Castles · Tour

A Group of Ten at Most, and You Learn to Read the Astronomical Clock

Three hours from the castle down to the Old Town, in a group of no more than ten, with a licensed guide who works in history. The route is the coronation road of the Bohemian kings, walked in reverse: they came up it, you go down it, which puts the Powder Tower at the end instead of the start. The tram takes the group up the hill first, so the three hours are spent looking rather than climbing, and the small group means the pace stays slow enough for questions. At the castle: the courtyards, the Old Royal Palace, and St Vitus Cathedral from the outside, seen from the angle that actually works. Then down Nerudova, past the Baroque palaces with the house signs the aristocrats used before street numbers existed, past St Nicholas, the largest Baroque church in the city, and the Church of Our Lady Victorious with the Infant Jesus of Prague. A quiet stretch on Kampa, then Charles Bridge, which is never quiet, past the Clementinum with its astronomical tower into the Old Town Square. The clock is not just watched but explained: what the dials mean and what to look for when it strikes. The walk ends at the Municipal House, by the Powder Tower.