Prague, the classic and the new

The castle and the bridge

Prague is built around a view: the Castle and St Vitus Cathedral on the ridge of Hradčany, Malá Strana below, and Charles Bridge carrying the eye across the Vltava to the Old Town. The bridge was begun in 1357 under Charles IV and finished in 1402, and 30 statues of saints were added to it between 1683 and 1928; UNESCO has listed the Historic Centre since 1992.

Come early: by mid-morning the bridge belongs to everyone. The Castle keeps two seasons, summer from April to October and winter from November to March, and rewards an early start and a slow walk down through the Malá Strana lanes.

The sights of Prague →   Hradčany & the Castle →

Baroque, Cubist and Art Nouveau Prague

Strahov Monastery, founded in 1140, keeps two celebrated library halls, the Baroque Theological Hall and the frescoed Philosophical Hall; the Loreta’s bell tower rises over Hradčany; and the dome of St Nicholas fills the Malá Strana skyline. In the Old Town, the House of the Black Madonna is Prague Cubism made solid, with the Grand Café Orient of 1912 upstairs, and the Municipal House, built between 1905 and 1911, is Art Nouveau from the pavement to Mucha’s ceilings.

Arts & Culture →

A city of music

Few cities wear their music so lightly. The Estates Theatre, built in 1783, saw the world premiere of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and still plays it; the Czech Philharmonic first played at the Rudolfinum in 1896 under Antonín Dvořák; the National Theatre, built by public subscription, opened in 1881 and again in 1883 after a fire; and the State Opera has staged opera since 1888. Each spring, the Prague Spring festival fills the halls: tickets for the 82nd festival, in 2027, go on sale on 4 November 2026.

Arts & Culture in Prague →

At the table: pubs and stars

The Czech table is generous: svíčková, beef in a cream sauce with bread dumplings, goulash, roast pork with cabbage, and koláče with coffee. Five Prague restaurants of the Bib Gourmand cook it in 2026, among them The Eatery, Výčep and U Kalendů.

At the top, five Prague restaurants hold One MICHELIN Star in the 2026 guide: La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise and Field in the Old Town, Casa De Carli in Josefov, LEVITATE in Vinohrady and Štangl in Karlín. Out of town, Papilio at Vysoký Újezd holds the country’s only Two Stars.

Czech Cuisine →   The best restaurants in Prague →

The new Prague

The new Prague is north and east of the old. In Holešovice, the National Gallery shows its modern collections in the Trade Fair Palace and DOX shows contemporary art in old industrial halls; on the riverbank there, the Vltavská filharmonie, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, is planned, with construction due to begin in 2028. Karlín has Štangl’s star and its specialty coffee, the Petřín funicular returned in September 2026 with new glazed cars, and Dvorecký most, a bridge for trams, buses, bicycles and walkers, now crosses the river between Smíchov and Podolí.

New openings and projects →   Holešovice & Letná →

Beer, wine and Becherovka

Pilsner Urquell has been brewed an hour away in Plzeň since 1842, the first golden pilsner, in the brewery’s words; in Prague it is poured from the tank at Lokál and drunk at the bar of U Zlatého tygra. Strahov’s monks brew their own. On St Martin’s Day the first young wines of Moravia and Bohemia are opened with roast goose, on the Rašínovo embankment on 14 November 2026, and Salabka keeps a vineyard at Troja. From Karlovy Vary comes Becherovka, first sold in 1807.

Bars, pubs and jazz →

Vienna, Berlin and Budapest by train

Praha hlavní nádraží, the largest station in the country and an Art Nouveau landmark, is the gateway to Central Europe: České dráhy and RegioJet run trains north along the Elbe to Dresden and Berlin, and south and east to Vienna and Budapest.

Dresden from Prague →   ULTIMATE Vienna →   ULTIMATE Berlin →   ULTIMATE Budapest →   ULTIMATE Rail Journeys →

The city on screen

Prague has played itself, and many other cities, on screen. The Czech Film Commission records Amadeus at the Estates Theatre, Mission: Impossible on Charles Bridge, at the National Museum and on Old Town Square, and Casino Royale at Strahov, the National Museum and the main station, with the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary. See our page Prague on film for the official trailers.

Prague on film →

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