Prague Castle hours and best time

Opening hours: the grounds and the buildings

The castle complex is open every day of the year, from early morning until late evening. The historic buildings keep shorter hours that follow the season. The summer season runs from 1 April to 31 October. The winter season runs from 1 November to 31 March, and the buildings then close an hour earlier. They are closed on 24 December. Last entry comes before closing time, so a late arrival can cost you a building. The exact times are on the castle's opening hours page, which is the one to trust on the day.

St Vitus Cathedral, the tower and the exhibitions

Some parts of the castle keep hours of their own. St Vitus Cathedral opens later on Sundays, around midday, and is closed to visitors during religious services and cultural events. Its last admission is 20 minutes before closing. The Great South Tower has a separate ticket and its own hours, and so do the exhibition halls, such as the Riding School and the Imperial Stables. The castle also posts shorter cathedral hours on some days for liturgical reasons. If the cathedral is your priority, check its page for your date.

Gardens and the free areas

The Royal Garden, the South Gardens and the Stag Moat are open from March to October, with the longest hours in July and August, and closed from November to February. The Garden on the Bastion keeps the complex's own hours all year. Paths in the Stag Moat can be closed in frost, ice, snow or strong wind. Entry to the grounds and gardens is free. The castle is not a picnic spot, though: rugs and seating outside designated areas are banned.

The changing of the guard

The ceremonial change takes place at midday in the First Courtyard. Prague's official tourism site adds that simpler changes happen every hour through the day at the Titans Gate and the Powder Bridge Gate. The castle has cancelled the midday ceremony for operational reasons before, so treat it as likely rather than guaranteed. The visitor rules also ask you to keep at least half a metre away from the soldier on the honour guard post at the entrance gates.

Choosing when to go

The castle publishes no crowd figures, so any 'quietest hour' you read is a guess. Its schedule tells you more. The buildings open and close at set times, the cathedral opens late on Sundays, and a ticket lasts two days. The easiest way to avoid rushing is to split the Main circuit across both days, and to put the cathedral on a Monday to Saturday. In winter the buildings close earlier and the gardens are shut. Golden Lane is a narrow street, so it feels full whenever many visitors arrive at once.

Read next: Castle tickets: Main circuit or tour

How long to allow

The castle gives no standard visit length. Its audioguide holds about three hours of recordings across 96 stops, which hints at the scale of the site, and its guided tours are priced by the hour. Your Main circuit ticket lasts two consecutive days with one entry per building, so you don't need to finish in one sitting. A sensible plan is to see the buildings you care about most on the first day and keep the second for the rest. Exhibitions and the tower need separate tickets and more time.

Getting there by tram

The castle's own page calls tram 22 to the Pražský hrad stop the easiest way. Turn left from the stop and you reach the Second Courtyard in about five minutes. A second option is tram 22 to Pohořelec, then ten minutes downhill to Hradčany Square, entering by the Fourth Courtyard. A third is tram 22 to Královský letohrádek, then through the Royal Garden, which the castle says is possible only in summer. That walk takes 15 to 20 minutes to the Riding School. Trams are sometimes diverted for track work, so check the transport operator before you set out.

Getting there by metro and on foot

Two metro stations serve the castle: Malostranská, on line A, and Hradčanská. From Malostranská the castle suggests following the tram route for 100 metres, then turning left up the Old Castle Stairs to the Na Opyši gate. It is the shorter way, and a real climb. A harder route goes up the New Castle Stairs to Hradčany Square and the Gate of the Giants, from Malostranské náměstí via Zámecká and Thunovská streets. Parking is very limited, and Prague's tourism site does not recommend driving.

Read next: How to Get to Prague Castle: Tram, Metro, and Stairs

Security, bags and rules

Anyone can be asked to undergo a security search by the police, and refusing means you cannot enter. The castle asks visitors not to bring large baggage, and nothing may be left unattended. Inside the buildings you may not eat, drink, use selfie sticks or bring dogs. Flash and tripods are banned, and photography is not allowed in The Story of Prague Castle, the Treasury of St Vitus Cathedral, the Powder Tower or the Picture Gallery. Drones are banned over the whole site. The rules set no dress code beyond refusing heavily soiled clothing, but the cathedral is a church that holds services.

Children, access and language

The castle's visitor rules say every building open to the public is barrier-free, except the White Tower, Daliborka Tower, the Powder Tower, the Great South Tower and the defence corridors in Golden Lane. Prague's tourism site adds that Braille guides are available. On the castle's price list, children under six enter free, and a family ticket covers up to five children under sixteen with two adults. The castle's audioguide speaks eight languages but not Dutch or Portuguese. Its own guided tours run in English, German, Italian, Spanish and French.

Who this isn't for

This visit is hard going if you cannot manage stairs and slopes: the walks up from the metro are steep, and the towers are not barrier-free. If you want exact times, use the castle's own pages, because hours change by season and by day. If you dislike security searches or narrow, busy lanes, the castle will test you. And if you have only an hour, four buildings plus the walk up will be tight, so pick one or two.