Eleven O'Clock for the Guard with Music, Afternoon for Kafka's House

A walk through Prague Castle with a licensed local guide, covering all four courtyards, the gardens and the exteriors.

Read that last word before booking: this tour stays outside. The buildings are seen from the courtyards, not entered. If you want the interiors, the same operator runs a Complete Prague Castle Tour, and that is the one to look for.

What the outside gives you is a good deal more than it sounds. St Vitus Cathedral from the courtyard, and why it took nearly 600 years to finish. The Gothic front of the Old Royal Palace, with the story of the Defenestration of Prague told where it happened. St George's Basilica, the oldest church still standing in the city, and the reason its two towers do not match. The Second Courtyard, where the president receives foreign diplomats, with Leopold's Fountain and the presidential flag.

The departure time changes what you get. The 11:00 walk reaches the main changing of the guard, the one with music. The afternoon walk takes in the Golden Lane instead, its alchemists, and the house where Franz Kafka wrote.

The meeting point is the Malostranská metro exit, of which there is only one, under the Official Meeting Point board. Look for a red umbrella with a white 100 on it.