 1; later in the day, the city holds its annual fireworks display. In February, residents tend to leave the city for ski holidays or huddle in pubs or cafes. The winter blues are broken up by annual Mardi Gras festivals – Masopust in Czech – where people come out onto the streets in costume to sing, parade and roast pigs. The popular Saturday-morning farmers markets around the city, including the best-known one at Náplavka on the Vltava, start up by mid-month. March continues to be overcast and chilly, possibly with snow, but it also sees the first shoots of sunshine that remind us that nicer days are coming.

This article was first published February 2021 and updated February 2024

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10 Excellent Reasons Why You Should Visit Prague

If you’re wondering whether you should visit Prague, wonder no more. Here are 10 of the best reasons why the Czech capital should be next on your list of must-visit destinations.

To see the largest castle complex in the world.

Dating back to the ninth century, Prague Castle is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest castle complex in the world, covering an impressive 70,000 square metres (17 acres). The castle complex comprises a number of buildings, which include the gothic St Vitus Cathedral, a number of defence towers, a few museums and churches, the presidential palace and Golden Lane , a 16th-century street that once housed the royal goldsmiths.

To admire stunning architectural masterpieces

To see where Prague writer Franz Kafka grew up

Franz Kafka was born and grew up on the streets of Prague, not far from Old Town Square. Born into a Jewish family who spoke German (the language in which Kafka wrote all his books), Kafka was a lawyer who worked at an insurance company, even though his passion in life was writing. His books are a mix of the fantastic and the realities of turn-of-the-century Prague, and you can see traces of the city in many of them. While the home where he was born no longer exists, Kafka’s final resting place can be visited at the New Jewish Cemetery .

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To people watch on one of Europe’s oldest bridges

One of the oldest bridges in Europe still in use, Charles Bridge was built between 1357 and 1402. The now pedestrian-only bridge has survived floods and the Thirty Years’ War, and is one of the most popular attractions in Prague today. The bridge is decorated with 30 statues representing saints.

To save money in one of the cheapest capitals in Europe

Prague is known as the one of the cheapest capital cities in Europe. An unlimited monthly transport ticket (which you can use to take any combination of buses, trams and metro lines) will set you back just €20, while dinner for two at a good restaurant (including appetisers, main course and drinks) will cost €30 or less. At a standard Prague pub, a beer will set you back about €1.20, less than a bottle of water, and about half the price of a cappuccino (€2.10). Many museums are free or cost under €10, meaning you can enjoy a cultural holiday without breaking the bank.

To check out Prague’s still-functioning 600-year-old clock

Prague’s astronomical clock , installed in 1410, is the oldest operating clock of its kind on the planet. Located in Old Town Square, the clock marks not only the time, but also the months and the astronomical position of the sun and moon, making it sort of a tiny planetarium. The clock is decorated with Gothic sculptures and wooden statues of the apostles that were added over the centuries – and if you happen to stop by on the hour throughout the day or night, you’ll see them come to life.

To drink in the beer capital of the world

Czechs consume more beer per capita than any other country in the world. Czech beers tend to be light and foamy, with brewers such as Pilsner Urquell and Staropramen leading the pack. Beer gardens are part of summer culture here: both children and dogs are welcome, and families and friends congregate to watch sports or music videos on giant screens. Prague has beer spas and even an organic beauty products company (Manufaktura) that makes beer-based creams and shampoos.

To learn about life in Prague under Communist rule

Communism ruled over Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1989, stripping citizens of their rights and their freedoms. Today, you can learn about those dark times with visits to unique museums such as the Museum of Communism and the KGB Museum. The first is particularly interesting because it features artefacts of everyday life from the time, including a classroom, and also shows a number of films representing life under the regime. You can also join a guided tour of a real nuclear bunker , complete with gas masks and other Cold War items.

To attend some of Prague’s amazing festivals

Naplavka (Prague’s river boardwalk area) comes alive during the summer months, attracting tons of festivals, live music, floating beer gardens and other live events. There’s something to draw everyone to Prague, whether you’re interested in attending microbrewery festivals or food festivals. In early autumn, a wine festival takes over the city, and in winter the Christmas markets (including one of the biggest ones in Europe, in Old Town Square) light up the streets, making Prague magical.

To marvel at the audacity of David Černý’s sculptures

Černý is a Czech sculptor known for his tongue-in-cheek works of art that are spread all over Prague. From giant crawling babies on the sides of the TV Tower to the two statues of urinating men outside the Kafka Museum , Černý is all about making an impression. He also sculpted a statue of St Wenceslas riding a dead horse, a fun wink to the St Wenceslas statue sitting in front of the National Museum. Searching the city for his sculptures is a must-do when you visit Prague.

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Not just cheap beer and old buildings: an arty weekend in Prague

A new sleeper train from Brussels is bringing the Czech capital’s contemporary art scene within easy reach of rail travellers

F or decades, cheap flights, nightclubs and booze made Prague one of Europe’s stag party capitals. City officials have spoken out about tourists’ drunken behaviour, but Prague remains popular among men dressed as Smurfs drinking 50 koruna (£1.70) pints of pilsner.

I arrive on the train from Dresden, the German city just north of the Czech border, shortly before the launch of a new night train route. On 25 March the European Sleeper between Brussels and Berlin extends to Prague, arriving at Hlavní Nádraží, Prague’s main central station, at 10.56am.

I’m here to find the best things to do in the Czech Republic’s capital, and surrounding countryside, away from the city centre tourist sights.

I’m staying at Miss Sophie’s Downtown hotel (huge rooms, exposed piping, staff who don’t mind me taking socially unacceptable amounts of boiled sweets from reception), just a five-minute walk from the station. I take a tram to Kunsthalle Praha art gallery to meet Ivana Goossen, director of the white-walled exhibition complex, which opened in 2022 and today resembles a dream-state library. I’d heard that in this city of flowing beer and grand museums, Kunsthalle represents a more contemporary side of Prague culture.

READ, a books-themed exhibition by Berlin-based artists Elmgreen & Dragset, has taken over most of the gallery and runs until 22 April. A sculpture of a chimp stands on a pile of hardbacks. Visitors peruse a display of progressive books banned in Florida. A man sitting alone at a long table calmly writes in a notebook. “What he’s doing is actually an art performance,” says Goossen.

Kunsthalle was converted from a 1930s electricity substation by local entrepreneurs Petr and Pavlína Pudil. Goossen says that after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, privately owned arts institutions were initially slow to emerge.

“There’s been a process of maturing,” she says. “Certain practices normal in the western world, where you see culture supported privately [with private investment in public art spaces], weren’t so typical. That’s changing, and people are recognising that Prague isn’t just about old architecture.”

Kunsthalle had about 110,000 visitors in its first year, attracting more local people than tourists. “We’re in the old centre, by the Prague Castle steps,” says Ivana, “but we’re showing that there is contemporary culture here.”

North of the centre, Holešovice, is one of Prague’s more gentrified districts, and home to the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art . I admire its moody nude sculptures before lunch at the newly opened Slice Slice Baby restaurant (recommended as “the best pizza slice in town” by one of Goossen’s colleagues). The pizza is excellent: co-owner Kateřina Jakusová tells me that the tomatoes are imported from Puglia.

A 30-minute tram ride south, the southern tip of Smíchov district is popular with artists but doesn’t yet have any hip pizzerias. A large parrot is gnawing a wooden door in the atrium cafe at MeetFactory : which is now a nonprofit artist space. The Shape of Water -esque sculptures here are great, but I don’t get properly sucked into the depths of artistic intrigue until I enter the gallery on the opposite side of the railway tracks. Musoleum opened in 2022 to showcase the work of Prague-born sculptor David Černý , who also founded MeetFactory. He’s known for his work Miminka, the freaky bulbous baby sculptures seen crawling up the city’s Žižkov Television Tower .

Car-sized handgun sculptures hang from the ceiling, and sporadic gunfire sounds make me jump every minute or so. A sculpture of a vintage car with human legs is overseen by a garish orange and blue Černý self-portrait. These brilliantly odd works are not suitable for kids or prudes though: one floor is dominated by enormous explicit moving human body part sculptures: Cronenberg via Razzle magazine.

Next day, I drive an hour and a half north to the – more family-friendly – Jiří Pačinek glass factory. Garish glass octopus sculptures protrude from soil in its “glass garden”. Inside, Pačinek, his 23-year-old son Jan and a few employees with metal rods are at work pulling molten glass from raging furnaces, and spinning bulbs so they solidify as vases.

The area has been known for fine glassmaking for centuries, and is still home to several glassworks. Pačinek is handing out bowls of boar stew. “The local hunter gave us the boar in exchange for some glass,” he says. “That’s how things work in the villages here, sometimes.”

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The Pačineks export their glass pieces globally, and tourists can try their hand at making glass souvenirs. The factory made the “crystal” sculptures for the 2022 film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . But despite that success, Jan says, fine Czech glasswork is under threat.

He nods towards a pair of employees gently curling molten glass threads around a vase. “These guys are about 50; young people don’t want to make glass any more. It’s a tradition in this area, but people want to work with computers.”

Pačinek rests his arm on his son’s shoulder. They tell how a huge local glasswork factory recently shut after 230 years, because of soaring energy costs. Pačinek’s gas furnaces have to be kept running constantly, at temperatures reaching 1,340C.

“I’m not afraid,” he says. “The small family companies will be the future, because when we see this problem with the energy prices it becomes something only for people who love this work. Which I think is perfect.”

Jan shows me a glass gorilla head his father made, then a cluster of pieces inspired by the Covid-19 virus shape, made during lockdowns. I have a go at glass spinning and only manage an ugly glass globule. He smashes it. “Don’t worry, we can melt down the glass again.” I drive back to Prague with a signed beer glass his father made earlier.

On the train home, as I admire the smoothly rendered pint glass, I recall gallery director Goossen telling me: “Our joke went that Brits don’t think they’ve been to Prague, because they start drinking on the plane coming here and don’t sober up until the plane back.”

I won’t forget the friendly glassblowers, the door-gnawing parrot or the huge faceless babies quite so easily.

Train travel from London to Brussels was provided by Eurostar (from £3 9 each way). Travel from Brussels to Prague was provided by Omio , whose app allows travellers to compare different transport methods simultaneously. Accommodation in Prague was provided by Miss Sophie’s Downtown (doubles from €70, breakfast included if booking with the hotel directly) via Czech Tourism . Prague Visitor Pass provided by Czech Tourism . The European Sleeper train runs between Brussels Midi and Prague Hlavní Nádraží from 25 March 2024 (one-way couchette from €79)

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Getting around Prague

Planning to travel in Prague? Whether you’re a visitor or a resident, let this guide help you make the most of your Prague experience. Travel from the airport to a hotel using Uber and discover popular routes and destinations. Depending on your city, you can even use the app to get around with public transport, bikes or scooters, and more.

Plus, check out Uber rates for riders and drivers and learn how to use Uber to get paid to drive or deliver in Prague.

Reserve car service in Prague with Uber

Arrange your car service needs in advance with Uber in Prague. Request a ride anytime up to 90 days ahead, whether you need transportation to Václav Havel Airport Prague, you have plans to visit your favorite restaurant, or you’re going somewhere else.

Ride Sharing in Prague

Getting around Prague without a car is easy with Uber. Find places to visit in the area, then request a ride on any day and at any time of the week. You can request a ride in real-time or request a ride in advance so your ride is ready when you are. Whether you’re traveling in a group or alone, you can use the app to find a ride option for your needs.

Open the Uber app and enter your destination to begin exploring Prague.

Prague-area airport car service

When your travel in Prague takes you to an airport from a neighborhood, or elsewhere, open the app and request a ride at any time of day. Tap below on the name of a nearby airport to learn how to use Uber to get car service to arrivals and departures. On the linked airport page, you’ll find out where to meet your driver for pickup, how much the trip will cost, and more.

Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG)

Choose the best ways to get around prague, taxi in prague.

Consider Uber as an alternative to taxis when getting around Prague. With Uber, you can trade flagging down cabs for requesting rides on demand, no matter the time of day. Request a ride from an airport to a hotel, head to a restaurant, or visit another place. The choice is yours. Open the app and enter a destination to get started.

Public transport in Prague

Getting around with public transport is an affordable way to travel. Depending on the area, you can view nearby bus or subway routes with Uber Transit to help plan your travels. Open the app to see if Uber Transit is available in your neighborhood or visit popular places in Prague by ridesharing with Uber.

Bike rentals in Prague

Biking is an eco-friendly way to get around the heart of a city. In select cities, you can find and ride electric bikes with Uber. Open the app to see if bikes are available in Prague. If bikes are available in Prague, remember to wear a helmet and follow traffic laws while riding.

Uber does not tolerate the use of alcohol or drugs by drivers using the Uber app. If you believe your driver may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, please have the driver end the trip immediately.

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