Castle Quarter in Prague, Czech Republic is a great place to get an overview of the city as well as walk around and enjoy the grounds and sights. It’s a bit unique because it’s not really a castle like most you visit in Europe, instead it’s more of a fortress with locations inside the walls. You can find our itinerary HERE.
The entrance is through the yellow palace area.
If your there at the top of the hour you can catch the changing of the guard ceremony, if not it’s just fun to watch the tourists take pictures with them and try to make them smile.
I don’t think they are supposed to but we did see one guard smirk a few times.
There are several options for seeing this area, you can walk around the courtyard and enter the St. Vitus public area for free. Or you can choose from several passes and visit the insides of a few locations. However if you go early or late you’ll avoid the crowds and after 5 pm you can see the Golden Lane for free.
We chose to just walk around and not pay for the sites, the only one I was considering paying for was the St. Vitus treasury but I’m so glad we didn’t get tickets because it just randomly closed right before we tried to enter the free area. Many tourists were frustrated and upset and the guy at the door said it randomly closes at times and it was closed for the evening, this was around 4 pm, which is during it’s normal open hours.
They were setting up for the Christmas Market which started the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
There are some great views of the city from the exit ramparts area as well.
After visiting the Castle Quarter we walked back down to Little Quarter and across the bridge, not the Charles Bridge, back to Old Town. We passed a guy who was holding this owl on the way. We stopped at a Gingerbread store to get some cookies and then headed to the Choco Cafe.
Know Before You Go
What: Castle Quarter – Prague, Czech Republic
How To Get There: 20 min walk from Charles Bridge area, it was a 10 min walk from our B&B, you can also take a taxi or use the tram if you don’t want to walk.
Parking: We parked at our hotel for the several days there and walked everywhere, this city is accessible by walking and everyone is fairly close!
Cost: Free to walk around, enter the church but fees to see the extra areas & sights. You can see the Golden Lane for free after 5 pm.
Traveling with little kids: Strollers are ok here in the main areas, may be tight trying to go into the church, etc.
How long: Plan on at least 1 hour to walk around the area, more if you plan to visit each of the sites.
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