Is Prague Castle Free?

One of the things I always try to do when I travel is to save money whenever I can.

In short, the public courtyards and gardens that are close to Prague Castle are free to visit, but you will have to purchase a ticket to visit many of the sites within Prague Castle. Also, Golden Lane is free to access after closing time, but you won’t be able to access the houses.

After debating if I should take the free route or not with Prague Castle, I decided to purchase the Prague Castle – Circuit B ticket which includes St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica, and Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower.

You can spend a lot of time exploring the public courtyards and gardens around Prague Castle, but in my opinion, it was worth spending the money on tickets this time around.

All the sites included in the Circuit B ticket were breathtaking and I easily spent the entire day taking in each stop.

With that said what you can do to save money, though, is to purchase the Circuit B ticket instead of the Circuit A. Circuit B is 100 CZK cheaper per ticket than Circut A and I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything.

Plus, there are many other good free activities you can do in Prague. So, I splurged a little at Prague Castle but saved money by focusing on free activities during my other days on the trip.

Here’s what you need to know about the different tickets you can purchase for the Prague Castle Circuit if you choose to go to.

I have also included some of my favorite free activities in the area too, so you can save some money if you want to skip paying for the tickets!

 

What You Need to Know About Prague Castle Tickets

The easiest way to purchase your Prague Castle tickets is to go directly to the visitor center within the castle grounds.

They don’t have a way to book tickets online, but it’s not a big deal since the ticket line doesn’t get outrageously crazy throughout the day.

If you can, you should start your day early, though, because there will be a line for all the popular spots within Prague Castle and it’ll give you enough time to explore.

There are 3 different ticket choices for Prague Castle and they each include a different number of sites you get access to. The ticket types are:

  • Prague Castle – Circuit A (CZK 350): Includes access to St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace Exhibition “The Story of Prague Castle”, St. George’s Basilica, Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower, Rosenburg Palace
  • Prague Castle – Circuit B (CZK 250): Includes access to St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George’s Basilica, Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower
  • Prague Castle – Circuit C (CZK 350): Includes access to the exhibition “The Treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral” and the Prague Picture Gallery

Like I was saying before, I chose to do Prague Castle – Circuit B and felt it had more than enough sites to make it worth the ticket price.

 

My Favorite Free Activities Near Prague Castle

One of the best things about Prague Castle is the number of free activities that surround the castle.

If you have the time, my suggestion would be to spend one day exploring the paid sites of Prague Castle and one day visiting the free sites because there is that much to do!

Here is a list of my favorite free activities near Prague Castle in no general order.

 

The Balcony in the Back of Schwarzenbersky Palace Prague

This place has one of the best-hidden views of the city of Prague that I found. Plus, it’s only a short 1-minute walk from Prague Castle.

Balcony in the Back of Schwarzenbersky Palace Prague 2 - witandfolly.co

 

Top of Ke Hradu Road

Ke Hradu, 118 00 Praha 1, Czechia, map

This is a great spot to catch the sunrise overlooking the city.

There really is nothing else like seeing the warm morning light hitting the red rooftops of the city.

There is a Starbucks nearby where you can get your coffee fix too.

Although, I think the popular photo spot overlooking the city at Starbucks is worth skipping.

Sunrise from Ke Hradu Road - witandfolly.co

 

Chotek Gardens

118 00 Prague 1, Czechia, map

A wonderful small park to stroll around and to take in the views overlooking Prague and the bridges.

My favorite stop in this park was the walking path behind Queen Anne’s Summer Palace which has many photography spots with Prague Castle in the background.

Path Behind Queen Annes Summer Palace - witandfolly.co

 

The Royal Garden

Pražský hrad, Hradčany, 119 08 Praha 1, Czechia, map

The Royal Garden is one of the best parts of Prague Castle and the best thing about it is that it’s free.

Most of the tourists don’t come here, so if you want some quiet time with grand views of Prague Castle, this is a great place to go.

Royal Gardens 1 - witandfolly.co

 

The Deer Moat Pedestrian Tunnel and Walking Path

118 00 Prague 1, Czechia, map

The Deer Moat got its name from the area being the King’s private hunting grounds for deer and bears.

Nowadays it’s a great walking or running path that brings you along what used to be the castle moat.

The winding path brings you through open grass fields and trees and was one of my favorite walks of the trip.

Deer Moat Pedestrian Trail 3 - witandfolly.co

 

Inside of St. Vitus Cathedral

III. nádvoří 48/2, 119 01 Praha 1, Czechia, map

A small area near the entrance of the cathedral is free, so you can still go inside without paying for admission.

With that said, you won’t be able to see much inside the cathedral, but you do save some money.

Inside St. Vitus Cathedral 1 - witandfolly.co

 

Golden Lane After 5 PM

Zlatá ulička u Daliborky, 119 00 Praha 1, Czechia, map

As I mentioned before, Golden Lane is free to walk around after 5 pm.

You won’t be able to go inside any of the cute, colorful houses, but in my opinion, you’re not missing much as most of the houses are souvenir shops now.

Golden Lane 1 - witandfolly.co

 

Conclusion

There you have it!

Although it is not free to enter many of the sites within Prague Castle, you can still wander around the castle grounds to your heart’s desire without spending a penny.

To be completely honest with you, my favorite parts of the Prague Castle area were all the free activities. It was such a relaxing experience to walk around the surrounding parks and gardens and to get away from the other tourists.

With that said, I still think the Prague Circuit tickets are well worth it as you gain access to many historical sites that are very interesting to see.

However, if you don’t want to spend the money, don’t worry, you’re not missing out on THAT much.

If you liked this list and want to see what some of my other favorite spots were in Prague, make sure to check out our 30 Most Instagrammable Places in Prague article!

So, what did you end up doing when you visited Prague Castle?

Did you purchase a Prague Castle circuit ticket or did you enjoy yourself by strolling around the castle grounds for free?

 

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